A Review of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices in Canada

There is a growing body of research on the theory and practice of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). However, relatively little research has been conducted on the extent to which corporations have integrated sustainability principles into the management of their supply chain and the evaluation of supplier performance. The purpose of this article is to explore the extent to which corporate sustainability principles are integrated into supply chain management (SCM) in corporations. Canada is used as a case study in this article. The study included a content analysis of one hundred Canadian corporate sustainable development reports and in-depth interviews with 18 Canadian experts on SSCM. The article highlights the wide array of ways in which Canadian corporations address SSCM issues. Amongst other topics, issues associated with supply chain governance, standards for SSCM, collaboration with suppliers, performance measurement, and accountability within the supply chain are explored. The findings reveal that there are many challenges in integrating sustainability into SCM. These challenges shed light on possible future directions for research in SSCM. This article underlines the need for research that reflects the interconnected nature of the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability, particularly as it relates to measuring supplier performance on sustainability initiatives.     

Sustainability Issues in Transnational Education Service: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Insights

ABSTRACT

Many transnational education (TNE) services have been operating successfully to export education. However, many other TNE programs and partnerships have also been terminated. TNEs' sustainability is under-researched; specifically, its sustainability from the contexts of strategic partnership considerations, all recognized TNE activities, and its sustainability indicators. This conceptual article analyzes literature on TNE partnership issues, the standardization-adaptation (StandAdapt) concept of international business strategy and sustainability issues, with an aim to establish an initial route to develop TNE services that would sustain business viability, centered on transnational market-specific conditions. The analysis suggests that there is a consistent interrelationship between different sustainability indicators and market orientation, which has implications for incorporating sustainability issues into TNE services and transnational strategies. An initial framework is proposed to develop TNE services in order to sustain TNE businesses. Some empirical insights are developed in support of this conceptual framework. Further research areas are discussed.     

Corporate environmental sustainability reporting in the context of national cultures: A quantile regression approach

This work, based on previous evidence within international business management research, aims to test the influence of communities’ culture features on corporate environmental sustainability reporting (CESR) practices. To overcome some limitations of conventional statistical approaches applied by previous research, a quantile regression (QR) model is implemented which allows setting a framework to test the working hypotheses in different scenarios that cover divergent firms’ commitment levels to stakeholder engagement and CESR practices development. Our central results addresses that different national culture dimensions present a non-monotonic influence on CESR practices. This result, which is analyzed through the Stakeholder Theory proposals, can be explained because corporate sustainability behaviors are highly sensitive to stakeholders’ pressures and demands which are ultimately conditioned by the cultural environment. Some interesting recommendations for companies’ strategic management and governmental policy-making processes are reported.     

Educating Business Students About Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review of Current Trends and Research Needs

There has been substantial growth of interest in sustainability in business, management and organisational studies in recent years. This article applies Oswick’s (J Manag Spirit Relig 6(1):15–25, 2009) method of bibliometric research to ascertain how this growth has been reflected in scholarly publishing, particularly as it relates to business and management education over the 20 years 1994–2013. The research has found that sustainability as a general topic in business and management studies, as evidenced by scholarly publishing, has accelerated rapidly both in terms of items published and cited. In the mid-2000s, the emphasis of books published in this area began to change from one which advocated ‘sustainable development’ to one which viewed sustainability as a management practice which could help businesses and society simultaneously. The literature on sustainability within the field of management and business education has been smaller, but has enjoyed a similar growth rate which accelerated sharply in the most recent 5 years of the dataset. Most of the scholarly, peer-reviewed articles analysed tend to advocate the inclusion of sustainability on business school curricula, or to demonstrate the various ways in which faculty have integrated sustainability-related principles in their teaching. A smaller amount of research has been undertaken on the learning experiences of the ‘recipients’ of these approaches. There is evidence of an extensive variety of approaches used by educators, but the most significant research need which presented is for more empirically driven studies on how and why business and management students engage with the principles of sustainability.     

