Educating the Next Generation of Sustainable Supply Chain Leaders

What Is Sustainable Supply Chain Management?

Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) involves aligning sourcing, production, logistics, and product lifecycle management to jointly improve financial performance, environmental outcomes, and social responsibility. a In practice that means: lower emissions and waste, safer and fairer work, resilient networks, and healthy margins.

Why it matters (and where the work happens)

Sustainability now shows up in daily, operational choices, not only in annual reports. Typical levers include: supplier selection and auditing, transport mode and route design, inventory and capacity planning, energy mix and waste streams, packaging and returns, and data transparency across partners. Leaders must connect these decisions to profitability, risk, regulation, and brand promise.

Skills students need before graduation

Early-career roles in procurement, planning, operations, and logistics already demand that graduates can:

• Read and act on operational and sustainability KPIs (service level, inventory turns, margin, CO₂e, energy use, waste).

• Manage trade-offs (availability vs. working capital; speed vs. emissions; unit cost vs. supplier risk).

• Make decisions with incomplete data and time pressure, and explain the “why” behind choices.

• Collaborate across functions (procurement–operations–finance–sales) and across partners.

• Use digital tools (ERP/APS/BI) to turn data into decisions.

Theory defines the concepts; practice develops the skill - execution turns understanding into capability.

The execution gap in higher education

Most students can describe frameworks, Life Cycle Assessment, Scope 1–3, TCO, Lean/TOC, circularity. Yet when confronted with messy data, conflicting goals, and time pressure action stalls. That’s the execution gap: knowing what to do versus doing it under real constraints. Closing it requires experiential practice of decisions that have visible consequences, and teamwork focusing on understanding, diagnosing, acting and learning from experience.

Bridging classroom insight to real-world sustainability

Sustainability in supply chains isn’t learned by memorizing terms, it’s learned by navigating messy realities: conflicting goals (cost vs. footprint), volatile demand and lead times, supplier risk, and incomplete data. Students need a safe place to practice making decisions, observing and understanding consequences, and adjusting fast - exactly the same loop they’ll face on the job. That’s where authentic, hands-on environments like real-time operated business simulations help: students make cross-functional decisions, see results in real time, and iterate. The result is not only higher engagement, it’s a transferable skill.

How RealGame’s sustainable SCM simulation helps

RealGame’s Sustainable SCM business simulation game (www.realgame.fi/sustainable-scm) places student teams in charge of a battery manufacturer’s end-to-end operations. Student teamsrun procurement, production, warehousing, distribution, and cash, while monitoring and improving sustainability metrics. Key features include:

• Real-time dynamics: RealGame business simulations respond continuously to team actions - no turn-based lag. Students feel thetime pressure, just like in real operations.

• Integrated KPIs: Profit, margin, service level, inventory, cash flow, CO₂e, energy use, waste, and supplier performance are tracked together, making trade-offs visible and explicit.

• Procurement & supplier strategy: Compare suppliers on price, reliability, lead time, and sustainability attributes; manage dual sourcing and risk.

• Operations planning: Balance capacity, shifts, inventory policies, and transportation choices; see how decisions ripple upstream and downstream.

• Scenario stress: Disruptions, such as demand spikes, supply delays, cost shocks force teams to diagnose root causes and implement corrective actions.

• RealGame Business Intelligence (BI): Dashboards and exportable data support evidence-first reflection, assurance-of-learning, and research.

  
  

If you want a primer on the idea of a Sustainable SCM simulation, see: What Is a Sustainable Supply Chain Management Simulation Game? 

The outcome we’re aiming for

Graduates who can read signals, connect data across functions, manage trade-offs, and execute confidently and sustainably. That’s leadership in sustainable supply chains.