Purchasing and supply management sustainability: Drivers and barriers

While sustainability has garnered a great deal of attention in the popular press, it is not well defined, and little is known about the actual drivers and barriers to adopting environmentally sustainable practices within organizations. This is particularly true with regard to implementation in the purchasing and supply management (P/SM) function. This study reviews the sustainability literature and defines supply management sustainability (SSM) and its components. Additionally, a multi-method approach was utilized consisting of an extensive review of the sustainability literature, a multi-stage Delphi analysis with a panel of twenty-one P/SM executives, and interviews with nineteen additional P/SM executives. The purpose of this study was to identify the drivers and barriers currently facing P/SM sustainability implementation efforts. The results indicated that top management initiatives and government regulations currently drive P/SM sustainability efforts while investments in sustainability and economic uncertainty are a hindrance to these programs.     

HR managers and environmental sustainability: strategic leaders or passive observers?

In this paper, we explore the challenges posed to, and reactions of, human resource (HR) managers by the concept of environmental sustainability. From interviews with 14 New Zealand HR managers, we explore three related aspects of morality identified by Fineman: private, conventional, and enacted. Findings indicate that while the HR managers note a private position of environmental concern, they take a passive approach to environmental sustainability within their organizations. We note that this passive position is not without potentially adverse effects in relation to the role of HR as a strategic partner and for the advancement of environmental sustainability within organizations.     

Sustainable Supplier Selection in Megaprojects: Grey Ordinal Priority Approach

Due to mounting environmental and social challenges, supplier selection has become one of the most critical tasks of project-oriented organizations. Because supplier selection can affect the long-term success and profitability of the organizations and their projects, directly, embracing sustainability can add value in the equation. Considering sustainability measures can positively guide project managers in making better decisions for the projects in the long term. Therefore, the current study attempts to provide a conceptual model for selecting the best supplier based on a sustainability framework in megaprojects. Meanwhile, decision-making methods can be employed as a proper tool to find the best supplier. Ordinal priority approach (OPA) is a recent development in multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), while it has many benefits compared with other methods like analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). However, this method cannot consider multiple ranks during the decision-making process, and using an uncertainty approach feels strongly. Grey systems theory (GST) can consider uncertainties with no need for large sample or proposing membership function. Hence, the current study employed the GST to consider multiple ranks for criteria and alternatives in the OPA method. This is the first time that a sustainable supplier selection framework has been presented for megaprojects with the aid of the Grey OPA (OPA-G) method. Finally, a case study has been examined to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The results show that the proposed approach can be used in real-world situations and it has acceptable performance under uncertainty conditions.     

Sustainability performance analysis of small and medium sized enterprises: Criteria,methods and framework

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in any economy as they contribute to GDP and employment. However, sustainability (right combination of economic, environmental and social) of SMEs is a major concern as they prioritize economic performance over environmental and social to remain competitive. Majority of prior researches on SMEs' sustainability either look at the impact of a few limited enablers (e.g. lean, green, innovation etc.) on sustainability performance or the effect of pressures and barriers on the sustainability performance. There is a clear gap of a holistic and robust framework for sustainability performance analysis in order to measure and improve sustainability performance. This research bridges this knowledge gap by addressing two research questions – what practice and performance criteria are being considered for sustainability performance analysis in a broad environmental, economic and social context, how are they related, and what methods are being used to derive the relationship between sustainability practices and performance. These research questions are addressed through a systematic literature review of 58 papers, published between 2005 and 2018 in leading journals. First, an objective content analysis is undertaken in order to identify sustainability practices and performance criteria along with their frequency of usage in prior research. Second, the correlation among the variables is studied. Third, the methods for analyzing the relationships of the criteria are identified. Finally, a framework for analysing correlation of SMEs’ sustainability practices and performance in order to measure and improve performance using statistical modeling approach is proposed.     