Feasibility of a Responsive Business Scorecard – a pilot study

Several authors have pointed at opportunities to develop the well-established Business Balanced Scorecard into a Scorecard that enables companies to integrate sustainability into their strategy. Recent case studies and research experiences show that social and environmental targets are more widely recognized as strategic drivers for management. However, experiments also show that the traditional Scorecard has its limits when it comes to e.g. stakeholder management and product chain management. The European Corporate Sustainability Framework(ECSF) program distinguishes several ambition levels for Corporate Sustainability/Corporate Responsibility. The traditional Balanced Scorecard is suitable for companies that aim for Compliance-driven CS/CRor for Profit-driven CS/CR, where the financial bottom line is the ultimate indicator for success. More ambitious companies want to balance economic, social and ecological targets in a Community-driven CS/SRor Synergy-driven CS/CR.For ambitious companies, we propose a format of a Responsive Business Scorecard (RBS). The Responsive Scorecard enables companies to score at Profit, People and Planet, at the same time to integrate stakeholder demands into internal programs to improve performance. The RBS includes five Perspectives: Customers&Suppliers, Financiers&Owners, Society&Planet, Internal Process and Employees&Learning.We assessed the practical feasibility of a Responsive Scorecardin food and tourist industries. In the food industry, we analyzed whether existing business priorities of Italian companies can adequately fill a Responsive scorecard.Our conclusion is that traditional topics like finance, customers and employees are readily filled, but that sustainability topics like chain management (suppliers) and environmental performance (planet) need further elaboration. The tourist sector is dominated by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. We investigated whether existing eco-labels for camping-sites and marinas can be developed into Responsive Scorecards. Our conclusion is that such a sector specific development of a Responsive Scorecard is possible. Further research has to show what is the value added of the new scorecard for companies in the tourist sector.     

Corporate sustainability reporting: An innovative tool for the greater good of all

Most publicly traded companies issue sustainability reports—also known as corporate social responsibility reports—that contain an extraordinary amount of multidimensional (e.g., environment, human rights, labor practices and decent work, product responsibility, society) longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data that is available to the public. Unfortunately, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports are vastly underutilized due to perceived complexity. This article explains the Sustainability Performance Assessment (SPA) System, a teaching and mentoring tool for assessing CSR report information. Students reported a deeper understanding of sustainability as an overall concept, sustainability from a business perspective, and multifaceted sustainability performance information presented in CSR reports. The real world research-focused SPA tool transforms sustainability from a philosophical and abstract concept to something of tangible value in everyday life for consumers, employees, and international stakeholders.     

Corporate communication,sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green

This empirical research explores how 16 global corporations from four different industry sectors—retail, technology equipment, food/beverage/tobacco, and consumer goods—use social media platforms and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to communicate about sustainability. Facebook, Twitter, CEO letters from annual reports and CSR/sustainability reports, and other company documentation are examined to compare the content and scope of these firms’ corporate communication. The sample is divided into two subsamples (Green and Not Green firms) using Newsweek's Greenest Company 2012 rankings, and compared for differential use of social media and corporate reports. Results show that communication varies across firm and industry regarding types of sustainability initiatives reported, metrics employed, and communication media utilized, and that Green firms are more active than Not Green firms both in addressing sustainability and in general social media activity. Implications are discussed herein and recommendations are presented for companies seeking to better understand the effective use of social media and sustainability communication.     

Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the most prominent concepts in the literature and, in short, indicates the positive impacts of businesses on their stakeholders. Despite the growing body of literature on this concept, the measurement of CSR is still problematic. Although the literature provides several methods for measuring corporate social activities, almost all of them have some limitations. The purpose of this study is to provide an original, valid, and reliable measure of CSR reflecting the responsibilities of a business to various stakeholders. Based on a proposed conceptual framework of CSR, a scale was developed through a systematic scale development process. In the study, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying factorial structure of the scale. Data was collected from 269 business professionals working in Turkey. The results of the analysis provided a four-dimensional structure of CSR, including CSR to social and nonsocial stakeholders, employees, customers, and government.     

Questions asked about enterprise risk management by risk practitioners

Enterprise risk management (ERM) was introduced in the 1990s and has become an indicator of good management. Despite this success, many organizations still seek practical advice on ERM implementation. This article provides questions asked of an experienced chief risk officer and his staff by risk practitioners at many organizations over 11 years. Detailed answers based on best practices are provided. This article is important as it shows what areas were of concern related to ERM implementation, and many of these concerns may still apply today. The questions presented in this article fall in the following 10 areas of ERM implementation: background and context, organizational, getting started, risk identification, culture and engagement, risk criteria (which includes risk appetite and risk tolerances), tools and techniques, reporting, the benefits, and the future of ERM. This article should be of interest to practitioners involved with ERM, consultants in the area of ERM, and academics teaching courses on ERM, risk management, and related topics. This article will also provide a base against which further future research can be done to see how ERM evolves.     

