Drivers and barriers to environmental supply chain management practices: Lessons from the public and private sectors

This study explores the factors that drive or hinder organisations to implement green supply chain management initiatives. A literature review identifies the main categories of internal and external drivers of green supply chain management practices, including organisational factors, regulation, customers, competitors and society, but there is little indication of suppliers as drivers for green supply chain management. Internal barriers include cost and lack of legitimacy, whereas external barriers include regulation, poor supplier commitment and industry specific barriers. An explorative study is conducted based on interviews from seven different private and public sector organisations. Encouragingly, across the organisations, more drivers than barriers to environmental supply chain management are identified. Organisations seem to be more influenced by external rather than internal drivers. The barriers to environmental supply chain management experienced by organisations tend to be both internal and external.     

Diffusion of environmental business practices: A network approach

The purpose of this research is to build a conceptual foundation that examines network effects on the diffusion of environmental business practices (EBP) among suppliers. This research extends a network perspective to adoption of an environmental business practice across a large network of suppliers. The context of EBP is used to better understand adoption of a complex business practice, with perceived costs that are often greater than the perceived benefit. Variation in the level of structural and relationship embeddedness affect network diffusion of environmental business practices differently. Increased levels of structural and relational embeddedness are proposed to be positively associated with diffusion of EBP. From a practical standpoint, firms that leverage embeddedness may facilitate higher diffusion and adoption of environmental business practices. This facilitation may lead network actors to engage in EBP, and leverage benefits that may stem from these practices. This research introduces the concept of embeddedness to the environmental supply chain literature. Practicing managers can use the findings in this research to better position themselves within a network to diffuse EBP. This research also helps managers understand how supply chain members that are weakly connected to the primary network are important for introducing new ideas and innovations.     

建筑企业绿色供应链管理绩效评价研究

中国建筑施工产业是经济发展的重要支柱产业,是一个重要的物质生产部门。随着社会和经济的发展,环境问题越来越受到人们的关注,公众意识、法律和环境标准的改进推动了绿色供应链管理的快速发展。本文根据绿色供应链管理的内容及其特点,结合环境管理标准,体现可持续发展的要求,对建筑企业绿色供应链管理绩效评价指标体系与评价方法做出了理论探讨。     

Sustainable supply chain management in tourism

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) encapsulates the trend to use purchasing policies and practices to facilitate sustainable development at the tourist destination. Most research has focused on environmental aspects of manufacturing, while other aspects of sustainability or the challenges for the service sector are largely ignored. Yet SSCM is particularly important for tour operators, as the product depends on the activities of suppliers, such as accommodation, transport and activities. Therefore, tour operators' contribution to sustainable tourism will be more effective through the definition and implementation of policies that acknowledge responsibility for the impacts of suppliers. Exploratory research of SSCM practices amongst tour operators generated a wide range of examples of good practice across the whole supply chain, and recommendations are made for more widespread engagement. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Eco-efficiency changes of the electricity and gas sectors across 28 European countries: A value-based data envelopment analysis productivity approach

This paper assesses the relative eco-efficiency changes in the electricity and gas sector (E&G)' production and consumption chains in 28 European countries. We propose a novel robustness assessment for the productivity index, specifically adjusted to value-based data envelopment analysis. Overall, results indicate that total factor productivity gains have been mainly driven by the catch-up effect across all chains of the E&G sector. When a more demanding perspective concerning negative environmental externalities is adopted, we find that the number of European countries that achieved productivity gains across all chains decreases. Besides, results depict the existence of lower productivity gains for the direct production chain when compared with the direct and indirect supply chains of the E&G sector. Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium were consistently viewed as innovators across all chains, according to the environmental perspective. Several Eastern Europe countries usually viewed as policy laggards that resisted adopting the ambitious European decarbonization targets, showed total factor productivity gains in the supply chain of the E&G sector under a more environmental demanding perspective. Czechia was the only country with productivity losses across all chains, due to increasing coal-fired electricity generation in the time horizon assessed. The current partial return to coal as a source of electricity, due to the geopolitical tensions between Russia and Europe, brings additional challenges to the enhancement of the eco-efficiency of the European E&G sector.     

