Integrating Triple Bottom Line Sustainability Concepts into a Supplier Selection Exercise

This paper discusses the integration of sustainability concepts into a quantitative supply chain management course in management science. Specifically, we discuss an exercise using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for making sustainability supplier selection decisions incorporating a triple bottom line approach (economic, environmental and social performance objectives). The multiple, conflicting objectives and the qualitative nature of the social performance objective require the use of multi-criteria decision-making. Our AHP exercise requires only Excel and could be expanded to include additional triple bottom line criteria