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The benefits of the emissions trading mechanism for Italian firms: A multi-group analysis
Abstract
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of internal and external environmental management (EM) on performance to verify the emission trading (ET) mechanism ' s effectiveness. It aims to investigate whether EM that is carried out by ET firms has a higher influence on performance than EM that is carried out by no-ET firms.
Design/methodology/approach
– A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature in green supply chain management (GSCM) and is tested on a large sample of Italian firms. A multi-group analysis in structural equation modeling allows for the estimation of the impact of internal and external EM on economic and environmental performance over the two groups.
Findings
– Firms under ET regime do not perform better than no-ET firms environmentally or economically; moreover, environmental collaboration is significantly less effective for ET firms.
Research limitations/implications
– Although the ET mechanism has been introduced by the European Union to combat and reduce the emissions, research has shown its marginal effectiveness. Data comprises only data about Italian firms. Items in the questionnaire allow for a two-year lag period. Interviewed firms have been selected according to EM criteria only.
Practical implications
– Firms subjected to the ET mechanism should find more effective and efficient practices to improve their environmental performance because the ET is marginally beneficial.
Originality/value
– The findings supply insights to managers about the real effectiveness of ET as well as to decision planners for the development of future sustainable mechanisms.
... Similarly, the firms can opt for offshoring according to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) targets. This driver can be highly challenging for firms, as it includes social, environmental, and economic performance and consequently entails important trade-offs (De Giovanni & Esposito Vinzi, 2014). On the one hand, offshoring can undoubtedly lead to better operational efficiency achieved through low labor cost or low energy cost (Brandl et al., 2017). ...
... Along with the external initiatives led by governments, the firms' decision-making process is supported by a list of environmental initiatives sponsored by SC partners (De Giovanni & Esposito Vinzi, 2014). In fact, today's supplier selection processes embed environmental and social criteria (Hashemi et al., 2015), which cannot ignore the importance of suppliers' sustainable initiatives, programs, and targets. ...
... In the same vein, firms pursue CSR goals by analyzing their impact in terms of economic, social, and environmental performance (De Giovanni & Esposito Vinzi, 2014). Therefore, CSR is generated from the effects of companies' actions on the community and the environment (Frederick, 1998), which require a set of managerial practices to minimize the negative impacts of its production activities and, at the same time, maximize its positive social effects. ...
This research analyzes firms' motivations for offshoring by investigating the influence of sustainability and using a dataset of 172 European firms. Therefore, it bridges the fields of offshoring strategies and sustainability to supply new insights to firms and policy makers on the impact of sustainability on offshoring decisions. Our findings reveal that firms' sustainable initiatives demotivate offshoring in most cases, independent of their related motivations to delocalize. Corporate Social Responsibility performance discourage offshoring associated with labor cost benefits, energy savings, and the host governments' sustainable programs. Similarly, domestic governments' sustainable initiatives can support firms that renounce to the possible gains given by low labor and energy costs as well as suppliers' proximity and technological progress. Finally, suppliers' sustainable initiatives push firms to offshore due to the domestic countries’ disadvantageous taxation and production systems.
... Big Data analytics supports the organization in improving productivity, competitiveness, and efficiency [40], along with decision-making capabilities-for instance, avoiding redundancy across the SC [39]. During disruptive events with consequent uncertainty regarding demand level, Big Data provides significant predictions to enhance SC flexibility in operations and environmental management [41]. Overall, Big Data analytics contributes to the successful management of all of the stages of a disruption event, through protection, mitigation, response, and recovery [39], with the result of developing resilience [40]. ...
... Over the last few decades, mobile technologies have increasingly become a fundamental factor in modern business, following the widespread use of the Internet and the subsequent advent of Social Networks. These new tools have prompted organizations to explore new opportunities, such as Mobile Apps, to provide new types of services to users, create new Sales channels [41], attract as many users as possible, and retain existing users through better service [17]. Mobile Apps have allowed customers to not only purchase items but also to interact with the organization seeking feedback and comparing prices [42]. ...
The global spread of COVID-19 affected societies and economies at large with simultaneous disruptions to both supply and demand. To investigate the implications of COVID-19, this study seeks to inquire into how companies can achieve resilience through performance robustness and how this affects the restoration time (i.e., the time period from the problem occurrence to the time when the company performance returns to the previous operational level). Moreover, it studies how digital technology adoption allowed firms to become more resilient during the COVID-19 outbreak by exploiting high robustness and improving restoration time. Our findings reveal that, among the several performance indicators investigated, only the robustness of Sales is of particular significance in contributing to restoration time. As regards the technologies deployed, Blockchain, 3D Printing, and Artificial Intelligence had a positive impact on firms’ resilience during the outbreak.
... The vast majority of the literature in environmental management highlights the importance of an efficient production system as an antecedent to GSCM (De Giovanni, 2016;De Giovanni & Vinzi, 2014b;Rao & Holt, 2005;Theyel, 2000). Colicchia, Creazza, and Dallari (2017) confirm this statement also in the fast moving consumer goods industry, in which the use of intermodal transport systems enables a Lean approach, which improves GSCM performance. ...
... A good environmental reputation might lead to lower costs and higher price premiums, status, and product quality, thus implying a positive impact on operational and economic performance (Montabon et al., 2007). The literature reports mixed findings about the links between EM with operational and economic performance (Rao, 2002;De Giovanni, 2012;De Giovanni & Vinzi, 2014b). In order to contribute to this debate, it is hypothesized that: ...
This paper investigates the impact of a process innovation strategy that firms implement through Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies on lean practices and green supply chains. It analyses whether process innovation can be used as a lever to strengthen the relationships among Leanness, Green Supply Chain Management and Performance. The results reveal that Leanness facilitates the supplier collaboration on environmental programs and positively contributes to environmental and operational performance. In contrast, it exerts a positive second order effect on economic performance, which should then be pursued as a long term target. A process innovation strategy based on I4.0 technologies improves the effect of Leanness on operational performance, which also leads to higher economic outcomes. Nevertheless, firms can gain higher performance either by collaborating with suppliers on environmental programs or by investing in I4.0 technologies but not with both.
... According to these findings, firms are asked to establish green production practices because the market has high expectations with respect to environmental issues and legislation imposes important restrictions on the general impact of a business (Sun et al. 2019). Firms are thus called to continuously invest in green innovations to reduce emissions, save energy in production, cut down wastes, manage pollution (Cherrafi et al. 2017;De Giovanni and Vinzi 2014b), take advantage of recycled products (Panda et al. 2017), and, more generally, enhance environmental performance (Schiederig et al. 2012). Although firms commit to environmentfriendly strategies, business development can bring the undesired effect of increasing the overall environmental damage. ...
... Therefore, cars emitted even less than before, especially after 2011. However, the emissions level still ramps up with increasing sales (De Giovanni and Vinzi 2014b). This evidence highlights an interesting operational trade-off we seek to investigate in this research: Investments in green innovation improve the single-product environmental performance but do not improve the overall emissions in the planet due to a larger consumer willingness to purchase cars and then a higher number of cars in a given territory. ...
This paper investigates a dynamic supply chain model in which a supplier decides both the wholesale price and the green process innovation investments while a manufacturer sets the retail price. We refer to Industry 4.0 technologies like Robotics, Automated Guided Vehicles and 3D printing, which allow firms to reduce the amount of resources wasted and the emissions, generating an overall environmental benefit as well as a reduction of the marginal production cost. The environmental performance positively influences the demand, which leads to larger production volume and in turn damages the environmental performance via negative externalities (e.g., emissions). We resolve this operational trade-off and compare an uncoordinated setting to a revenue sharing contract complemented by a collaborative program. We show that the overall benefit of environmental cooperation in green process innovation entails the existence of a profit-Pareto-improving region. Nevertheless, the maximum environmental performance fails to occur in the profit-Pareto-improving region, which shows the mismatch between economic and environmental performance. Moreover, a wholesale price contract might help to enhance environmental performance while supply chains might prefer a revenue sharing contract or vertical integrated chain to maximize profits.
... Hsueh (2014) proposed a revenue sharing contract embedded in corporate social responsibility for the coordination problem of a two-tier supply chain that improves the social responsibility performance of supply chain enterprises by using improved revenue sharing contract [14]. Giovanni et al. (2014) established a performance concept model based on a green supply chain on the basis of existing literature on the impact of environmental management, and suggested the emissions trading system is not better than the emissions trading on the environment and has a better economic performance [15]. M. Faccio et al. (2014) considered the problem of the innovative sustainable closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), and introduced a linear programming model to minimize the total cost of the supply chain. ...