Green supply chain practices and company performance in Portuguese manufacturing sector

Green supply chain management is an important organizational approach to reducing strain on the environment. Many companies are under pressure from customers, media, governments, and investors, among others, to implement green practices. This exploratory paper investigates the relationships between internal and external green practices of eight Portuguese companies from different industrial sectors and their impact on economic and environmental performance. The relationship was analyzed based on the data collected from 22 semi‐structured interviews with general managers, procurement and environmental/safety managers, and through secondary data collected from reports, websites and companies' internal documentation. The analysis identifies the most important green practices considered by managers, as well as the performance measures that are most appropriate and most widely used to evaluate the influence of green practices on corporate performance. A conceptual model was derived to assess the influence of green practices on focal company economic and environmental performance. The results support four of five propositions of this research, and it is possible to conclude that the companies believe that with the adoption of green supply chain practices, they can be more competitive in the market. Due to the scope of the green practices, the relationship between green practices and economic performance was inconclusive. Internal and external green supply chain practices contribute to improved environmental performance because for all companies, there is a positive relationship between green practices and environmental performance in terms of energy, water consumption, waste, and air emissions reduction.     

Integrating environmental management and supply chain strategies

The decisions related to managing the supply chain and supply chain strategy are already considered important in many organizations. As more executives adopt environmental practices, supply chain strategies will only increase in importance. In this paper, we review how companies develop environmental supply chain strategies. Our interviews with companies from The United States, The United Kingdom, Japan and Korea, along with prior research, are used to develop a framework for environmental supply chain strategy decision‐making. We then use this framework to suggest guidelines for how companies might change their current supply chain practices to successfully integrate environmental issues into their supply chain strategy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Institutional-based antecedents and performance outcomes of internal and external green supply chain management practices

Green supply chain management (GSCM) has been a developing topic for at least a couple of decades. Over this time, significant complexities have been observed in its management. Helping to simplify and understand these complexities is necessary from both a practical and research perspective. Given this situation and to further enhance understanding of the topic and even supply chain management in general, this paper develops and empirically tests a theoretical model on the different types of institutional pressures motivating manufacturing enterprises to pursue green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and commensurate performance outcomes. Using a sample of 396 Chinese manufacturers, path analysis is used to evaluate the many structural links. The statistic results show that institutional pressures have driven the manufacturer adoption of internal GSCM practices which in turn relate to their external GSCM practices adoption. The statistic results also suggest that GSCM practices do not directly affect economic performance, but can improve it indirectly. This research contributes to the literature on institutional theory in corporate environmental practices. The research findings provide useful insights for managers seeking to adopt GSCM practices. The results also provide policy insights for professional organizations, regulators, and legislators to further promote GSCM.     

Assessing the Comprehensiveness of Supply Chain Environmental Strategies

As environmental awareness grows, firms are expected to expand the scope of their environmental strategies beyond organisational boundaries and to address more comprehensively environmental issues in their supply chains and product life cycles. Drawing on different literature streams, international standards and corporate disclosure, this paper presents a conceptual framework for the quantitative assessment of the comprehensiveness of firms' environmental strategies. This framework allows us to capture: (i) the environmental inputs and outputs addressed, (ii) the firm versus supply chain orientation of environmental strategies, and (iii) the environmental management practices adopted by companies. We illustrate the application of this framework with a content analysis of corporate sustainability reports for a cross‐sectoral sample of sustainability leaders. Our results indicate that there is a need for greater specificity in environmental reporting and that, overall, companies remain firm‐oriented. It is also observed that supply chain orientation can generally be associated with stakeholder pressure. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Supply Chain Management as Private Sector Regulation: What does it Mean for Business Strategy and Public Policy?

The growing practice of environmental supply chain management by firms constitutes private sector regulation that is analogous in many ways to public sector regulation. Similarly to their public counterparts, private sector regulators set standards, apply standards, monitor for compliance, apply sanctions and require corrective action. Private sector regulation differs, however, in the source of authority, external oversight, analytical requirements, public participation and available sanctions. This article argues that supply chain management by firms goes beyond business objectives by creating positive environmental externalities for society, and that more systematic study of the similarities and contrasts between the two forms of regulation may provide valuable lessons for both. Further, it may be possible to increase the effectiveness of private sector regulation to achieve both public societal and private business goals. From a business perspective, supply chain management enables firms to strategically redefine their relationships with government, reduce uncertainty and promote goal‐oriented collaboration. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Perceived Environmental Uncertainty: The Extension of Miller's Scale to the Natural Environment

