Linking Environmental Management to Environmental Performance: The Interactive Role of Industry Context

In the past, corporate sustainability scholars advocated that, for many firms, environmental management could turn into a valuable capability conferring a competitive advantage. However, little attention has been paid to the role of the industry context and its influence on the relationship between environmental management and organizational performance. In this study, we examine the effect on this relationship of three contextual variables: munificence, dynamism and complexity. Drawing on longitudinal data from 336 firms representing 30 industries, we find that munificence enhances the degree to which a firm can leverage its environmental management capabilities to improve environmental performance. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

The Euro-area Financial System: Structure, Integration, and Policy Initiatives

Four years after the introduction of the euro, this paper providesan overview of the current structure and integration of theeuro-area financial systems and related policy initiatives.We first compare the euro-area financial structure with thoseof the United States and Japan. Using new and comprehensivefinancial account data, we also describe how the euro-area financialstructure has evolved since 1995. We document the progress towardsintegration of the major euro-area financial segments, namelymoney markets, bond markets, equity markets, and banking. Finally,we discuss recent policy initiatives aimed at further improvingEuropean financial integration.     

Organisational design implications of global sourcing: A multiple case study analysis on the application of control mechanisms

Global sourcing has become an intended practice for many multinational corporations. Organisational design implications of global sourcing are rarely considered although they are one of the main facets of a global sourcing strategy. By elaborating on the information processing perspective of contingency theory, we derive explanations for the application of different control mechanisms in the global sourcing context. Our findings from case studies at eight multinational companies suggest that variations in control mechanisms can be explained by two contingencies: (1) corporate organisational structure and (2) the distribution of purchasing expertise among subsidiaries. Based on these case study findings, we formulate ten propositions for future research.     

Uncovering the supplier selection knowledge structure: A systematic citation network analysis from 1991 to 2017

Because of the critical role supplier selection plays in organizational success, both practitioners and academics have expressed a strong interest in the subject area generating an extensive body of research. The volume and breadth of publications in this area makes it difficult to understand the knowledge structure of the field and the academic work that has influenced the evolution of the domain.This mixed-method study systematically reviews 246 papers that investigated supplier selection issues and were published between 1991 and 2017. We initially examined the statistics of papers by unveiling influential journals, affiliations and articles. Second, we utilized co-citation network analysis, an objective procedure to extract clusters of what has been researched in supplier selection literature. The study analytically retrieves six major knowledge clusters: 1) conceptual foundation of the field; 2) modeling of the procurement environment; 3) handling group-decision making and unprecise input data; 4) computational research; 5) green/sustainable research and 6) risk-based supplier selection. Finally, we conducted main path analysis to get an overview of the evolution of knowledge in the supplier selection field by uncovering its major paths and key articles.     

Antecedents of customer loyalty in residential energy markets: Service quality,satisfaction, trust and switching costs

A conceptual framework is proposed that analyses the effect of perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, trust in the energy provider and perceived switching costs on customer loyalty in residential energy markets. Three distinct dimensions of perceived service quality are identified: technical quality of core services, technical quality of peripheral services and service process quality (functional service quality). The proposed model is tested within the scope of a representative survey of Spanish residential energy customers. Regarding the dimensions of service quality, the results indicate significant effects only of service process quality on satisfaction and, indirectly, on customer loyalty. Loyalty effects of further variables in the model are significant.     

Dark tourism,thanatourism, and dissonance in heritage tourism management: new directions in contemporary tourism research

This research note focuses on tourism to heritage sites with a controversial history and sites associated with death, disaster, and the macabre. Several new concepts and research directions have emerged in the study of such sites. Particular attention is given to the dark tourism and thanatourism approaches as well as to an analysis of dissonance in the management of heritage sites. Further, changes at places with a shadowed past are examined in the context of a revived geography of memory. There is a continued interest of the traveling public in revisiting war and peace memorials. In the final part of the research note examples of a new perspective on places of pain and shame are introduced.     

What role does CEO vision play in the internationalization process of firms? Evidence from the banking sector in Africa

This study examines the cross‐border expansion of four major African banks from 1988 to 2014 in order to investigate the role of CEO vision in influencing their international investment decisions. The qualitative case study approach is complemented by a quantitative analysis that examines the multiple factors influencing internationalization patterns. The results from both types of analysis indicate that the vision of the CEO matters, and that it is a key factor in explaining the accelerated internationalization of three of the four banks examined in this study. These results stress the need for considering managerial decision making in international resource commitment decisions, particularly in an emerging market context, where a shared developmental vision might be shaping the behavior of the entrepreneurs.     

Interaction of market and credit risk

Experience during the financial crisis illustrates that the integrated measurement and management of different forms of risk remains a challenge for industry practitioners, researchers and financial supervisors alike. In the context of related literature, this article summarizes new research on the interaction of market and credit risk and implications for risk management that is presented in this special issue. The research covered highlights in particular the errors that can occur in the aggregation of the two types of risk and the strong relationships between them that suggest caution in the use of pragmatic distinctions between them. The article also touches on some research-based lessons for supervisory policies and suggests some directions for future research.