Local Responsiveness Pressure, Subsidiary Resources, Green Management Adoption and Subsidiary’s Performance: Evidence from Taiwanese Manufactures

This study aims to explore if local responsiveness pressure and subsidiary resources influence green management adoption of overseas subsidiaries, and to investigate the relationships between the level of green management adoption and performance. The 101 effective samples were collected from 583 Taiwanese firms, which are listed in the top 1000 manufactory firms and have invested in China. Through structural equation model (SEM) analysis’ empirical results indicate that local responsiveness pressure and subsidiary resources both have positive effects on the level of green management adoption of the subsidiary. This study also suggests that the level of green management adoption is positively related to the subsidiary’s performance. Peng, Yu-Shu is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Business in the School of Management, National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, R.O.C. He has published in the areas of the international business, strategic management, and business ethics. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan, R.O.C. Lin, Shing-Shiuan is a graduate student in the Department of International Business in the School of Management, National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, R.O.C. Her research topics focus on environmental management.     

天保工程的环境权益与企业经济行为的目标分裂及对策响应研究

天然林保护固有的特征决定了其公共产品特质和政府集中管理的基本模式。但这种自上而下的管理易出现不同主体之间利益划分的不一致性,不能从根本上解决资源保护与工程实施地经济发展的矛盾,因而呈现出无效化特征。以分析中央政府和林业企业的目标差异性为基础,提出中央政府是天然林保护、改善生态环境的责任主体。同时,在遵循各相关利益主体经济规律的前提下,保证企业合理的经济收益才能实现天保工程的可持续性。     

Corporate sustainability efforts and e-WOM intentions in social platforms

Abstract

The current study adopts service dominant logic to examine how consumers react to social platforms that communicate corporate sustainability efforts. The results suggest a positive connection between corporate sustainability efforts and evaluation of e-service quality as well as between corporate sustainability efforts and e-WOM. We also find that corporate sustainability efforts encourage consumers to spread positive e-WOM on a platform that provides useful information and that is well-designed. This study extends our understanding of corporate sustainability efforts by applying service dominant logic toward an explanation of consumer evaluation and e-WOM.     

Fuzzy Group Decision-Making in the Measurement of Ecotourism Sustainability Potential

Both theoretical and practical efforts to evaluate ecotourism development often neglect alternative characteristics that may interact with and mutually influence the primary indicators. To evaluate the sustainability of an ecotourism site, this study utilizes subjective measures to analyze the relationships among tourism, resources, community, economy and society. Yangshan Ecological Park in Kinmen is examined to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed integrated framework in ecotourism development. First, the Fuzzy Delphi Method was applied to select the critical factors. Local residents, tourists and resource administrators were interviewed to explore each group’s perception of relationships. Then, Interpretive Structural Modeling was employed to determine the interrelationship among the critical factors. A Fuzzy Analytic Network process model was constructed to evaluate the potential sustainability of ecotourism and the relative importance the weights of the criteria and sub-criteria. The study provides a valuable integrated tool for sustainable destination management.     

An integrated competency‐based approach to management education: an Italian MBA case study

Several studies have analysed the impact of competency‐based methodologies on human resource management, with special emphasis on their applications to management education and development. As concerns management education, however, these studies have usually focused on one or few separate aspects, never proposing a consistent application of competency‐based methodologies throughout the entire educational process. This paper shows how it is possible to design, deliver and monitor a management education programme that uses, in an integrated manner, a multiplicity of competency‐based tools in all the stages of the process, and discusses the application of such an integrated approach to an Italian MBA programme. This study provides a multiple constituency framework that integrates educational institutions, students and the companies that hire them in the design, implementation and control of effective, competency‐based, management education.     

What about sustainability? Understanding consumers' conceptual representations through free word association

The United Nations (UN) conceptualizes sustainability as development that meets the current needs of the planet's populations, but without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although the concept of sustainability has been widely discussed in the international political agendas, inconsistent interpretation and ambiguity of the concept by consumers is observed. In this paper, the understanding of the term sustainability amongst Brazilian consumers is reported. Using the word association projective technique, the participants were asked to write down all the words that came to their mind when thinking about “sustainability.” Thematic content analysis was performed by grouping words by similarity of meaning in categories, which were further submitted to correspondence analysis (CA) to create a perceptual map. Brazilian consumers made different associations reflecting the complexity and multidimensionality of the concept amongst different groups of consumers. The most frequently cited categories are related to environment, health and nutrition, behaviour, production and economy and sustenance. CA accounted for 76.7% of the data variance and the perceptual map evidenced that younger individuals with higher education made associations with categories related to the current concept of sustainable development, similar to that proposed by UN. Moreover, consumers with basic education were associated with categories related to food and sustenance. The findings of this study can contribute to the formulation of education strategies directed towards different social groups, besides directing further research on consumer behaviour.     