... Hsueh (2014) proposed a revenue sharing contract embedded in corporate social responsibility for the coordination problem of a two-tier supply chain that improves the social responsibility performance of supply chain enterprises by using improved revenue sharing contract [14]. Giovanni et al. (2014) established a performance concept model based on a green supply chain on the basis of existing literature on the impact of environmental management, and suggested the emissions trading system is not better than the emissions trading on the environment and has a better economic performance [15]. M. Faccio et al. (2014) considered the problem of the innovative sustainable closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), and introduced a linear programming model to minimize the total cost of the supply chain. ...
Based on Stackelberg's master–slave game theory and green index decision-making conditions, this paper studies the benefit coordination of a supply chain network composed of a business flow network and logistics network, discusses the decision-making behavior of the main body of the supply chain network under the performance of green contracts or speculative behavior, respectively, and further constructs the supply chain network collaborative benefit coordination model under the guidance of a manufacturer considering a green development index. The supply chain network interest coordination model analyzes the relationship between the dominant manufacturer behavior and the supply chain network green index and network profit. The results show that fulfilling green contracts helps improve the profitability and sustainability of supply chain networks. A counter-intuitive but interesting result is that the dominant manufacturers increase the cost-sharing ratio or penalties of the logistics network, which will reduce the profit level and green index of the logistics network, and increase the cost-sharing ratio or punishment of the suppliers. Strength will increase the profitability and green index of the logistics network. Finally, we validate the relevant conclusions of the model through numerical simulation analysis.
... They found that environmental collaboration was not effective with the ETS registered firms. This is because ETS registered firms have only focused on their environmental management performances ( Giovanni and Vinzi, 2014a, b). Similarly, Zhu and Geng (2013) worked on drivers and barriers of Chinese energy saving and emission reduction goals. ...
... It is a challenge for managers and researchers to decide whether the adoption of low carbon supply chain strategies improves a firm's economic and operational performances. Although few empirical studies ( Giovanni and Vinzi, 2014a;Nishitani et al., 2016) have been reported in the literature, the measuring construct for low carbon supply chain practices is still in the underdeveloped stage. Therefore, there is a need of developing a comprehensive construct for measuring the effectiveness of LCSCM. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature on low carbon supply chain management (LCSCM) and classify it on contextual base. It also aims at identifying key decision-making issues in LCSCM. This paper also highlights some of the future challenges and scope of research in this domain.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis is carried out by systematically collecting the literature from major academic sources over a period of 18 years (2000-2017), identifying structural dimensions and classifying it on contextual base.
Findings
There is an increasing trend of research on LCSCM, but this research is still in a nascent stage. All supply chain functions such as supplier selection, inventory planning, network design and logistic decisions have been redefined by integrating emissions-related issues.
Research limitations/implications
Limitation of this study is inherent in its unit of analysis. Only peer-reviewed journal articles published in English language have been considered in this study.
Practical implications
Findings of prior studies on low carbon inventory control, transportation planning, facility allocation, location selection and supply chain coordination have been highlighted in this study. This will help supply chain practitioners in decision making.
Originality/value
Though there are an increasing number of studies about carbon emission-related issues in supply chain management, the present literature lacks to provide a review of the overarching publications. This paper addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive review of literature on emissions-related issues in supply chain management.
... This section provides the empirical results of the hypotheses testing by considering the complete sample; hence, no group was considered in this regard, while all the constructs were considered reflective. According to [50], the use of reflective scales allows one to verify the firms' capability on a certain field. Hereby, we wish to detect the firms' capability to make CSC function, to be technologically ahead, to be green by investing in sustainable practices, as well as to obtain business outcomes. ...
Background: This study investigates how firms can enhance the functionality of their circular supply chains (CSCs) by adopting a portfolio of sustainable practices as well as digital technologies to increase performance. It analyzes the benefits that firms can obtain when investing in specific technologies to boost the impact of technologies and sustainable practices on CSCs, and further increase performance. Methods: We test several hypotheses by using structural equation modeling as well as multi-group analysis to verify whether CSCs can be achieved through sustainable practices and technologies and improve the firms’ performance. Results: The empirical results partially support the research hypotheses. While the main research hypotheses are fully supported, the analysis of single digital technologies reveals that only a few solutions can contribute to both the management and the improvement of the CSC. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the identification of green suppliers and ad hoc environmental regulations, combined with attention to the origin and provenance of raw materials, can promote a CSC. Moreover, transportation management systems (TMS) and the internet of things (IoT) are efficient technologies for managing transportation and product flow in the CSC. Furthermore, machine learning (ML) is effective in making positive green decisions, and 3D printing can extend product life.
... Companies are therefore called upon to continuously invest in eco-innovation to reduce emissions [14], save energy in production [15], reduce waste, manage pollution [16], exploit recycled products [17] and, more generally, enhance their environmental performance [18]. ...
A fundamental objective for the effectiveness and, above all, for the efficiency of the dy�namics of environmental sustainability is related to the correct directing of project actions towards
those areas that need them most. This contribution intends to verify whether the spatial distribution
of eco-innovation projects in some regions of Southern Italy affects areas characterized by greater
environmental fragility. The proposed approach highlights a centrality of the spatial perspective,
thus underlining how important and necessary it is for political actors to evaluate the goodness of
projects not in absolute terms but in relation to their relationship with the territory in which they
are implemented. To this end, the methodology used envisages two actions, a cartographic compar�ison between the distribution of environmental projects and that of environmental fragility and an
analytical evaluation of the spatial autocorrelation between contiguous areas to detect any geo�graphical determinisms. The results show a “positive” independence regarding the presence of eco�innovation even in the absence of environmental fragility but not vice versa.
... These three pillars become the key ingredients of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), which is a term coined by John Elkington in the early 1980s and referred to the firms' capacity to achieve successful economic, environmental, and social performance, and represents a proxy to measure CSR. Therefore, the TBL is an antecedence of CSR; the latter has broader targets that also include legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibility (De Giovanni & Vinzi, 2014). According to Norman and MacDonal (2004), firms committing themselves to the TBL principles make a real, verifiable, and trustable commitment toward CSR. ...
Although digital technologies grant documented operational and economic benefits, they can activate unwanted consequences for the environment and society. This research investigates these issues by exploring how firms can create a portfolio of technologies to perform corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals and then achieving responsible digitalization. The latter is defined as the firms' capacity of adopting digital technologies without underperforming in terms of CSR. Accordingly, we investigate the relationships between digital technologies and CSR to discover the firms' capacity to achieve responsible digitalization targets. Furthermore, we explore how the use of some green practices allows firms to increase the chances of achieving responsible digitalization goals.
... Marin et al. [25] show that the EU Emission Trading Scheme (henceforth: EU ETS) has a positive impact on the turnover, investment intensity, and labor productivity of firms. De Giovanni and Vinzi [26] found no relationship between the impact of the EU ETS and CFP. Jong et al. [27] show that shareholders regard the EU ETS as value-relevant, which is in line with the positive relation Delmas et al. [6] found between Tobin's Q and carbon emissions reduction. ...
Using a cross-country dataset covering 9265 observations on 1785 firms representing 53 countries over the period 2004–2019, this study investigates the relation between carbon emissions reduction and corporate financial performance (CFP). We perform OLS regressions with fixed effects. We found that carbon emissions reduction increases the return on assets, the return on equity, and the return on sales, whereas it has no effect on the Tobin’s Q and the current ratio. The positive relationship with the return on assets is stronger for firms with a higher responsibility score. We study country characteristics by modeling GDP growth, overall emissions within a country, and the presence of carbon emissions legislation. Our results indicate that the overall carbon emissions of a country and the presence of carbon emissions legislation are related to both corporate carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Moderating effects of the country’s overall emissions and the presence of carbon emissions legislation do not affect the relationship between carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Despite the further understanding gained, the issue of whether it “pays to be green” can still not be resolved well.
... The literature has documented the importance of the relational structure within SCs; how collaboration and interactions between SC members can lead to superior operational and environmental performances [24,46]. Around 70% of the products cost refers to raw materials [47]. In particular, the stakeholders' involvement can support a more effective sustainability approach and the transition toward the CE [26]. ...
This paper analyses the firms’ chances to consider circular economy as a part of the corporate strategy. The analysis of four Italian firms engaged in circular economy programs allows us to detect its connections with the corporate strategy, the real activities involved, the supply chain network ensuring circularity, the industrial symbiosis, as well as the links with performance. Our findings highlight that circular economy is a true business lever when the corporate strategy complements and supports its development. This allows firms to achieve high level targets that go beyond the traditional targets of social, environmental, and economic performance, and include circular supply chain, eco-innovations, and industrial symbiosis.