Large businesses are professionalizing their approach to environmental management, in pursuit of quality management, cost effective eco-efficiency and regulatory compliance. However, recent evidence suggests that business corporations are not integrating the natural environment into their strategic thinking. One of the major reasons for this is the contingent relationship between perceived uncertainty in the business environment and strategic decision making. This paper describes the development and testing of a Perceived Environmental Uncertainty (PEU) measurement scale for the natural environment. The new PEU scale is based on Miller's (1993) PEU scale for the commercial environment and grounded in the environmental management theory. It is also shown to possess very good reliability and dimensionality. The new PEU scale was applied in the form of self-report questionnaire. Respondents were senior executives (n = 198) from the UK textile industry. We specifically looked for variations in levels of executives' PEU along the industry supply chain. As a result of applying the new scale, our findings show that the natural environment presents significantly higher levels of PEU for executives in the textile making-up/retail sector. The major cause of uncertainty for the textile making-up/retail sector is that firms in this sector are at the end of the supply chain and therefore exposed to up-stream risk, which is often very difficult to manage.     

Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability

Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy (CE) practices and prevailing business models. Recognize the same; this study examines the role of blockchain technology in circular CE practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 404 enterprises located in Chinese and Pakistani territories, involved in cross-border supply chain operations. Both countries' sample has great relevance due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which possesses several positive fallouts in terms of technology spillovers across firms. Using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) modeling framework, this study provides three key findings. First, BCT significantly improves the circular economy practices (circular procurement, circular design, recycling, and remanufacturing). Second, CE practices help improve firms' environmental performance and stimulate their financial performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study sets out the foundations for participating countries/firms that simultaneously achieve financial and sustainable goals by integrating blockchain technology in circular economy practices.     

高技能人才队伍建设政策供需适配偏差及矫正:以四川省为例

本文基于补偿性适配理论,首先建立了"政策工具—人才供应链"二维分析框架,然后采用内容分析法,分别对2011-2018年四川省高技能人才队伍建设的41项政策文本以及256份访谈记录样本进行了政策供需现状分析。在此基础上,运用供需适配模型计算和分析了高技能人才队伍建设政策供需适配度及适配关系。研究发现:"信息技术支持"、"政府购买"、"海外机构"和"法规制度"等次级政策工具在人才供应链的教育/鉴定机构环节存在着政策供给过溢现象;而"政府购买"和"海外机构"在劳动者环节,"贸易制度"在教育/鉴定机构和人才市场环节存在着政策供给缺位现象;同时,"信息技术支持"在人才市场环节,"资金投入"、"金融支持"和"服务外包"在企业环节存在着政策供给不足现象。针对目前在人才供应链各个环节存在的政策供给过溢、缺位和不足共存的现实,本文以优化政策资源配置和提高政策供需适配度为导向,从次级政策工具使用的强度、内容、形式、运行机制和平台建设等方面,分别提出了相应的矫正对策。     

Strategies for Developing an Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain: Differences Between Manufacturing and Service Sectors

This research illuminates the debate on whether there are differences between the manufacturing and service sectors in the matter of developing a sustainable environmental supply chain. Over the past 5 years a survey has been conducted with 800 large European companies, of which half are in the manufacturing sector and half in the service sector. The hypotheses within the survey are related to strategies for developing an environmental supply chain. They were derived from a literature review and were tested by means of a chi‐square test. The survey questionnaire enabled the respondents to give some viewpoints about the hypotheses. In this way, strategies for developing the supply chain such as ISO 14001, the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), auditing, waste management systems, reverse logistics, environmental indicators, remanufacturing and reuse have been investigated. Results show interesting and unexpected differences between manufacturing and service sectors that can lead to further research, practical implications and even suggestions for the surveyed companies. For instance, the viewpoints of manufacturing and service industries differ over ISO 14001 and EMAS implementation in the supply chain. In addition, service industries approach the implementation of auditing, reverse logistics, reuse and remanufacturing in a way different from that of manufacturing. Other strategies are considered essential by both sectors. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Sustainability concerns in luxury supply chains: European brand strategies and French consumer expectations

Sustainability in supply chain management has become a concern in both research and practice. Although consumption and purchasing have been significantly explored in the luxury sector, a gap in supply chain studies is still evident. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine how industry bodies and supply chain partners address sustainability concerns in the European luxury sector and how they respond to consumer expectations. In an explanatory study, we have collected data about sustainable supply chain practices in 11 European luxury good companies, by interviewing and surveying 13 managers. In a first consumer study, we held interviews with French luxury consumers in Bordeaux about their sustainability expectations (N = 170). The results show that while the distribution of attention is dependent on the respective supply chain activities, luxury goods companies address sustainability concerns and aim to take responsibility for their activities. However, the emphasis is on the dimension of economic sustainability. A comparison with sustainability expectations of French luxury goods consumers suggests that business practices are not perfectly well aligned with these expectations. Consumers put more emphasis on social and environmental sustainability dimensions. On the other hand, business activities concerning waste reduction and raw material management rather well match consumer expectations.     

