Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Nigerian Consumer Goods Manufacturing Sector

Supply chain practitioners in developing economies, like Nigeria, experience challenges in implementing sustainable supply chain management practices. Poor sustainability implementation engenders the negative effects of supply chain operations on people, the environment, and business continuity. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experiences of supply chain practitioners in the consumer goods manufacturing industry in Nigeria about sustainable supply chain management based on the theoretical foundations of stakeholder and general systems theories. The focus of the research question was to examine the experiences of supply chain practitioners to understand the challenges in implementing sustainable supply chain management practices. Data were collected through semistructured face-to-face interview of 21 practitioners with a minimum 3 years of professional experience using the purposive sampling strategies of key knowledgeables and snowball to achieve saturation. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed guided by the Husserlian transcendental phenomenological approach for essences. The major finding was that the cost of implementing sustainability initiatives and poor government policies and regulations were the most significant barriers. Sustainability in the supply chain is still at its infancy in Nigeria, with room for improvement. The findings could contribute to positive social change as supply chain practitioners may better engage stakeholders and implement sustainability practices that minimize the negative effects of their supply chain operations on society and the environment