Social sustainability of regional transportation: An assessment framework with application to EU road transport

The assessment of transportation social sustainability appeals to many scholars as an essential issue but imposes a risk of selecting inadequate factors and methods to measure social phenomena. In this study, based on an extensive review, we identify the measurable key social indicators (instead of the economic or environmental factors commonly used) and propose a comprehensive evaluation framework for relative performance analysis of social sustainability in the regional context. This work is the first attempt to assess regional social sustainability of transport explicitly utilizing a multi-output performance measure. We use Shannon entropy to combine the results of selected data envelopment analysis (DEA) models into a unified social sustainability performance score. The method is applied to regional road transport in the European Union (EU) member states for the period 2004–2017. The empirical section explores individual profiles of EU countries, compares the states grouped into two clusters of old (EU-15) and new (EU-13) EU members, and examines their social sustainability performance over time. The analysis suggests that considering only social factors in the measurement eliminates the bias resulting from the inclusion of economic factors. As a result, our method prevents inaccurate inflation of the scores of more economically advanced countries. The findings also draw attention to the car dependence problem associated with high motorization rates in affluent EU-15 states. The study confirms the capacity of the proposed DEA-based framework to serve as an adequate tool for measuring the social sustainability of transport, which can support policymakers by providing useful benchmarks employing social factors.     

Developing a sustainability ethic in leaders

The triple bottom line of fiscal, social, and environmental success considerably alters how organizations (and stakeholders) measure sustainable success. More important, however, is the conceptual shift required to understand and successfully lead organizations within this increasingly accepted paradigm. This article uses a mixed‐methods approach to explore the conceptual development of a sustainability ethic in aspiring leaders. More specifically, the authors report research examining the curriculum and pedagogy of a leadership education effort, in this case a college‐level course, aimed at effecting change in both individual aspiring leaders and their immediate community. The article describes the philosophical and research base for the curriculum and specific activities with their pedagogical approach. Results show evidence of increased awareness, importance, and commitment to sustainability as well as changes in how students conceptualize sustainability leadership. Findings offer insights for further developing leadership education for sustainability.     

Individual adoption of HR analytics: a fine grained view of the early stages leading to adoption

Abstract

High performing organizations are using analytics for evidence-based decision-making. However, the human resource (HR) function in many organizations has been slow to adopt this innovation. This study applies innovation theory, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to examine the individual’s decision to adopt HR Analytics in an effort to identify why the adoption rate is lagging. We examined early stages of the individual decision process beginning from Stage 1 (knowledge) and leading to Stage 3, (the decision) to adopt or not to adopt the innovation. We found several points in the process that can act as barriers or facilitators. Organizations and champions of this innovation wishing to facilitate HR analytics adoption can take action to remove as many of these barriers to the individual’s decision as possible. Further research should focus on the best way to remove these barriers.     

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility to Internal Stakeholders: Walking the Walk or Just Talking the Talk?

As organizations recognize the need to engage in CSR and sustainability initiatives, it is integral to success to communicate that they are doing so. However, the research focus is more often on communicating with external stakeholders to draw attention to corporate responsibility initiatives. Internal stakeholders as employees are not researched as often, despite their integral role in communicating the organization's CSR vision and sustainability as they interact with external stakeholders. In order to explore employee perceptions of CSR communication, a two‐phase mixed‐method study was undertaken, including semi‐structured interviews with 20 CSR managers in NZ organizations to provide content to inform an online questionnaire survey to seek feedback from employees in these same organizations. This paper contributes to research on internal stakeholders in revealing the influence of the perceived value congruence between managers and employees in influencing internal stakeholder perceptions of CSR and sustainability initiatives. The findings have implications for public policy, enhancing organizational communication, the need for authenticity and managerial recognition of their role in facilitating employee commitment to CSR initiatives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Barriers to sustainability for small and medium enterprises in the framework of sustainable development—Literature review

