Globalization has resulted in expanded relationships around the world. These connections have created challenges for organizational leaders. The notion of responsibility extends well beyond customers and suppliers; organizations have become responsible for global social welfare and the environmental impact of their operations. Within integrated supply chains, leaders have looked beyond traditional boundaries to build business-to-business relationships to manage risk and advance corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements, such as sustainability. The buyer-supplier relationship connects businesses across supply chains. Purchasing managers create a link between a company's internal functions and external stakeholders (Carter & Jennings, 2004). This is where CSR manifests itself as social purchasing responsibility (PSR), which includes socially responsible purchasing and ethical sourcing (Koplin, Seuring, & Mesterharm, 2007). This link can be understood in terms of stakeholder theory, which is based on a holistic model of the business and supply chain. Stakeholder theory explains an organization in terms of integrated relationships with suppliers, customers, employees, governments, media, community, and competitors. According to stakeholder theory, a company has an ethical and fiduciary responsibility to conduct its business with respect for its stakeholders, not just its shareholders (Freeman, 2010). Stakeholder theory is the foundation of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and social procurement responsibility (SPR) has therefore become an essential method by which stakeholder theory is administered in supply chains. The concept of sustainable development is at the heart of CSR. . In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on E...... middle of paper ......inabilityconsortium.org/United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2009, September). Opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through materials and land management practices (EPA 530-R-09-017, pp. 1-65). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/ghg_land_and_materials_management.pdfWackernagel, M., Schulz, N., Deumling, D., Callejas Linares, A., Jenkins, M., Kapos, V., . .. Randers, J. (2002). Monitor the ecological overtaking of the human economy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(14), 9266-9271. doi:10.1073/pnas.142033699Walker, H. & Brammer, S. (2009). Sustainable procurement in the UK public sector. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(2), 128-137. doi:10.1108/13598540910941993World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. New York: Oxford University Press.