... The CE thinking requires a shared CE-oriented vision among all the stakeholders (Leising et al., 2018). Academics have demonstrated the importance of the relational structure within SCs; how the active involvement of all the stakeholders and structured collaborations between SC members, particularly with suppliers, can lead to superior operational and environmental performances (De Giovanni and Vinzi, 2014;Hussain and Mali, 2020). Suppliers can foster the greening transformation of SCs and ensure higher levels of efficiency and market responsiveness (Cao and Zhang,2011). ...
Our planet is experiencing accelerated climate change and environmental degradation; companies have to include environmental concerns into their strategic planning and progressively shift towards circular business models for a more sustainable economic paradigm (Vanalle et al., 2017). The Circular Economy pushes the boundaries of sustainability and posits a crucial importance on companies’ supply chains that need to become circular, Circular Supply Chains (CSCs).
The key research question is to find out whether CE, in addition to being a tool for environmental sustainability, is also a real business opportunity for companies. This study provides an empirical contribution through a multiple case study analysis of four Italian companies operating in different industrial sectors. Their analysis highlights the importance of technological innovations, industrial partnerships and partners involvement in view of a more integrated and efficient SC. The findings show that CE is a business opportunity but for its successful adoption the convinced engagement of shareholders and top management is necessary to drive the required technology innovation, to implement integrated CSCs and to affectively introduce cultural/organisational changes.
... Therefore, Industry 4.0 considerably modifies the relationships among SC members, their joint decision-making process as well as the common actions and goals (Simatupang et al., 2002). This urgency emerges even more in the recent view of sustainability, which imposes firms to develop sustainable solutions within the firms' network (De Giovanni and Esposito Vinzi, 2014b) We seek to contribute the SC coordination literature, which consists of several mechanisms for sharing the benefits and the risks of jointly manage the flows of good, information and money. Most the existing studies primarily on theoretical research mainly game-theory oriented (read De Giovanni and Zaccour (2019) for a recent survey) while neglecting the analysis in real business. ...
Objectives. This paper seeks to identify an ideal contract for supply chain coordination, in the context of Industry 4.0. It uses a dyadic approach of adopting a contract as a mechanism for supply chain coordination. Contracts can be implemented for coordinating the supply chain by means of increasing both the company's performance and the suppliers' capabilities in the context of Industry 4.0 while keeping an eye on sustainability. Methodology. Because this is an explorative study, it applies a comparative case study on three companies operating in the Netherlands, belonging to the trailer industry, and applying the industry 4.0 paradigms and sustainable practice. Findings. The results show that the ideal contract involves different balanced scorecard factors and supplier capabilities.. Research limits. This research focuses on one specific industry as well as to one country. Future research can replicate this research design to other sectors as well as other countries Practical implications. Practitioners, approaching to the Industry 4.0 in a sustainable way, can use this study as a reference to choose contracts to coordinate the supply chain. Originality of the study. This paper adopts a dual research approach by combining the balanced scorecard theory with the supplier capabilities theory. This combination creates a better understanding of the driving motivations for implementing contracts in the context of Industry 4.0 and sustainability.
... On the other hand, firms do not look at environmental practices as an opportunity to develop their business but rather as a cost-center (De Giovanni, 2012). This means that firms activate environmental programs more to conform with restrictions from regulations and legislations (e.g., Emission Trading) rather than extrapolating additional value through some atypical managerial practice (De Giovanni and Esposito Vinzi, 2014). If environmental management is economically viable, firms and suppliers will invest more in it. ...
This paper investigates whether environmental management is an economically sustainable business. While firms invest in green production and green supply chain activities with the primary purpose of reducing their environmental impact, the reciprocal relationships with economic performance need to be clarified. Would firms and suppliers adjust their environmental strategies if the higher economic value that environmental management generates is reinvested in greening actions? We found out that environmental management positively influences economic performance as second order (long term) target, to be reached conditioned by higher environmental performance; in addition, firms can increase their performance if they reinvest the higher economic value gained through environmental management in green practices: While investing in environmental management programs is a short term strategy, economic rewards can be obtained only with some delays. Consequently, environmental management is an economically sustainable business only for patient firms. In the evaluation of these reciprocal relationships, we discovered that green supply chain initiatives are more effective and more economically sustainable than internal actions.
Amid rising market competitiveness, Industry Revolution (IR) 4.0 oriented technological integration is considered an imperative driver of sustainable organizational performances and green supply chain management. This study explores the role of IR 4.0 powered process technology innovation in enhancing Leanness, Green Supply Chain Management, and Organizational Performance (including operational, economic, and environmental) during COVID-19. For this purpose, a novel conceptual framework was developed, and Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLSM) was employed on primary data of 314 respondents collected from Chinese manufacturing industries. Moreover, Multi-Group Analysis was also implemented to compare firms’ willingness to implement IR 4.0 technologies powered process innovation. The results exhibit that Green IR 4.0 powered process technology innovation improves firm’s leanness and stimulates environmental, optional, and economic performances. Similar findings are endorsed through the green supply chain management channel. Manifestly, COVID-19 instigated firms to adopt IR 4.0-based technological processes for efficient supply chain management. Based on these results, organizations are recommended to integrate IR 4.0 induced technology innovation to spur manufacturing firms’ eco-economic and operational performance.
This chapter attempts to operationalize the construct Reactivity in the domain of Operations and Supply Chain Management. The literature has already developed several constructs such as Agile, Lean, and Leagile. Nevertheless, we identify a theoretical gap when considering the unexpected demand and the performance.
Environmental alliances are a common response to societal sustainability demands. In environmental alliances, firms collaboratively exploit and explore environmental technologies to address market opportunities while simultaneously generating positive environmental impacts. A striking idiosyncrasy is that in addition to economic value, environmental alliances generate two types of external value: environmental value from positive effects on air, water, land and biodiversity, and knowledge value from innovations in environmental technologies. Research on motivations for environmental alliances is dispersed and underdeveloped compared to the well‐established literature on motivations for strategic alliances that emphasize economic value. This study therefore develops a classification of motivations for environmental alliances by combining the literature on strategic alliances and that on environmental and knowledge value. The resulting classification includes motivations for environmental alliances to generate environmental and knowledge value as well as motivations to create economic value by internalizing environmental and knowledge value. A systematic review of 123 articles on environmental inter‐firm alliances identifies specific motivations to populate the new classification. We show that alliance partners are motivated to share sustainable resources, reduce sustainability risk, respond to stakeholders or invest in specific sustainable assets to generate external value. They collaborate to reduce costs or enhance competitive advantage, reputation or legitimacy to internalize external value. The resource‐based view, resource‐dependence view, institutional theory and transaction cost economics have not previously distinguished between motivations to generate and internalize external value. We extend their area of application from strategic alliances to environmental alliances, and thus beyond the exclusive pursuit of economic value.
This book proposes a new concept in the literature of Operations and
Supply Chain Management called Reactivity. Reactivity is a dynamic
capability through which firms properly satisfy the demand without underperforming
from both an operational and an economic point of view
when unexpected events perturb the business. When some events such as
the September 11th terror attack occur, the concepts currently developed
in the literature and exemplified by Agile, Lean, and Leagile, do not properly
work within these contexts. We propose the operationalization of
the Reactivity concept by combining both qualitative and empirical research
to discover the practices through which firms become reactive as
well as the real implied benefits.
This book proposes a new concept in the literature of Operations and
Supply Chain Management called Reactivity. Reactivity is a dynamic
capability through which firms properly satisfy the demand without underperforming
from both an operational and an economic point of view
when unexpected events perturb the business. When some events such as
the September 11th terror attack occur, the concepts currently developed
in the literature and exemplified by Agile, Lean, and Leagile, do not properly
work within these contexts. We propose the operationalization of
the Reactivity concept by combining both qualitative and empirical research
to discover the practices through which firms become reactive as
well as the real implied benefits.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to update the work of Carter and Easton (2011), by conducting a systematic review of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature in the primary logistics and supply chain management journals, during the 2010–2018 timeframe.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology which follows the methodology employed by Carter and Easton (2011). An evaluation of this methodology, using the Modified AMSTAR criteria, demonstrates a high level of empirical validity.
Findings
The field of SSCM continues to evolve with changes in substantive focus, theoretical lenses, unit of analysis, methodology and type of analysis. However, there are still abundant future research opportunities, including investigating under-researched topics such as diversity and human rights/working conditions, employing the group as the unit of analysis and better addressing empirical validity and social desirability bias.