The objective of this article is to analyze the barriers faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) when implementing initiatives for sustainable development. For this purpose, a search equation was designed, and the 50 highest cited articles from the search results in Scopus between years 2013 and 2017 were reviewed. The selected criteria for the article analysis were article name, article year, country, continent, journal, Scimago Journal Rank, Scimago Quartiles, Affiliated Universities, abstract, and keywords. Among the main results, 175 barriers to sustainability for SMEs were identified. The barriers that appeared most frequently were lack of resources, the high initial capital cost of implementing sustainability measures, and lack of expertise. At the end of the article, a proposal is included which shows the 175 identified barriers, classified by “sector,” “sustainability tool,” and “internal/external” which can aid in new qualitative and quantitative studies of barriers to sustainability in SMEs.     

Scaling sustainability from the organizational periphery to the strategic core: Towards a practice‐based framework of what practitioners “do”

This paper explores what sustainability managers do when attempting to scale sustainability to a strategic level within their organization. Drawing on semistructured interview data with 44 sustainability managers in large, for‐profit companies, we identify three distinct scaling microstrategies that individuals use when scaling sustainability. We label these conforming, leveraging, and shaping. Our analysis also finds that sustainability managers deploy combinations of these microstrategies in three distinct approaches, which we call the assimilation approach, the mobilization approach, and the transition approach. Finally, we interrogate the degree to which employing these different approaches achieves a peripheral, intermediate, or strategic scale of sustainability within the organizations represented in the study. Our paper contributes to theory and practice at the interface of strategy and sustainability by developing a practice‐based Scaling Approach Framework, whereby an assimilation approach is associated with organizations with sustainability at a peripheral scale, a mobilization approach is associated with an intermediate scale of sustainability, and a transition approach is associated with scaling sustainability to a strategic level. From these results, we propose a Scaling Progression Model that reflects the phases that individuals progress through when scaling sustainability.     

Sustainability assessment of food chain logistics

Food chain logistics plays an important role in the sustainability performance of the food sector. Therefore, project SCALE (Step Change in Agri-food Logistics Ecosystems) started as a collaborative international project, aiming for tools and frameworks for the food sector to make a step change in operational practices. A sustainability framework is introduced to propose a structured and rational method for assessing sustainability. Next, we empirically apply the framework, based upon explorative web-based research and semi-structured interviews with the best practice players in the field in the Netherlands, the UK and France. Findings provide clear insights into the current state of the art regarding the use of sustainability performance indicators, companies’ sustainability strategies, supply chain redesign strategies currently applied in practice and experienced barriers to sustainability improvement. Overall, logistics service providers seem to have a wait-and-see attitude towards sustainability where food companies are more proactive following market demands for more sustainable products.     

Two Dimensions of Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Towards a Comprehensive Framework

Over the last years, many approaches have emerged that attempt to measure the contribution of firms to sustainable development, i.e. corporate sustainability. Our review of existing methodologies for the assessment of corporate sustainability reveals two major shortcomings. First, value creation as a core condition for sustainability as well as for further contributions to economic sustainability is often ignored in these assessments, suggesting that financial and non‐financial organizational processes are separable. Second, existing approaches fail to differentiate between the actual contribution of a firm to sustainability on the one hand, and governance‐related features aimed at attaining this contribution on the other. We argue that the implementation of sustainability‐oriented organizational structures and managerial instruments alone does not necessarily guarantee sustainability performance. Therefore, besides the dimension of current sustainability performance, we introduce the notion of sustainability governance as a second distinct dimension of corporate sustainability assessment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Evaluation of sustainability reporting practices in Poland