Could lean practices and process innovation enhance supply chain sustainability of small and medium‐sized enterprises?

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt lean practices (LP) to reduce waste across their organisational value chain, which helps achieve sustainability. Process innovation (PI) has also been applied through cleaner production, environmental management system, ecodesign, and so on to address both customers' needs and legislations by policymakers. Although prior studies reveal the effect of sustainable practices, LP, and PI on sustainable performance separately, less is known on the integrated effect of them on sustainability performance. Moreover, studies on mediating effect of LP and PI on sustainability performance are scant. This is significant as LP and PI are considered to be the enablers for achieving sustainability performance. This research addresses this knowledge gap. The research first theorises a model integrating these four major constructs (sustainability practices, LP, PI, and sustainability performance) through hypotheses development. Subsequently, using structural equation modelling, it is tested whether each of sustainability practices, LP, and PI effect sustainability performances. Additionally, mediating effect of LP and PI between sustainability practices and performances is derived. The study uses data from 119 SMEs within manufacturing industries in the Midlands, United Kingdom. Further, a few case studies have been undertaken to validate the findings from quantitative analysis. The overall results show that although sustainability practices, LP, and PI help achieve sustainability performance of SMEs supply chain through efficiency and responsiveness respectively, the mediating effect LP is more compared with PI. Moreover, SMEs adopt LP when they are economy focused and implement PI when they are pressurised by customers and/or policymakers.     

The iron cage exposed: Institutional pressures and heterogeneity across the healthcare supply chain

The healthcare industry has been known to operate in a strong institutional environment (i.e. government regulations), and the implementation of inter-organizational systems (IOS) has followed an institutional process. Extending this perspective across different tiers in the healthcare supply chain, we investigate how organizations in different tiers in the supply chain (i.e. hospitals, distributors and manufacturers) respond to institutional pressures when implementing IOS. How institutional dynamics unfold across multiple tiers of a supply chain is an uncharted area of research, and we take the theory-building case study approach using data collected from ten organizations. Because organizations are embedded in their respective tiers, our within-tier analyses are equivalent to cross-organization analyses. In this regard, the cross-case analyses occur at two different levels: at each tier level (i.e. across multiple hospitals, multiple distributors and multiple manufacturers) and across the supply chain (i.e. across all three tiers). The study shows how different institutional pressures such as coercive, mimetic, and normative manifest across the tiers. It also demonstrates how a differential mix of endogenous and institutional pressures lead to mixed organizational responses across the tiers. The propositions developed from the study enrich institutional theory arguments within the information systems and supply chain management disciplines. They highlight how the IOS implementation dynamics within and across different tiers in a supply chain result in heterogeneous rather than isomorphic consequences, thereby exposing the “iron cage” of institutionalization.     

Green supply chain management in the automotive industry: A study in Brazil

The auto industry is experiencing a time of restlessness, which stems from several elements that currently threaten the stability and status quo of its supply chains. Among these elements are autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification, and trip sharing that has led to new forms of mobility. In this context, this article presents the results of a research, which had three main objectives: (1) to identify the green supply chain management (GSCM) practices most commonly implemented in all industrial sectors worldwide, (2) to evaluate how these practices are considered by professionals in the automotive industry and by researchers working on the subject in Brazil, and (3) to identify and evaluate which practices are most widely adopted within these companies and/or supply chains and influence their environmental performance. The research method combined a qualitative research step (Delphi) with another quantitative one (survey). The results show that most of the reality of the automotive industry in Brazil is in line with studies on GSCM practices worldwide, but some specific findings have also been identified and discussed.     

Human resource management in the Spanish call centre sector: the bird cage model of call centre work

This paper examines the nature of human resource management (HRM) in call centres in Spain. After reviewing the institutional perspective and other previous contributions to the characterisation of HRM practices in call centres, the authors present evidence of the use of high commitment working practices (HCWP) in this sector. The findings report only a moderate presence of HCWP in the sector generally, but the analysis points towards the existence of four significant and distinct clusters of HRM practices. The results also show categorical evidence that work discretion is almost non-existent across all of the clusters, even in those with more evolved high commitment practices. This lack of autonomy, as well as an intensive use of performance monitoring systems, leads us to model the results in a bird–cage analogy.