The lecture highlights the multifaceted challenges supply chains face today. It juxtaposes the promise of value creation and prosperity with the acute reality of worker exploitation and environmental harm. It explores the interconnected relationships of supply chains with political problems, social crises, and the depreciation of natural resources. The lecture concludes by sketching some ways out of the crisis. Since 2025 Prof. Stefan Gold has been Chair of Sustainability Management at TUMCS. He was previously Professor of Corporate Sustainability at the University of Kassel (2017-2025) and Assistant Professor at the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) at the University of Nottingham (UK) (2014-2016). After completing his PhD at the University of Kassel in 2011, he was a Postdoc at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). He studied International Business and Cultural Studies at the University of Passau (1997-2003). His research in the field of sustainability management is interdisciplinary and focuses on the social dimension of sustainability. In particular, it addresses the question of how sustainability transformation should be shaped and implemented in economy and society. His research focuses on modern slavery and decent work, circular economy, sustainable supply chain management, and sustainability in humanitarian aid.