Marketing communication and corporate identity: are they integrated?

Although corporate identity was originally defined in terms of the visual representation of a company, later writers employed broader definitions, which have highlighted the importance of the various forms of communication in corporate identity management. Recent models of the corporate identity management process have reflected the importance of communication in the management of corporate identity. Corporate communication has been regarded as being composed of three forms: management, marketing and organizational communication. Most organizations are structured such that management and organizational communication are closely aligned with the corporate identity of an organization. However, the conjunction between corporate identity and marketing communication is less discernible. It has been noted that the interaction between corporate and marketing communication is 'tentative and embryonic in nature'. The authors conducted empirical research, which explored the extent to which corporate identity was integrated into the marketing communication campaigns of these practitioners. The conclusions from this exploratory research suggest that there are substantial barriers to the successful integration of corporate identity with marketing communications. Barriers such as the importance of integration not being accepted by clients, the focus of marketing managers on short-term goals, too many people involved with managing the core message of corporate identity and an ad hoc approach towards marketing communication were important. Further research into structural and behavioural ways of overcoming these barriers could prove to be extremely valuable.     

Integrating Behavioral Decision Theory and Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Prioritizing Economic,Environmental, and Social Dimensions in Carrier Selection

Carrier selection is a specialized sourcing decision with sustainability impacts in every supply chain. This research tests the effects of a transportation carrier's economic, environmental, and social sustainability performance on a shipper's carrier selection decision. Underrepresented experimental methods are used to test an a priori hypothesis derived from behavioral decision theory logic. Results contradict commonly held win–win, trade‐off, and ecological perspectives of sustainable supply chain management by finding that the economic dimension of sustainability has the greatest effect on carrier selection. Our research highlights this managerial preference and offers a theoretically grounded explanation for selection behaviors. This is one of the first empirical studies to simultaneously consider all three dimensions of sustainability. It also moves beyond an internal focal firm focus to evaluate sustainability effects through the eyes of external supply chain members. Our unique approach and findings offer managerial opportunities for differentiation and resource allocation as well as policy implications for the broader transportation system.     

Sustainability marketing — An innovative conception of marketing

Conventional marketing thinking is increasingly unable to cope with the ecological, social and commercial realities that confront mankind. This conceptual article presents a vision of an integrated approach to ‘sustainability marketing’ and highlights a number of innovative ways in which this differs from the conventional marketing management mainstream.     

Sustainabilty and retail marketing: Corporate,product and store perspectives

This paper investigates sustainability in retailing based on three different perspectives: i) the overall corporate management, ii) the development of an attractive product range, iii) the daily in-store management and activities. The purpose is to identify a set of main themes for each perspective, investigate contradictions and areas of conflict, and discuss how to bridge the perspectives. A qualitative case study approach is applied investigating the global retailer IKEA. The study includes Sweden, Germany and the UK. The research showed that the corporate, product and store perspectives are complementary but also involve contradictions and barriers to giving a higher priority to sustainability. These concern the time perspective, the set of stakeholders considered and the overall priority. Developing goals and benefits linked to sustainability, using effective arenas for interactions and linking sustainability to the legend and culture are suggested as three bridges that may overcome the contradictions.     

Are key marketing topics adequately covered in strategic management?

Most business schools have a capstone course called strategic management. Students in these courses are often required to assess organizations’ functional areas of business, including marketing. Students determine marketing strengths and weaknesses of firms, and develop strategic plans for case companies. Students formulate strategies, make recommendations, and determine the expected marketing impact of those recommendations. Although marketing plays an important role in strategic planning, the present research shows that most strategic-management textbooks provide little to no marketing coverage. In study 1, a content analysis of six leading strategic-management textbooks reveals 10 marketing topics being discussed, although scantly. In study 2, a survey of 167 business students nearing graduation examines the relative importance of the identified topics in strategic planning. Findings of this research suggest that the capstone business course needs to be more integrative. Implications for business courses, faculty, textbook authors, as well as practicing marketers and managers are discussed.