This paper examines voluntary sustainability reporting practices in Poland. The number of these types of reports published by companies from year to year increases however the form, content and quality of these reports varies. Disclosure of economic, social and environmental performance demonstrates social responsibility of a company and therefore, the author first has analysed in this paper the level of implementation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept in Polish companies. Then the attention was focused on sustainability reports published in 2011. The questionnaire to evaluate the quality and type of the disclosed information in sustainability reports consisted of twenty three criteria grouped in five categories. The author discusses the overall results as well as results obtained in the particular categories. The analyses indicate that sustainability reporting is not widespread among companies in Poland. On the other hand, increasing demands/expectations from stakeholders in this direction are not observed. In 2011, 32 reports were published, 6 of them have been audited by independent organizations and 19 have been developed in accordance with the GRI guidelines (Global reporting initiative sustainability reporting guidelines). Corporate social responsibility in Poland is a relatively new concept and although all events suggestive of the development of this concept, it is still little known and rarely implemented among entrepreneurs. The results of the study indicate that sustainability reporting practices in Poland, despite a few good examples and valuable disclosures, are at its early stage of development.     

Measuring organizational performance: beyond the triple bottom line

Measuring organizational performance is difficult, especially when what has to be measured keeps changing. Sustainability concepts have dramatically widened the scope of measurement options and leading organizations are grappling with sustainability reporting, but there is no sign of consensus on a common reporting standard and the competing frameworks are impossibly complex. This paper recognizes that measuring sustainable performance has to be conceptually based but simplified to be practically useful. It proposes a stakeholder‐based, Sustainable Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) conceptual framework coupled with a single‐measure Organizational Sustainability Performance Index to integrate the measures in the SBSC. The Index helps make sustainable organizational performance measurable and accessible to stakeholders. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Capability accumulation,innovation, and technology diffusion: Lessons from a Base of the Pyramid cluster

Although research on industry clusters has made many valuable contributions, a dearth of empirical evidence and theoretical reflection about the characteristics of Base of the Pyramid (BOP) clusters has persisted. Consequently, the literature still lacks a framework that incorporates the context, challenges, and dynamics encountered in such clusters. Drawing from clusters, capability accumulation, and innovation literatures, we develop a theoretical framework that provides a more fine-grained understanding of the dynamics encountered in BOP clusters, the role of support organizations, the importance of capabilities accumulation in firms, and the challenges associated with technology development and diffusion within such settings. We use case study research method conducted in a traditional granite-mining cluster in Brazil, based on 154 interviews with key informants between 1999 and 2011. Our findings suggest that BOP clusters present different dynamics when compared to clusters elsewhere, because of the existence of idiosyncrasies such as additional barriers to technology diffusion, especially when coupled with a lack of coordination and misaligned policy approaches. We contribute to the literature by arguing that the process of technology diffusion in BOP clusters is hindered by these barriers, and that technology development without wide diffusion within BOP clusters can become a source of social exclusion and wealth concentration. Moreover, in large emerging economies, global pipelines are not necessarily the only path for BOP clusters to achieve competitive advantage and sustainable growth, as suggested in the clusters literature.     

Addressing the sustainable development through sustainable procurement: What factors resist the implementation of sustainable procurement in Pakistan?

Sustainable Public Procurement is an integral part of sustainable development because of ever increasing government expenditures. Most of the developing countries lack the required infrastructure which may support public sector sustainability. The aim of this study is to assess the critical factors which resist the implementation of sustainable procurement in public sector of Pakistan. We used Interpretive Structural Model to investigate and rank the interrelationships among different factors of sustainable procurement. With the help of literature and Likert scale instrument, we found twelve key barriers that resist sustainable procurement implementation. We also examined tender documents of 75 different public sector universities of Pakistan but found absence of sustainability element in the documents. External factors namely government legislation and stakeholders' pressure are found most critical barriers as compared to inter organizational factors. The study is also important to highlight the hurdles in the way of sustainable development. First, the government must introduce rules and regulations to implement the sustainable procurement. Stakeholders and donors must put pressure on organizations for adopting sustainable procurement. Sustainability education should be made mandatory part of curriculum and employees should be given regular training on sustainability. Further, public procurement policies at government and institutional levels are required to be revisited towards a circular economy.     

