Abstract:

Sustainability in services supply chains is increasingly seen as essential to delivering long-term profitable services and products that positively reflect on societies. Different aspects of sustainability in service supply chains have been investigated, however it has been found that constructs and measures of social sustainability in service supply chain are still underdeveloped and this necessitates the further investigation of this area. This paper deals with this issue in healthcare supply chain of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The primary objective of this work is to explore the extent of social sustainability with the lens of Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Stake holder’s theory in health care sector. Three basic determinants of SET have been used in context of different stakeholders including suppliers, community (patient), employees and government. This is an exploratory research and data has been collected from the policy makers of different healthcare systems of UAE. This study’s originality stems from its emphasis on the theoretical formation of the SET and stake holder theory and offers insights on the theory's applications within the service supply chains, and more specifically, the healthcare sector. Results provide insight and guidance for adopting social sustainability across the supply chains of hospitals globally.