How to respond to competitors' green success for improving performance: The moderating role of organizational ambidexterity

With increasing environmental competitions between companies, there is a pressing need to explore how the environmental pressures from rivals influence focal firms' actions and the subsequent performance consequences. On the basis of social contagion theory and upper echelons theory, we examine whether firms respond to competitors' green success through green supplier integration, which further improves firm performance, and the moderating effect of organizational ambidexterity. The research explores hypothesized relationships adopting hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping method by collecting survey data from 206 Chinese manufacturers. Our findings suggest that competitors' green success positively influences green supplier integration. Green supplier integration mediates the impacts of competitors' green success on financial and environmental performance. In addition, the combined dimension of organizational ambidexterity plays a positive moderating role in the impacts of green supplier integration on financial and environmental performance. This study expands previous literature and managers' practices on green supply chain management.     

Sustaining brand loyalty: The moderating role of green consumption values

Environmental issues are massively emerging in the current agendas of governments, businesses and consumers all over the globe. Consumers increasingly adopt a more energetic role in the environmental discussion and employ product consumption to manifest their contribution to the debate. Equally, a growing number of businesses try to affect positive social change, whereas others strategically approach green opportunities; at the same time, they persistently intensify their branding offerings to sustain loyalty. This article brings into discussion green consumption values as the authors aim to shed light into the way the latter moderate the effect of brand related factors, namely, brand experiences and brand personality, on brand loyalty. Based on data received from 413 participants and using the wearable technologies industry as the focal context, the study underscores the significance of green consumption values. Findings are discussed, and implications for managers are provided.     

The political economy of Zimbabwean Urban informality since 2000 – A contemporary governance dilemma

ABSTRACT

The article explores the urban informality dilemma in Harare through the lens of a political economy theory. It examines the typologies of urban informality, the influence of political economy on urban informalities, and informs decision-making to address the urban informality dilemma. A qualitative approach was used where secondary data were collected through document analysis and primary data from interviews with 20 purposively selected key informants. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 585 individuals engaged in informal activities. It emerged that urban informality in Harare takes on different forms and aside from the economic crisis, politics played a role in the emergence and proliferation of urban informality. The article provides insight into, and raises awareness with regard to key areas of concern on how power influences decision-making relating to urban informality. Therefore, the article provides a basis for policy formulation and institutional reforms for effective measures to curb urban informality.     

城市近郊区土地可持续利用评价研究

[目的]城市近郊区土地不仅关系到城市建设,也影响着社会经济的发展,是我国土地资源的重要组成部分。对城郊土地的可持续利用进行评价,从而确定土地利用目前的状态以及存在的问题,为今后完善土地利用规划,最终实现土地的持续利用具有重要意义。[方法]从经济可行性、社会可接受性和资源环境协调性3个方面构建济南城郊地区土地可持续利用评价体系,采用熵值法和加权法计算综合评价分值,并利用障碍因素分析法对2009—2017年该地区土地的可持续利用状态和主要限制因素进行了分析。[结果](1)济南市城郊土地可持续利用的综合评分呈上升趋势,分值由2009年的0. 199提高到2017年的0. 827,可持续性程度明显提高,由不可持续过渡到了可持续程度很高,但土地可持续利用的社会接受性与经济可行性和资源环境协调性并不平衡。(2)对济南城郊土地可持续性利用的障碍因素进行诊断,确定出主要障碍因子依次为人均耕地面积、地均固定资产、垃圾无害化处理率和污水处理率。[结论]济南城郊土地可持续利用程度虽然呈现上升趋势,但提升空间还很大,针对限制土地资源利用的障碍因素,今后应从增加资本和科技投入,提高垃圾的处理率和切实保护耕地入手,从而实现土地的可持续利用。     

Unfolding the impact of leadership and management on sustainability performance: Green and lean practices and guanxi as the dual mediators

This study aims to empirically evaluate the predictors that influence sustainability performance among manufacturing firms. Leadership and management, green and lean practices, and guanxi were examined to determine whether these predictors are directly and/or indirectly affecting sustainability performance; 160 valid responses were collected and partial-least-squares-structural-equation-modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that leadership and management positively influenced green and lean practices and green and lean practices positively influenced sustainability performance. Leadership and management also positively influenced guanxi. Interestingly, leadership and management and guanxi do not exert a significant direct influence on sustainability performance. The findings contributed to the development of the resource-based-view theory further by empirically exploring the significance of leadership and management coupled with green and lean practices as competencies and capability to drive sustainability performance. The testing of the dual mediators' effects further added value to this study.     