Research limitations/implications
The findings result in prescriptions and a broad agenda to guide future research in the SSCM arena. The final section of the paper provides additional avenues for future research surrounding theory development and decision making.
Originality/value
This SLR provides a rigorous, methodologically valid review of the continuing evolution of empirical SSCM research over a 28-year time period.
In this paper, we investigate the ongoing endeavor to transition from conventional transportation to more sustainable systems. In addition to the traditional environmental objective, we propose a novel measure to quantify the social performance by using the concepts of Distributive Justice (DJ) and Sustainable Transition (ST) to investigate the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). In our context, DJ is defined as fair access to transportation, the latter being a vital means for people to realize their full capabilities in the society. Furthermore, ST measures the social dimension through DJ and the environmental dimension through AFV sales. To model the complex network of relationships characterizing this framework, we use System Dynamics methodology to study the long term impact of considering DJ and ST. Our findings show that policy makers should adjust their targets to consider DJ criteria along with environmental objectives, thus aiming at a sustainable transition. By doing so, they can control and hasten the transition to AFV. Finally, we evaluate the contribution of each policy instrument to guide the policy-making process and catalyze this transition.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate the conceptual model that presents the determinants of Tier 2 consumer’s online shopping attitude and the interrelationships among the constructs across the three Tier 2 cities in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses survey-based data from three Tier 2 cities of North India – Kota, Agra and Jalandhar and uses a combination of statistical techniques to assess psychometric properties of the scales and conduct the measurement and structural invariance.
Findings
The findings of the paper reveals that technology readiness, consumer innovativeness, fondness for branded products and perceived brand unavailability act as determinants of online shopping attitude and there is a positive relationship between online shopping attitude and online purchase intention among Tier 2 consumers in India while perceived offline hedonic value do not have any significant impact.
Research limitations/implications
Future researchers can use this model with additional confidence given its cross-segment robustness.
Practical implications
Online marketers can use the antecedents identified in this study to develop and encourage positive online shopping attitude in small town India.
Originality/value
This research paper is the first one that investigated online shopping attitudes of Indian Tier 2 consumers. Importantly, it validated the determinants of online shopping attitude among Tier 2 consumers. National and international e-tailers aiming to develop and expand their operations to India now have the critical empirical verification concerned with the determinants of online shopping attitude and behaviour in India which would be meaningful to develop a sound marketing strategy.
This paper investigates whether a supply chain can achieve coordination by implementing two mechanisms: a cooperative advertising program and a price discount mechanism. We start by analyzing a consignment contract with a revenue-sharing agreement in which a manufacturer decides both the price and the quality investment while the retailer sets the store advertising efforts. The manufacturer is the brand owner and increases the goodwill through quality and pricing. We solve three dynamic games, in which the manufacturer is the Stackelberg leader, and compare the related solutions. We discover that the manufacturer, as chain leader, will always propose the adoption of a coordination mechanism. When the manufacturer opts for a cooperative program, the retailer is always economically better off; thus, a cooperative program is always profit-Pareto-improving. When the manufacturer opts for a price discount mechanism, the retailer is always economically worse-off because the discount applies only to her margins. Nevertheless, the price discount mechanism is profit-Pareto-improving in the case of high production cost: The price discount allows for considerably reducing the retail price, which translates to a substantial increase in demand. In all other cases, the retailer sets zero price discount, thus preferring a non-coordinated framework.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether implementing certain innovation strategies and adopting a portfolio of innovations improve the relationship between supplier integration (SI) and operational performance (OP).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test several research hypotheses by using a data set of 173 firms. Data were collected by interviewing managers, presidents and directors, from ten European countries and across nine different industries. The authors use structural equation modeling to estimate the relationships between SI and OP. The authors apply multi-group analysis to test the effects of certain innovation strategies and a portfolio of innovations on these relationships.
Findings
The authors show that SI improves internal OP but has no direct effect on external OP. The latter can only be improved through well-performing internal operations. The adoption of an incremental product innovation strategy improves the relationship between internal and external OP and leads to more effective SI. Other types of innovations do not help in improving the impact of SI on OP. Finally, the adoption of a portfolio of innovations does not enhance the influence of SI on OP. Thus, firms should focus on a small number of innovations rather than expanding their innovation portfolio to improve the effectiveness of SI on OP.
Practical implications
When firms aim to improve the impact of SI on OP, they should concentrate on incremental product innovations. Other strategies obtained by combining process, incremental and radical innovations are not adequate for that purpose. An expanded portfolio of innovations does not improve the effect of supplier innovation on OP.
Originality/value
This research suggests how the impact of SI on OP can be improved by adopting certain innovation strategies and without diversifying the portfolio of innovation projects.
This article aims to present the Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices from a comprehensive point of view and to analyze the subject's behaviour in the last ten years, through a systematic literature review/bibliometric analysis in articles published from 2006 to 2016. Through the research profiling method, we identified that (i) the most frequent research contexts were "GSCM financial impact" and "motivations to GSCM implementation", (ii) the automotive, textile / manufacturing and electronic sectors were the most discussed, (iii) the most used research methods were those involving empirical procedures, iv) Web of Science and Scopus databases gathered 96.7% of the articles used in this analysis, (v) there is a high concentration of researches from countries academically established and recognized, while developing countries are also present, (vi) Journal of Cleaner Production was the most cited journal and with more publications about GSCM, (vii) Samir Srivastava’s article had the highest Citation Score, and (viii) there are 11 GSCM research clusters. In addition, we discuss the content covered in the literature review, seeking to extend the understanding of the scenario where the GSCM is inserted nowadays and helping to identify research opportunities for researchers interested in such subject.
A literatura refere-se à extensão da gestão ambientalmente correta ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos como o conceito de Gestão Ambiental em Cadeia de Suprimentos (GACS). Este estudo teve como objetivo realizar duas revisões sistemáticas da literatura a fim de i) verificar quais são os estudos existentes que envolvem as pressões que levam à adoção de práticas da GACS; e ii) identificar quais são os artigos que abordam os desempenhos alcançados com a adoção dessas práticas. Os resultados indicaram que poucos estudos realmente abordam essas relações separadamente (práticas/pressões e práticas/desempenhos), sendo ainda mais reduzida a quantidade de trabalhos que abordam as duas relações conjuntamente. Detectou-se, ainda, que os estudos sobre esses dois temas são recentes, com a maioria publicada a partir de 2011. Constatou-se também que as práticas da GACS mais citadas nos artigos analisados foram: Gestão Ambiental Interna, Compra Verde, Cooperação com os Clientes, Eco-design e Recuperação do Investimento. As pressões mais citadas estão relacionadas com fatores internos e externos à empresa (principalmente Regulamentação, Mercado, Concorrência, Fornecedores e Sociedade). Finalmente, os desempenhos relacionados às práticas da GACS mais estudados foram: ambiental, econômico e operacional. Traçou-se, assim, cinco proposições resultantes da pesquisa, as quais foram ilustradas em um modelo teórico conceitual.
Purpose
– Empirical research provides evidence that green supply chain management (SCM) practices positively impact firm performance. Yet, questions remain regarding how firms configure their organizations and design green practices to achieve improved performance, especially in light of a constantly changing business environment. This research uses the resource-based and strategic choice theories to better understand the antecedent roles of two strategic orientations, supply chain orientation (SCO) and environmental orientation (EO), on both the implementation and outcomes of green SCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
– Survey responses from 367 supply chain managers are tested through structural equation modeling.
Findings
– Findings suggest that a combination of SCO and EO capabilities positively influence the implementation of green SCM practices, and positively impact firm performance. Results also suggest that the capability bundle of SCO, EO, and green SCM should be adaptable to the changing business environment.
Originality/value
– This research contributes through the combination of the resource-based theory, supported by strategic choice theory, to better understand how managers configure and re-configure valuable green-related capabilities to adapt to the constantly changing business environment.
This study tests the impact of Internal and External Environmental Management on performance in firms subject to the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature, and tested on a large sample of Italian firms. The unit of analysis is single firms subject to the ETS that are involved in Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The ETS mechanism has been shown to be marginally beneficial for some firms while supply chain relationships are also influenced by such system. Firms need to identify suitable practices to boost the effectiveness of their environmental strategies. We propose the implementation of a monitoring strategy as a useful practice for firms to be environmentally and economically better off. Our results show that firms subject to the ETS should rely on their own (internal) Environmental Management alone for improving environmental performance, as collaboration with suppliers only has a positive impact on economic performance. However, implementation of a monitoring strategy allows a firm subject to the ETS to partially offset the inefficiency created by the system. We show that environmental collaboration does not become more effective when a monitoring practice is put in place.
