Today our host dive deep into a topic that's at the intersection of business ethics, the environment, and social responsibility – Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG, standards in supply chain management. In today's globalized world, supply chains are the lifeblood of business operations, connecting products and services to consumers worldwide. But the question we're asking today is this: How can businesses ensure that their supply chains not only deliver profits but also uphold their ethical and environmental responsibilities? We are joined by Sophia Schuster, a recent MBA and Master’s in Supply Chain Management graduate of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

About

Sophia Schuster, who holds an MBA and a Master’s in Supply Chain Management from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, has a diverse background in the retail and education sector. Propelled by a desire to understand the impact of the way we communicate, combined with her personal interest in sustainability topics, Sophia sought to look more closely at firm ESG behavior and how that behavior is conveyed to the public. In her Master’s paper, Sophia explored the importance of procurement in setting and upholding firm ESG standards and the saturated market of ESG ratings indices that firms use to gauge their progress, between which is a misalignment that calls into question the value of the ESG ratings industry to firms’ internal and external stakeholders.