Transition towards and of sustainability—Understanding sustainability as performative

Our purpose is to explore the concept of “sustainability” when understood from a performative perspective, i.e. as a concept that is filled with meaning across time. Drawing on a 10 year-long study of the digital footprint of Stockholm Royal Seaport, claimed to be northern Europe's largest sustainable urban development district, we show that “sustainability” emerged as the project became associated with particular places, projects, histories, and technologies. This means that “sustainability” was local in that it was situated in the particular spatial context of the project; temporal in that it was situated in a particular time; and political in that it expressed particular values and perspectives. The study contributes to explaining why “sustainability” remains—and always will remain—a contested concept, which is why sustainability transitions are complex. Consequently, we suggest that the transition towards sustainability always involves the transition of sustainability, something that needs to be acknowledged in order for a transition to actually become sustainable.     

What you see is meaningful: Does green advertising change the intentions of consumers to purchase eco-labeled products?

Consumers are increasingly worried that their current consumption patterns have negative environmental impacts, which in turn shapes their green purchase intentions. Based on the signaling theory and stimulus–organism–response model, the purpose of this research is to construct a theoretical framework to understand consumer intentions to buy eco-labeled products. Empirical results from 671 questionnaires show that as expected, green advertising receptivity positively affects intention, and the relationship between green advertising receptivity and intention is also moderated by promotion focus and mediated by system trust and personal trust. However, the relationship between green advertising receptivity and purchase intention is not moderated by prevention focus. Hence, this research suggests that stakeholders should conduct truthful green advertising campaigns to dispel consumer suspicion and target different consumers with different green advertising and marketing campaigns to increase sales.     

自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响研究

［目的］针对全国31个省（市、区）（不含港澳台地区）、自然资源依赖度高的地区和自然资源依赖度低的地区，从整体和分区域研究自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响，探究不同区域其影响程度的差异性，进而为弱化各区域城乡收入差距，解决由城乡收入差距拉大造成的各类社会矛盾具有重要的现实意义。［方法］从理论上分析了自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响，并利用1999—2017年的省级面板数据，运用固定效应模型，从全国和分区域实证分析了自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响。［结果］针对全国，自然资源依赖会拉大城乡收入差距； 分区域结果，针对自然资源依赖度高的地区，自然资源依赖拉大城乡收入差距； 针对自然资源依赖度低的地区，自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距影响不显著。［结论］为缩小城乡收入差距，需要降低经济体对自然资源的依赖，针对自然资源依赖度高的地区，政府通过将部分自然资源收益转化为农业创新基金和农村基础设施投入，促进自然资源收益向农村公共资本转化，完善现有的自然资源收益分配及转化制度； 鼓励资源型产业技术创新，加大研发投入，延长资源产业链； 加大农村教育投入、提升农村人力资本质量。     

POI数据辅助下的泸州市城市地块用地类型现状快速判断与验证

［目的］土地利用规划和城市规划的用地地块，在实际使用过程中，都会不同程度与规划用途产生差异，如何把握规划的实施程度是土地管理中的一个重要问题。［方法］在大数据时代的背景下，通过对网络大数据可以真实地反映城市地块的真实使用状况。研究采用OSM（Open Street Map），对研究区进行城市地块的划分，形成街区尺度的城市地块。采用POI（Point of Interest）数据，建立了POI分类与城市用地分类的映射关系，计算了不同类型的POI数据的频数密度和类型比例，形成基于POI的城市地块用地类型识别方法，对研究区的城市地块进行土地利用现状识别。识别结果与第二次土地调查分类结果进行对比，验证方法的可行性。［结果］从泸州市的实证结果看，基于POI数据的城市地块识别结果与基于地籍数据的城市地块识别结果存在很大的差别。地籍数据主要是表针城市地块中不同实体的土地利用状况，两种数据采集的标准和表达的意义都不同，因此造成结果存在较大的差异性。［结论］研究认为，POI点有准确的空间位置信息和丰富的属性信息，主要是表征城市地块中不同实体的真实使用状况，可以较准确地判定快速发展的城市进程中的城市用地类型，能较为真实反映城市地块的现实使用状况，但也要注意POI数据在实际应用中存在的缺陷和不足。     

Past,present, and future of green product innovation

Firms are under constant pressure from various governmental and nongovernmental agencies to switch from conventional environmentally polluting products to green product innovations (GPIs). However, the relevant research pertaining to GPI has been published in a diverse set of journals that vary in their scope and readership and, therefore, the scholarly contribution to the topic remains largely fragmented. This study has utilised a systematic literature review approach to examine the literary corpus on GPI to paint a holistic picture of its different aspects. The content and thematic analysis of 85 studies resulted in the extraction of seven key research themes: organisational capabilities, organisational learning, institutional pressures, barriers, structural changes, benefits of GPI, and methodological choices. This study's findings further highlight the various gaps in the GPI literature and raise some research questions that warrant scholarly investigation in the future. Likewise, our study has important implications for practitioners who are likely to benefit from a holistic understanding of the different aspects of GPI. Similarly, policymakers can use this study's findings to introduce policy interventions, especially in countries where GPI adoption is low.