Organizations are paying greater attention to the environmental impact of their business activities, as external stakeholders such as shareholders, customers and policy makers are increasingly demanding improved environmental performance from firms globally. Clean production and green products have become important issues to manufacturers as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has produced frameworks such as the ISO14001 series. These standards are intended to provide organizations with the elements of an effective environmental management system (EMS) that can be integrated with other management requirements and assist organizations achieve environmental and economic goals.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the stream of thought regarding the concept of demand and supply integration (DSI) within the domain of environmental responsibility and green marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual application of theory to strategic‐level concepts is used to develop propositions representing a theoretical approach to the integration of green marketing and green supply chain management (SCM).
Findings
Based on stakeholder theory, the authors propose that greater value will be perceived by customer stakeholders when the firm is able to successfully manage and coordinate demand (marketing) and supply (SCM) functions, ensuring that customer stakeholders receive what they are promised in regard to environmental products and services. For this relationship to offer competitive advantage and higher firm performance, the authors contend that it is necessary to better understand how customer stakeholders perceive firms' environmental initiatives, and to investigate if the degree to which a firm's demand and supply functions are integrated influences these perceptions.
Research limitations/implications
Scholars will benefit from ideas and questions put forth in this paper as it suggests specific avenues to pursue empirically in order to understand stakeholder perceptions of a firm's environmental responsibility activities.
Practical implications
Managers will benefit from the results of this paper by better understanding the benefits of DSI in creating marketing campaigns for environmental products and services that stakeholders perceive as legitimate.
Originality/value
The authors introduce the concept of DSI to the green marketing and green SCM literature and position DSI within the broader rubric of environmental commitment in the firm.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature in the principal logistics and supply chain management journals, across a 20‐year time frame.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a systematic literature review methodology. This methodology allows for the minimization of researcher bias and the maximization of reliability and replicability. The study's empirical validity is further enhanced by demonstrating high levels of inter‐coder reliability across families of codes.
Findings
The field of SSCM has evolved from a perspective and investigation of standalone research in social and environmental areas; through a corporate social responsibility perspective; to the beginnings of the convergence of perspectives of sustainability as the triple bottom line and the emergence of SSCM as a theoretical framework. While the SSCM research has become more theoretically rich and methodologically rigorous, there are numerous opportunities for further advancing theory, methodology, and the managerial relevance of future inquiries.
Research limitations/implications
The trends and gaps identified through our analysis allow us to develop a cogent agenda to guide future SSCM research.
Practical implications
The current perspectives of SSCM hold important implications for managers, by directing limited resources toward projects which intersect environmental and/or social performance, and economic performance.
Originality/value
The paper provides a systematic, rigorous, and methodologically valid review of the evolution of empirical SSCM research across a 20‐year time period.
In this paper, we investigate the relationships between Environmental Management (EM) and performance to verify: whether the implementation of an effective internal environmental is a firm’s precondition to belong to a green supply chain; which type of environmental practices (either internal or external) contribute the most to increasing a firm’s performances; and, whether performing the environment translates into higher economic performance. We use Structural Equation Modeling for testing our research hypotheses on a large sample of Italian firms, and estimate the structural paths between constructs by means of both covariance- and component-based approaches. The use of both estimation methods allows us contributing to the recent debate about the specification of the “performance” construct as an emerging rather than as a latent variable, and then using formative rather than reflective indicators. Formative indicators are used whenever a construct does not exist without its measures, any change in one of the indicators causes a change in the construct, and the measures are ingredients of the construct rather than being caused by it. For instance, Economic performance is an emerging construct since economic measures (e.g., profits and market share) contribute to forming the construct rather than reflecting the behavior of the latent variable. We show that the correct model specification changes the estimates of the path coefficients and leads to research findings aligned to the literature. Our results indicate that being green internally is a prerequisite for collaboration into a green supply chain, internal EM contributes to increasing performance more than external EM, while performing the environment does not lead to a higher economic performance.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of both internal and external environmental management (EM) on the triple bottom line (TBL), which embraces environmental, economic, and social performance. Both direct and indirect effects are estimated in order to capture the overall relationships between EM and performance. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the ongoing debate of measuring the latent variable “performance” as a formative rather than reflective construct.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature in EM and considering the TBL paradigm. The model is tested on a large sample of Italian firms; thus, the unit of analysis is represented by single firms. A structural equation model (SEM) is tested to analyze the data, and its estimation is performed using both Lisrel and PLS – namely, covariance‐ and component‐based SEM.
Findings
Covariance‐based SEM shows that internal EM is a successful driver of TBL. EM directly improves environmental and social performance, but contributes only indirectly to the economic bottom line. In contrast, external EM is a less effective driver, contributing only positively to environmental performance and exerting only an indirect, marginal impact on economic performance. When using a formative mode to measure performance and component‐based SEM, internal EM has a positive direct and indirect influence on the TBL; however, external EM does not directly improve economic performance.
Research limitations/implications
Data collection was completed at the end of 2008 and comprises only data about Italian firms. Items in the questionnaire allow for a two‐year lag period.
Practical implications
When targeting to meet the TBL, managers should concentrate their efforts on internal EM, which is more effective than external EM.
Originality/value
The paper tests the direct and indirect impacts of internal and external EM on the TBL measuring performance using a formative model and showing the different results obtained in the causal relationships.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among green, lean, and global supply chain strategies as found in the literature, with emphasis on the concurrent implementation of these three strategic initiatives, in order to develop a research agenda to guide theoretically based future research that informs managerial decision making.
Design/methodology/approach
– An extensive literature review is conducted to examine research and practice with respect to the concurrent implementation of green, lean, and global supply chain strategies.
Findings
– An in‐depth examination of the literature revealed drivers, barriers, converging, and contradictory points across the three supply chain strategies. Future research opportunities fall into four major themes: the need for theoretically grounded research, the need for a multi‐functional approach, the need for a systems approach that adds strategic insight, and the need for integrated measurement application. Managerial aspects are highlighted in the discussion of the metrics across the three strategic interfaces and integrated life cycle management is suggested as a framework for measurement application across the three supply chain strategies.
Originality/value
– Separate literature streams have arisen to address issues in green, lean, and global supply chain management, but research has largely neglected the intersection of these three strategies practiced by multinational organizations. The current research synthesizes the literature addressing the intersections of green, lean, and global supply chain management, and suggests a research agenda to redress gaps in the literature.
Automobile assembly plants worldwide face increasing pressures in the environmental arena. How a plant responds to these issues has significant implications for the cost and quality of plant operations. This paper uses three case studies of US assembly plants to examine the role of partnerships between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers in improving the environmental performance of manufacturing operations. We find that strong partnerships with suppliers, supported by appropriate incentive systems, were a significant element of the successful application of innovative environmental technologies. Supplier staff members were an important part of achieving environmental performance improvements while maintaining production quality and cost goals. The management factors influencing the extent and nature of supplier involvement are identified. The results of this work point to the importance of suppliers in addressing the manufacturing challenges of the future.
Purpose
This study seeks to explore the moderating impact of relationship conditions existing between a customer and its suppliers on the uptake and effectiveness of the customer's environmental performance requirements (otherwise known as “green‐supply”).
Design/methodology/approach
The study assesses the extent to which a supplier's environmental performance is influenced by its customer's environmental performance requirements when specific relationship conditions (investment, contracting and monitoring routines) are taken into account. Data were collected through a survey of first and second tier component manufacturers in the Australian automotive industry and analysed using linear regression and MMR.
Findings
Suppliers were found to be more responsive to their customers' environmental performance requirements where increasing levels of relationship‐specific investment occurred. As the level of investment in the customer‐supplier relationship increased, suppliers become less likely to believe that they would be penalized for non‐compliance with the customer's environmental performance requirements.
Research limitations/implications
Survey data were collected in 2004 and are limited to the Australian automotive industry. The sample size available for the regression analysis also precluded the use of more comprehensive analytic techniques.
Practical implications
The research offers new insight into the issue of how firms might improve the environmental performance of suppliers and the sustainability of their supply chain.
Originality/value
Virtually no research exists on the actual effectiveness of green supply requirements when placed in context with the realities of inter‐organizational dynamics. The findings suggest that traditional operations theory on inter‐organizational performance improvement is just as relevant to the use of environmental performance requirements.
