Open Access

Sara Kuner

• Sustainable sourcing strategies to prevent environmental and human rights risks along the supply chain have become increasingly relevant for global operating companies. The aim of this thesis is to provide the theoretical framework and practical implementation of a sustainable sourcing risk management system anchored in the German supply chain law and based on defined criteria. These criteria include requirements in the area of Natural Capital and Materials that are important for the company Kendrion N.V. In total, three research questions have been defined: What are the required criteria of Natural Capital and Materials the suppliers should comply with? How should these be implemented for Kendrion and its supply chain? And what are the remaining challenges? In detail, the requirement criteria contain the topics of renewable energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, reuse and recycling, as well as current regulations of the European Union. The practical implementation demonstrates the implementation at Kendrion N.V. To assess risks along the supply chain, a questionnaire is developed that serves as a basis for the evaluation process. In addition, this thesis includes the concept creation of a Power BI report that can be used as a methodology for the risk management analysis. The Power BI system presented at the end of this thesis will be used as a template for Kendrion to evaluate the results of the supplier questionnaire as part of the risk management system. However, some challenges need to be addressed: The proportion of suppliers who have signed the Code of Conduct, the reliability of the supplier data provided, and the verification of supplier contacts.