Analysis of the Sustainability of Supply Chains and Value Chain Management: Economy in the Republic of Serbia

Introduction

The implementation of the supply chain idea in one distribution channel has the effect of diminishing the importance of conventional business management and emphasizing the necessity of process management approaches instead, in addition to erasing inter-company barriers. The phrase by Machiavelli that “there is nothing more difficult, dangerous, and with more uncertain success than creating a path to learning something new” (Mansfield, 2023) is one that the authors are aware of. Nevertheless, this assertion serves as further motivation for the authors to make the concept and goals of supply chain implementation more accessible to the book's readers by highlighting important, pertinent global, theoretical, and consulting approaches (Andrijanic & Pavlovic, 2016)(Cauchois et al., 2017). The purpose of the chapter is to help domestic businesses, in this case, firms in Serbia, comprehend the fundamentals of and use the supply chain management concept more quickly. Compared to logistics management, which initially debuted and from which the notion of the supply chain originated, sustainable supply chain management encompasses a strategically positioned and considerably wider range of activities. It also symbolizes a new corporate philosophy. The term “green” is used more frequently in contemporary business practices when referring to management, marketing, reputation management, human resource management, and similar topics (Gordana & Biljana, 2021). The accelerated development of industry and technology has brought humanity into a serious problem - the survival of man on Earth has been called into question, but indirectly the survival of the Earth as well. The climate changes that modern society faces are increasingly pronounced, and as a response to the suppression of harmful consequences, a new concept - on a global level - called Sustainable Development (Biermann et al., 2022) has appeared. This concept originated in the last century, more precisely in 1987, and on that occasion, the United Nations called the report from its summit “Our Common Future” (Brundtland Report). The document defines the concept of sustainable development as development that provides the right to the same resources for future generations, as the current generations have, that is, it promotes development that could harmonize the economic and ecological component with the social component (Ilic et al., 2020). Since then and up to the present, numerous occasions, gatherings, meetings, and agreements have taken place on a global scale in an effort to save the environment and preserve resources. Because everything that is done to attain a certain economic benefit must have the connotation of a green undertaking or sustainable operations, the outcome is that business today has been given the word “green”. Green business has permeated every aspect of organizational life, and both green conduct and green supply are being discussed more and more frequently. The idea of “green management” is one that is connected to environmentally friendly behavior. In this context, supply chains known as sustainable supply chains are linked to green management (Djukic & Ilic, 2021; Kostadinovic & Stankovic, 2020). The idea of sustainable supply chains is actually still in the early stages of development since a number of data points indicate that it has not yet reached its zenith, i.e., that the movement of information, money, and other items through a supply chain distribution system is a constant source of issues. However, there are many potential to enhance (daily) business in supply chains that must be sustainable. Even when everything within the organization appears to be in order, the answer to the question of whether there is one final piece necessary for a business process to succeed is frequently in the affirmative. In other words, everything in the organization worked perfectly, but the final, anticipated “excellent success” was mysteriously missing (Tliche et al., 2021; Vosooghidizaji et al., 2020). A similar example can be found in the case of complaints made by users of services or final customers, which (complaints) are related to certain products, which (complaints) are related to certain products, which (complaints) are related to certain products, which should be found on store shelves, at a certain price, under certain conditions of sale, but those products are not available, that is, that they were not delivered on time by the supplier. Examples of this can be seen among regular consumers who are unable to explain to the sales managers what is missing from the purchase in order to be completely satisfied with it. The general manager frequently feels that something is missing in system optimization, in connection with suppliers, and in relation to delivery, but this can also be seen from the perspective of his organization's visionary leader (El-Nemr et al., 2021). The answer lies in timely response, for everything that may be missing in a business process. The answer lies in sustainable supply chains. they lead to sustainable value chains throughout a country's economy.