Environmental management has the potential to play a pivotal role in the financial performance of the firm. Many individuals suggest that profitability is hurt by the higher production costs of environmental management initiatives, while others cite anecdotal evidence of increased profitability. A theoretical model is proposed that links strong environmental management to improved perceived future financial performance, as measured by stock market performance. The linkage to firm performance is tested empirically using financial event methodology and archival data of firm-level environmental and financial performance. Significant positive returns were measured for strong environmental management as indicated by environmental performance awards, and significant negative returns were measured for weak environmental management as indicated by environmental crises. The implicit financial market valuation of these events also was estimated. Cross-sectional analysis of the environmental award events revealed differences for first-time awards and between industries. First-time award announcements were associated with greater increases in market valuation, although smaller increases were observed for firms in environmentally dirty industries, possibly indicative of market skepticism. This linkage between environmental management and financial performance can be used by both researchers and practitioners as one measure of the benefits experienced by industry leaders, and as one criterion against which to measure investment alternatives.
This study aims to empirically investigate the construct of and the scale for evaluating green supply chain management (GSCM) practices implementation among manufacturers. With data collected from 341 Chinese manufacturers, two measurement models of GSCM practices implementation were tested and compared by confirmatory factor analysis. Our empirical findings suggest that both the first-order and the second-order models for GSCM implementation are reliable and valid. Our study contributes to the literature on empirical examination of the construct of GSCM practices implementation and to the practices of managers with a validated measurement scale to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in different facets of implementing GSCM practices in their organizations.
The Sustainable Product and/or Service Development (SPSD) approach is a pragmatic industry support encompassing a range of strategies aimed at maximising environmental and social performance in all types of “offerings” whether they are “products”, “services” or Product Service Systems (PSS). Implementation of the approach was tested in industry and conclusions reached on the effectiveness of the strategies included in terms of developing an offering with improved sustainability performance as well as practical use as an industry approach. Two strategies incorporated are functional and systems thinking, as these are seen as key for increasing the environmental benefits of offerings. This paper summarises the SPSD approach, general industry testing results, describes how and why functional and systems strategies are incorporated in it and industry testing results relating to their use. This provides valuable information on how functional and systems related considerations can be practically and effectively included in sustainable offering development.
Admitting banking in emissions trading systems reduces overall compliance costs by allowing for inter-temporal flexibility: cost savings can be traded over time. However, unless individual EU Member States (MS) decide differently, the transfer of unused allowances from the period of 2005–2007 into the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, i.e. 2008–2012, will be prohibited. In this paper, we first explore the implications of such a ban on banking when initial emission targets are lenient. This analysis is based on a simulation which was recently carried out in Germany with companies and with a student control group. The findings suggest that a EU-wide ban on banking would lead to efficiency losses in addition to those losses which arise from the lack of inter-temporal flexibility. Second, we use simple game-theoretic considerations to argue that, under reasonable assumptions, such a EU-wide ban on banking will be the equilibrium outcome. Thus, to avoid a possible prisoners’ dilemma, MS should have co-ordinated their banking decisions.
This paper aims to show how an emissions trading system could work if some participating entities are allocated an “emissions budget” or non-binding target. This will allow them to sell allowances if their actual emissions are less than their budget, but will not obligate them to buy allowances if their emissions exceed their budget. Different rules aiming at ensuring the environmental integrity of such a system are considered. Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change may wish to consider building a regime where developing countries are allocated emissions budgets on some provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and in full respect with the principles of the Convention. In any case such system would be complementary to the Clean Development Mechanism. The potential benefits would be•to provide non-Annex-I (developing) countries with substantial capital inflows, and stimulate their economic growth;•to allow Annex-I (Industrialised) Countries achieving their Kyoto commitments at the lowest possible cost;•and to achieve global participation towards the objective of the Convention while reducing the risk of creating “tropical hot air” by giving some developing countries more allowances than they need under a “business-as-usual” scenario.
Increasingly, purchasing managers are being asked not only to transform purchasing into a more strategic function but also to integrate environmental issues in their decisions. Introducing the environmental dimension into purchasing decisions embeds a new set of trade-offs in the decision, complicating the decision-making process with both qualitative and quantitative factors. Yet, few companies use any structured analysis to evaluate suppliers along environmental dimensions. In this study, we illustrate the use of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a decision support model to help managers understand the trade-offs between environmental dimensions. We then demonstrate how AHP can be used to evaluate the relative importance of various environmental traits and to assess the relative performance of several suppliers along these traits. Three case studies were carried out to demonstrate the benefits and weaknesses of using AHP in this manner. Finally, we examine how AHP can be incorporated into a comprehensive information system supporting Environmentally Conscious Purchasing (ECP).
Contingency planning is the first stage in developing a formal set of production planning and control activities for the reuse of products obtained via return flows in a closed‐loop supply chain. The paper takes a contingency approach to explore the factors that impact production planning and control for closed‐loop supply chains that incorporate product recovery. A series of three cases are presented, and a framework developed that shows the common activities required for all remanufacturing operations. To build on the similarities and illustrate and integrate the differences in closed‐loop supply chains, Hayes and Wheelwright’s product–process matrix is used as a foundation to examine the three cases representing Remanufacture‐to‐Stock (RMTS), Reassemble‐to‐Order (RATO), and Remanufacture‐to‐Order (RMTO). These three cases offer end‐points and an intermediate point for closed‐loop supply operations. Since they represent different positions on the matrix, characteristics such as returns volume, timing, quality, product complexity, test and evaluation complexity, and remanufacturing complexity are explored. With a contingency theory for closed‐loop supply chains that incorporate product recovery in place, past cases can now be reexamined and the potential for generalizability of the approach to similar types of other problems and applications can be assessed and determined.
The use of consumer pressure in greening the economy has long been advocated by environmentalists. This article takes the view that the traditional image of the consumer as the primary agent of environmental change is inadequate. Efforts to green the economy require an understanding of corporations and public organizations as consumers as well as an understanding of individuals as consumers. The article sets out the arguments for treating all organizations as consumers and as a dominant but underemphasized force in greening the economy. It then considers organizational consumption in the context of supply chains, with respect to the issue of agency within the organization and with respect to the transmissions of market signals for innovation. The discussion makes clear the importance of considering the interorganizational context and ways in which this context both constrains and enables green purchasing initiatives. Reference is made to examples from a range of organizations.
Management is on the verge of a major breakthrough in understanding how industrial company success depends on the interactions between the flows of information, materi-als, money, manpower, and capital equipment. The way these five flow systems interlock to amplify one another and to cause change and fluctuation will form the basis for antici-pating the effects of decisions, policies, organizational forms, and investment choices." (For-rester 1958, p. 37) Forrester introduced a theory of distribution management that recognized the integrated nature of organizational relationships. Because organizations are so intertwined, he argued that system dynam-ics can influence the performance of functions such as research, engineering, sales, and promotion.
The use of consumer pressure in greening the economy has long been advocated by environmentalists. This article takes the view that the traditional image of the consumer as the primary agent of environmental change is inadequate. Efforts to green the economy require an understanding of corporations and public organizations as consumers as well as an understanding of individuals as consumers. The article sets out the arguments for treating all organizations as consumers and as a dominant but underemphasized force in greening the economy. It then considers organizational consumption in the context of supply chains, with respect to the issue of agency within the organization and with respect to the transmissions of market signals for innovation. The discussion makes clear the importance of considering the interorganizational context and ways in which this context both constrains and enables green purchasing initiatives. Reference is made to examples from a range of organizations.
The use of e-business technologies between supply chain organizations has been thematic in recent literature. Organizational collaboration, the foundation of supply chain management, has been enabled by the development and use of e-business technologies. Organizational collaboration and information sharing, in turn, are expected to improve organizational performance. We propose and test a model of the relationship between organizational use of e-business technologies, organizational collaboration, and performance, using empirical data. Our model differs from past studies in that collaboration is viewed as two unique constructs, differentiating between intra- and inter-organizational collaboration. Our findings show that use of e-business technologies impacts performance both directly and indirectly by promoting both measures of collaboration. Intra-firm collaboration is also found to have a direct impact on organizational performance. However, the impact of inter-organizational collaboration on performance is found to be only indirect, through the impact of intra-organizational collaboration. These findings reveal the complexity of organizational collaboration, underscore the importance for companies to promote internal collaboration, and invest in information technologies that facilitate it.
This paper studies the relevance of the “greening of production” in the South-East Asian context. It investigates the various initiatives taken by the companies of this region and thereby identifies the factors that are critical in the process of greening production in this region. The significance of the factors are ascertained and validated through an empirical research that has been conducted across five countries of the region employing the structural equation-modeling framework.