"Revenue Accounting" in the Age of E-Commerce: A Framework for Conceptual, Analytical, and Exchange Rate Considerations

This paper explores "revenue accounting" in contrast to traditional "cost accounting". Revenue accounting serves the information needs of managers and investors in planning and controlling a firm's sales activities and their financial consequences, especially in the age of e-commerce. Weaknesses of traditional accounting have become particularly evident recently, for example, the lack of 1) revenue mileposts, 2) revenue sustainability measurements, and 3) intangibles capitalization. The paper emphasizes the need to develop a conceptual framework of revenue accounting and, as a tentative measure, proposes five basic postulates and five operational postulates of revenue accounting. On the side of analytical frameworks, the paper explores some tentative remedies for the weaknesses. Several revenue mileposts are explored to gauge progress in earning revenues and a Markov process is applied to an example involving mileposts. Revenue momentum, measured by the exponential smoothing method, is examined as a way of getting feedback on revenue sustainability; and the use of the sustainability concept in the analysis of "fixed and variable revenues" is illustrated. A project-oriented approach in a manner similar to capital budgeting and to Reserve Recognition Accounting is proposed by treating each customer as a project. Standardization of forecasts are also considered as an important way of bypassing the capitalization issue. Finally, while e-commerce is inherently global, issues specific to global operations are highlighted, namely, exchange rate issues when venture capitalists and the start-up company use different currencies producing different rates of return on the same project.     

A multilevel examination of skills‐oriented human resource management and perceived skill utilization during recession: Implications for the well‐being of all workers

This article examines whether organizations can enhance employee well‐being by adopting human resource management (HRM) practices strategically targeted to improve skill development and deployment in a recessionary context. Employee skill utilization is proposed as the mediating mechanism between HRM practice and well‐being. The role of workplace skill composition is also examined as a boundary condition within which HRM differentially impacts employee outcomes. Using a nationally representative survey of UK workplaces (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) and matched management and employee data, the analysis focused on organizations that had implemented some recessionary action following the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crisis. The findings show that human capital enhancing HRM and enriched job design positively influenced both job satisfaction and work‐related affective well‐being through increased employee skill utilization. Organizations with predominantly high‐skilled workforces were more likely to adopt these skills‐oriented HRM practices. Nevertheless, the effects of HRM on employee outcomes via skill utilization applied across organizations, regardless of workforce skill composition. The findings demonstrate employee skill utilization as a driver of HRM outcomes and the sustainability of “best practice” HRM arguments across all skill levels, even in the face of recession.     

Drivers,adoption, and evaluation of sustainability practices in Italian wine SMEs

Based on a survey with 64 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in two Italian wine regions, this study aims to (a) identify key drivers and barriers of the adoption of sustainability and (b) compare the adoption and evaluation (use, financial/labor investments, and satisfaction) of sustainability practices in four management domains (marketing, chain, operational, and innovation). Results show that internal drivers were considered to be more important than external drivers. Economic sustainability‐oriented drivers scored significantly lower than drivers related to other dimensions, such as environmental sustainability and heritage. Key barriers refer to labor and investments costs, as well as concerns about greenwashing. Although there are substantial differences in adoption and evaluation of sustainability practices within and between management domains, this study confirms their widespread adoption in wineries. Among users, satisfaction levels outweigh the perceived investments. Except for innovation management practices, financial investments are considered to be lower than labor investments. Positive correlations between use‐satisfaction (within each management domain) and between investments or satisfaction levels (between management domains) further lend support for producers' adoption of multiple practices. At sustainability dimension level, heritage is negatively correlated with the evaluation indicators, indicating that it may act as a potential barrier to some sustainability practices. Segmentation analysis identified a low (30%) and high sustainability clusters (70%), which differ significantly in terms of sustainability perceptions and drivers, adoption, and evaluation of practices, as well as company characteristics. Future research needs to validate the findings on SMEs, compare our measures with more objective evaluation indicators, future adoption rates, and multidimensional sustainability practices.