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The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology for rapidly and reliably capturing, representing and analysing process systems to facilitate the potential for operations performance improvement within a complex product design and manufacturing facility operating in a high‐performance business environment.

This paper demonstrates the proposed methodology within an electro‐mechanical design and manufacturing environment producing complex non‐standard products for a global market. The technique has national and international application for a wide spectrum of design and manufacturing facilities.

The authors also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in capturing, representing and analysing processes to assess the feasibility of and identify the issues involved in realising further performance improvements in an existing complex product, high variety, design and manufacturing facility.

Through the enhanced level of understanding of business processes and knowledge intensive operations, the design and manufacturing facilities managers can now realise the next level of performance enhancement by fully exploiting the potential of performance improvement initiatives. Since the proposed methodology creates an environment in which risks inherent in new techniques are controlled, the facilities managers can also gain competitive advantage by becoming the early adopters of radical performance enhancement approaches.

Most major and many smaller manufacturing companies have adopted the popular performance improvement initiatives. These companies are now striving to achieve the next level of performance enhancement at the system or enterprise level and require a better understanding of their business processes and knowledge intensive operations. This understanding needs to be achieved rapidly, cost effectively and in a readily communicable and quantifiable form to allow analysis and ongoing re‐analysis within the volatile industrial environment. The proposed methodology achieves this through the identification, communication, understanding and analysis of the internal and external interactions and dependencies of the facility.

The purpose of the paper is to present a new process for the evaluation of an automotive organisation’s suppliers by corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures.

A methodology for socially responsible purchasing is detailed along with a case study outlining its use within a large automotive manufacturer.

Socially responsible purchasing has a positive impact on the performance, trust and cooperation of the supplier base. Industry practitioner’s state that cost and implementation difficulties are reasons for purchasing and supply managers’ reluctance to participate in CSR activities. The CSR evaluation process within the case study organisation identified which suppliers should be considered for CSR audit; giving the purchasing manager, of the case study organisation, an objective basis for decision-making.

Future development of the approach may involve the integration of the CSR tool more closely with strategy and policy procedures of an organisation. The CSR tool may also be developed for use in sectors beyond the automotive industry. Additional commentary is given on the potential relevance of this approach to the retail sector.

The methodology and case study descriptions provide an outline template for purchasing and supply managers with the automotive sector and guidance for interested practitioners in other industries.

This paper expands the guidance available for purchasing professionals wishing to evaluate the CSR impact of procurement decisions.

The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship (CC) in supply chain development, by analyzing the current literature, contemporary concepts, data and gaps for future discipline research.

This research identifies information from existing academic journals and investigates research designs and methods, data analysis techniques, industry involvement and geographic locations. Information regarding university affiliation, publishers, authors, year of publication is also documented. A collection of online databases from 2001 to 2018 were explored, using the keywords “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in their title and abstract, to deliver an inclusive listing of journal articles in this discipline area. Based on this approach, a total of 164 articles were found, and information on a chain of variables was collected.

There has been visible growth in published articles over the last 18 years regarding supply chain sustainability, CSR and CC. Analysis of the data collected shows that only five literature reviews have been published in this area. Further, key findings include 41% of publications were narrowly focused on four sectors of industry, leaving gaps in the research. 85% centered on the survey and conceptual model, leaving an additional gap for future research. Finally, developing and developed nation status should be delineated, researched and analyzed based on further segmentation of the industry by region.

This research is limited to reviewing only academic and professional articles available from Emerald, Elsevier, Wiley, Sage, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Scopus, JSTOR and EBSCO containing the words “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in the title and abstract.

This assessment provides an enhanced appreciation of the current practices of current research and offers further directions within the CSR and CC in supply chain sustainable development.