Efficient implementation of closed-loop supply chains requires setting up appropriate logistics structures for the arising flows of used and recovered products. In this paper we consider logistics network design in a reverse logistics context. We present a generic facility location model and discuss differences with traditional logistics settings. Moreover, we use our model to analyze the impact of product return flows on logistics networks. We show that the influence of product recovery is very much context dependent. While product recovery may efficiently be integrated in existing logistics structures in many cases, other examples require a more comprehensive approach redesigning a company's logistics network in an integral way.
Purpose
– Over the last decade, multiple initiatives have been undertaken to learn how to capture the carbon footprint of a supply chain at a product level. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the process of standardization to secure consistency of product carbon footprinting (PCF) and to outline how the current developments in PCF support the need for a standardized method to measure and report environmental performance in supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper is based on a literature review and a review of international standards for PCF which brings knowledge of PCF to the existing literature of green supply chain management.
Findings
– The multiple initiatives for standardization each improve the understanding of standardized methods of conducting PCF. At the same time, however, important differences exist between the standards in terms of the modelling framework to be used when conducting a PCF, and a paradox exists concerning methods for securing future standardization of PCF.
Research limitations/implications
– Standards for evaluating emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in supply chains are evaluated without consideration of other environmental impacts. In addition, the research only compares international standards, thereby excluding national initiatives.
Practical implications
– Standardization efforts can be expected to shape the future practice of measuring emission of GHGs in companies and supply chains which provides a framework for reducing impacts.
Originality/value
– Papers that outline the standardization process for PCF have been examined, but this paper adds value by categorizing the field, outlining the latest standards, and by being the first paper to compare standards for PCF on selected criteria and identify gaps.
The discussion of how to manage air-quality in a heavily polluted area like Los Angeles (LA), California, in an era of shrinking public budgets and a trend towards deregulation has led to the introduction of a new environmental policy tool: a tradeable emission permit approach (the so called RECLAIM-program) to reduce SOx- and NO-emissions from stationary sources was introduced in 1994. This paper is an attempt to analyze and evaluate the first three years of the program, based on the official three year program audit (SCAQMD, 1998) and on a written company survey and personal interviews with experts, as well as administrators active in air quality management in Los Angeles (conducted by the authors between May 1996 and May 1998).
As has been widely observed nowadays, a major part of the world’s manufacturing will be taking place in South East Asia in the coming decade. This would create many opportunities in this part of the world, but would also bring about substantial environmental burden. To address this problem, many large corporations have started encouraging, guiding and even funding their suppliers to be green. To determine to what extent this greening of the supply chain is taking place in South East Asia research has been undertaken encompassing The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore with a survey questionnaire as the research instrument. The objective of this paper is to present the findings of this survey research, expecting to bring out insights in this greening process and inspire business, government and communities in this region to create an atmosphere conducive to the process.
Purpose
Remanufacturing of used products is an emerging business area, which is attractive from both an economic and an environmental point of view. Aims to investigate to what extent profit orientation in product recovery management will stimulate an environmentally conscious behavior in the sense that it promotes high recovery levels. This study also seeks to focus on a product recovery system where, in the context of extended product responsibility, a manufacturer of original products is also engaged in remanufacturing used products taken back from its customers.
Design/methodology/approach
For this type of a closed‐loop supply chain the optimal recovery and production policy is evaluated. By a numerical analysis, it is shown how cost‐efficient decision making affects the product recovery behavior. In a sensitivity analysis it is evaluated how various problem determinants influence the preference for product recovery. Specifically, the impact of different sources of uncertainty is investigated.
Findings
Taking advantage of the respective insights, it is discussed which measures can be taken to harmonize economical and environmental‐driven behavior in product recovery management. It is shown that uncertainty in returns and demands can be a considerable obstacle to follow a consequently environmental‐benign recovery strategy within a reverse logistics system.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis in this paper is restricted to stationary demand and return patterns. In a non‐stationary situation the impact of uncertainties could be even stronger, since excessive returns might happen more often.
Originality/value
Focuses on important issues in product recovery management.
Purpose
This research aims to extend the “collaborative paradigm” proposed by others in prior research beyond a supply chain's core operations. To date, this paradigm has generated relatively little empirical research on peripheral, non‐core areas such the natural environment. Antecedents (both plant‐level and supply chain characteristics) of green supply chain practices (GSCP) are examined. Among possible antecedents, prior research pointed to supply chain integration – both logistical (tactical level) and technological (strategic level) – as a potentially important determinant of green practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Green practices are defined along the two dimensions of environmental collaboration and monitoring. The empirical analysis used data from 84 plants in North America surveyed in 2002. Validity and reliability of scales for new and existing constructs were assessed through factor analysis. Hierarchical linear regression was used to test the hypotheses for the antecedents of GSCP.
Findings
Technological integration with primary suppliers and major customers was positively linked to environmental monitoring and collaboration. For logistical integration, a linkage was found only with environmental monitoring of suppliers. Finally, as the supply base was reduced, the extent of environmental collaboration with primary suppliers increased.
Research limitations/implications
Greater supply chain integration can benefit environment management in operations, and the collaborative paradigm can be extended to this domain. A limitation is that the empirical analysis focused on one industry representing a single echelon.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that conceptualize and empirically test GSCP, and consider both and separately upstream and downstream interactions in the supply chain.
Purpose
Green supply chain management is a concept that is gaining popularity in the South East Asian region. For many organizations in this region it is a way to demonstrate their sincere commitment to sustainability. However, if green supply chain management practices are to be fully adopted by all organizations in South East Asia, a demonstrable link between such measures and improving economic performance and competitiveness is necessary. This paper endeavors to identify potential linkages between green supply chain management, as an initiative for environmental enhancement, economic performance and competitiveness amongst a sample of companies in South East Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose a conceptual model was developed from literature sources and data collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to a sample of leading edge ISO14001 certified companies in South East Asia followed by structural equation modelling.
Findings
The analysis identified that greening the different phases of the supply chain leads to an integrated green supply chain, which ultimately leads to competitiveness and economic performance. Future research should empirically test the relationships suggested in this paper in different countries, to enable comparative studies. A larger sample would also allow detailed cross‐sectoral comparisons which are not possible in the context of this study.
Originality/value
This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the link between green supply chain management practices and increased competitiveness and improved economic performance amongst a sample of organizations in South East Asia.
The mechanisms are examined by which environmentally informed business practices and technologies may diffuse through industry as a result of the ‘greening’ of purchasing and supply. The efforts of official bodies in the UK to raise environmental awareness among industrial purchasers are reviewed. It is then argued that the supply chain model is an important way of interpreting the industrial landscape from a green perspective and that it is in some ways a more hopeful and positive starting point for achieving industrial transformation. The results of an analysis of some UK companies practices in using their purchasing policies to ‘green’ their supply chains are presented and opportunities for further research indicated.
There is an ongoing debate over the impact of corporate pro-environment actions and strategies (reflected, for example, in pollution prevention and emission reductions, product re-design, materials stewardship) on corporate financial performance in US corporations today. A review of the existing literature in this area yields no consistent pattern of relationships between corporate environmental proactivism and financial performance when historical corporate accounting performance and stock market measures of performance are used. We revisit this relationship using a novel measure of firm performance: security analyst earnings forecasts. Specifically, we demonstrate a significant, negative relationship between environmental proactivism (using Toxic Release Inventory data) and industry analyst 1- and 5-year earnings-per-share performance forecasts for a sample of 523 US firms in 1992. We discuss the implications of these findings and provide suggestions for future research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
This paper provides an overview of environmental (green) supply chain management. The overview includes a categorization of research and practice in purchasing, manufacturing, outbound, and reverse logistics dimensions.
Managers realize that they should avoid complex green supply initiatives when they do not have the capabilities to implement them. However, they have little guidance on how these capabilities can be developed. This paper provides an initial analysis of the role of supply management capabilities in green supply. We argue that the implementation of green supply is better explained by focusing on the development and deployment of an organization's specialized internal resources, rather than by the more usual focus on external environmental pressures on a firm. Further, we argue that capabilities appropriate for green supply are developed by a proactive corporate environmental stance and by a more strategic purchasing and supply management approach.We test our model using data from a two-phase survey of 70 operating units within UK public limited companies. Our results indicate support for our conjecture that supply management capabilities are jointly developed by a proactive corporate environmental approach and a strategic purchasing and supply process. Our study results should be useful to business strategists, regulators, and researchers interested in the predictors of corporate green behavior. They should also assist future researchers in many branches of environmental management who are seeking to explore the role of the internal capabilities of firms in supporting environmental management.
Globalization results in both pressure and drivers for Chinese enterprises to improve their environmental performance. As a developing country, China has to balance economic and environmental performance. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is emerging to be an important approach for Chinese enterprises to improve performance, possibly on both these dimensions. Using empirical results from 186 respondents on GSCM practice in Chinese manufacturing enterprises, we examine the relationships between GSCM practice and environmental and economic performance. Using moderated hierarchical regression analysis, we evaluate the general relationships between specific GSCM practices and performance. We then investigate how two primary types of management operations philosophies, quality management and just-in-time (or lean) manufacturing principles, influence the relationship between GSCM practices and performance. Significant findings were determined for a number of relationships. Managerial implications are also identified.
This study examines the performance implications of an integrated supply chain strategy, with customer service performance followed by financial performance as performance constructs. Two major components of an integrated supply chain strategy are identified and defined: (1) integrative information technologies, which is modeled antecedent to (2) supply chain integration. The research model was tested using data from a sample (n=57) of the top 150 independent first tier automotive suppliers to the Big 3 in North America. The results showed positive direct relationships between (1) integrated information technologies and supply chain integration, (2) supply chain integration and customer service, and (3) customer service and firm performance. The relationship of supply chain integration to financial performance was indirect, through customer service; i.e., customer service was found to fully (as opposed to partially) mediate the relationship between supply chain integration and firm performance for first tier suppliers in the automotive industry.
The relationship between supply chain/operations practice and operational/financial performance has been of interest to academics and practitioners for many years. We propose and develop a model exploring these connections, utilising data from a survey of 72 furniture manufacturers located throughout China. The industry is of particular interest in that, while labour productivity remains relatively low, exports have undergone substantial growth. Using a structural equation model (significant at p=0.05), we highlight the relative importance of supply chain and operations practices and show that the impact of practice on business performance is mediated by capabilities on operations dimensions.
There are increasing pressures being put on firms, from a number of different sources, such as governmental regulation, community participation and market demand, to engage firms in environmental initiatives. These factors play different roles at various development periods. Government regulation was the major pressure, initially. However, community participation and market demand have become more and more important. Thus a better understanding of the determinant factors that play a role in engaging firms to take environmental management initiatives may help policy makers develop more effective environmental policies. Using data collected from 89 firms in Wujin county of Jiangsu Province, China, this paper developed an index system to evaluate the corporate environmental management performance. Furthermore, we used econometric methodology to identify the main factors that probably shape corporate environmental management performance, including both external pressures and firm characteristics. The results showed that pressures from supply chain, customers, and communities played positive roles in engaging firms to improve environmental management performance. However, the pressure from the regulatory system did not implicate positive effect on environmental management performance when basic compliance is not an issue in the region anymore. The results also showed that firms with larger scale will be more active in engaging in environmental management initiatives. Finally, our results suggest that: (a) regulation's stimulation may be reduced as long as firms have complied with requirements of local environmental standards and other environmental laws; (b) policy makers should pay more attention to market and information instruments; (c) more financial and technical support should be provided to encourage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve environmental performance.
This paper estimates the value of international emissions trading, focusing on a here-to-fore neglected component; its value as a hedge against uncertainty. Much analysis has been done of the Kyoto Protocol and other potential international greenhouse gas mitigation policies comparing the costs of achieving emission targets with and without trading. These studies often show large cost reductions for all Parties under trading compared to a no trading case. We investigate the welfare gains of including emissions trading in the presence of uncertainty in economic growth rates, using both a partial equilibrium model based on marginal abatement cost curves and a computable general equilibrium model. We find that the hedge value of international trading is small relative to its value in reallocating emissions reductions when the burden sharing scheme does not resemble a least cost allocation. We also find that the effects of pre-existing tax distortions and terms of trade dominate the hedge value of trading. We conclude that the primary value of emissions trading in international agreements is as a burden sharing or wealth transfer mechanism and should be judged accordingly.
In light of increasing pressures to adopt a more sustainable approach to product design and manufacture, the requirement to develop sustainable products is one of the key challenges facing industry in the 21st century. Hence, the concept of developing sustainable products as well as services is evolving as a key element of Cleaner Production. Sustainable product development initiatives (mainly through eco-design) have been evolving for some time to support companies develop more sustainable products. Ireland has been running the highly successful Environmentally Superior Products (ESP) initiative that supports industrial companies to incorporate a more sustainable approach to the development of products and/or services. The lessons learned from the ESP and other global Sustainable Product and Service Developments in industry and research, are being used to develop a method for effective sustainable product and/or service development (SPSD) in industry. The method is designed to provide pragmatic guidance to business and industry for developing sustainable products and services as well as incorporating this approach within existing corporate strategy, cleaner production and product development systems. This method is being developed by the authors at the Environmental Policy and Management Group (EPMG), Department of Environmental Science and Technology,Imperial College London, UK in conjunction with industry and practitioners. The method provides a framework for implementing SPSD throughout the entire lifecycle of a product and/or service. It can be used to identify, assess and implement the options for optimum sustainability in the design and development of a product and/or service. This paper describes the key features of this method.
As corporations attempt to move toward environmental sustainability, management must extend their efforts to improve environmental practices across their supply chain. The literature characterizing environmental management within the supply chain has been slowly building, but remains sparse. Using a survey of North American manufacturers, this paper examines the impact of environmental collaborative activities on manufacturing performance. Environmental collaboration was defined specifically to focus on inter-organizational interactions between supply chain members, including such aspects as joint environmental goal setting, shared environmental planning, and working together to reduce pollution or other environmental impacts. These practices can be directed either upstream toward suppliers or downstream toward customers. The influence of collaboration in each direction was empirically assessed for multiple objective and perceptual measures of manufacturing performance using a sample of plants in the package printing industry. Generally, the benefits of collaborative green practices with suppliers were broadest. In contrast, collaboration with customers yielded mixed outcomes. Overall, evidence emerged that upstream practices were more closely linked with process-based performance, while downstream collaboration was associated with product-based performance.
Contingency planning is the first stage in developing a formal set of production planning and control activities for the reuse of products obtained via return flows in a closed-loop supply chain. The paper takes a contingency approach to explore the factors that impact production planning and control for closed-loop supply chains that incorporate product recovery. A series of three cases are presented, and a framework developed that shows the common activities required for all remanufacturing operations. To build on the similarities and illustrate and integrate the differences in closed-loop supply chains, Hayes and Wheelwright’s product–process matrix is used as a foundation to examine the three cases representing Remanufacture-to-Stock (RMTS), Reassemble-to-Order (RATO), and Remanufacture-to-Order (RMTO). These three cases offer end-points and an intermediate point for closed-loop supply operations. Since they represent different positions on the matrix, characteristics such as returns volume, timing, quality, product complexity, test and evaluation complexity, and remanufacturing complexity are explored. With a contingency theory for closed-loop supply chains that incorporate product recovery in place, past cases can now be reexamined and the potential for generalizability of the approach to similar types of other problems and applications can be assessed and determined.
In this paper, we review decision support models for the design of global supply chains, and assess the fit between the research literature in this area and the practical issues of global supply chain design. The classification scheme for this review is based on ongoing and emerging issues in global supply chain management and includes review dimensions for (1) decisions addressed in the model, (2) performance metrics, (3) the degree to which the model supports integrated decision processes, and (4) globalization considerations. We conclude that although most models resolve a difficult feature associated with globalization, few models address the practical global supply chain design problem in its entirety. We close the paper with recommendations for future research in global supply chain modeling that is both forward-looking and practically oriented.
Accepting a fixed trade-off between environmental regulation and competitiveness unnecessarily raises costs and slows down environmental progress. Studies finding high environmental compliance costs have traditionally focused on static cost impacts, ignoring any offsetting productivity benefits from innovation. They typically overestimated compliance costs, neglected innovation offsets, and disregarded the affected industry's initial competitiveness. Rather than simply adding to cost, properly crafted environmental standards can trigger innovation offsets, allowing companies to improve their resource productivity. Shifting the debate from pollution control to pollution prevention was a step forward. It is now necessary to make the next step and focus on resource productivity. Copyright 1995 by American Economic Association.
A presentation of the Partial Least Squares approach to Structural Equation Modeling (or PLS
Path Modeling) is given together with a discussion of its extensions. This approach is compared
with the estimation of Structural Equation Modeling by means of maximum likelihood (SEMML).
Notwithstanding, this approach still shows some weaknesses. In this respect, some new
improvements are proposed. Furthermore, PLS path modeling can be used for analyzing multiple
tables so as to be related to more classical data analysis methods used in this 8eld. Finally, a
complete treatment of a real example is shown through the available software.
The new environmentalism
- C A Lambert
Globalization and the environment: determinants of firm self-regulation in China
- P Christmann
- G Taylor