Technology and Flexibility: Enablers of Collaboration and Time‐Based Logistics Quality

Collaboration has been cited as one of the most important elements in leveraging supply chains to achieve competitive advantage. Literature in the field of collaboration tends to focus on strategic level initiatives; this research examines the benefits of implementing collaborative approaches at the logistics operations level. We find that leading strategic indicators, including technological innovativeness, technological complementarity, and flexibility are positively related to higher levels of collaboration and logistics service quality at the operational level in retail firms.     

Stock Market Reaction to Quality,Safety, and Sustainability Awards in Logistics

Although quality, safety, and sustainability are important concerns in logistics, managers are sometimes reluctant to invest in these areas because it is not always clear how such investments will benefit firm performance. Empirical literature provides little guidance in the context of logistics as previous studies report mixed findings across a diverse set of industries, which may not be directly applicable to logistics. To address this gap, we conducted an event study to estimate the stock market reaction to quality, safety, and sustainability award announcements in logistics. Based on 244 award announcements during the period 2004–13, we found that stock market participants react positively to announcements of these awards. The market reaction appears to be stronger for sustainability awards than for quality and safety awards. Our results also suggest that the market reacts more favorably to quality and sustainability award announcements for firms with better past financial performance and for smaller firms.     

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.     

Sustainable Supply Chains: Governance Mechanisms to Greening Suppliers

One of the key challenges for firms is to manage sustainability along the supply chain. To extend sustainability to suppliers, organizations have developed different governance mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of two different mechanisms (i.e., supplier assessment and collaboration with suppliers) to improve one dimension of sustainability: environmental performance. Structural Equation Modeling and cluster analysis were used to analyze the relationships between supplier assessment, collaboration with suppliers, and environmental performance. The results suggest that (1) both mechanisms, supplier assessment and collaboration with suppliers, have a positive and synergistic effect on environmental performance, and (2) assessment acts as an enabler of collaboration. Finally, the paper also contributes to the literature by providing a framework of sustainability governance mechanisms.     

W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting

This paper offers a critique of sustainability reporting and, in particular, a critique of the modern disconnect between the practice of sustainability reporting and what we consider to be the urgent issue of our era: sustaining the life-supporting ecological systems on which humanity and other species depend. Tracing the history of such reporting developments, we identify and isolate the concept of the ‘triple bottom line’ (TBL) as a core and dominant idea that continues to pervade business reporting, and business engagement with sustainability. Incorporating an entity’s economic, environmental and social performance indicators into its management and reporting processes, we argue, has become synonymous with corporate sustainability; in the process, concern for ecology has become sidelined. Moreover, this process has become reinforced and institutionalised through SustainAbility’s biennial benchmarking reports, KPMG’s triennial surveys of practice, initiatives by the accountancy profession and, particularly, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s sustainability reporting guidelines. We argue that the TBL and the GRI are insufficient conditions for organizations contributing to the sustaining of the Earth’s ecology. Paradoxically, they may reinforce business-as-usual and greater levels of un-sustainability.     

广州林安物流园持续发展研究

林安物流园是华南地区最大的物流园之一,创立了全国第一家物流交易所,建立第四方服务平台,信息化交易平台,打造公路物流价格指数,推出诚信首赔制度等。但林安物流园持续发展也面临着同质化竞争,低碳物流园区还需强化,进驻企业之间缺乏协作,增值服务薄弱等困境。林安物流园应与区域经济和产业协同发展,面向空港经济提供增值服务,加强校企合作,建设生态物流园,与物流园相关利益体协同一体化发展,以实现资源共享,达到共赢。     

基于扎根理论的农业物流生态圈协同影响因素分析

农业物流生态圈作为一种先进的发展模式,可通过各子系统的相互协作达到双赢,解决传统农业发展面临的产业联动性差、技术水平低下、运营模式落后等问题,推动农业供给侧结构性改革。而考虑到农业物流生态圈涉及主体众多,其协同受多种因素共同作用,需要构建农业物流生态圈协同影响因素框架,以为农业物流生态圈协同研究提供指标体系。基于扎根理论这一质性研究方法,利用Nvivo11.0软件对访谈文本及相关文献资料进行深度分析,得到112个初始概念,进而由初始概念概括出39个范畴,提炼出15个副范畴,最终归纳出协同环境、协同机制、协同能力、协同意愿、扰动因素五个主范畴,形成农业物流生态圈协同影响因素框架。在这个框架中,协同环境可定义为外驱因素,协同机制、协同能力可定义为内驱因素,协同意愿可定义为中介因素,且各因素并非直接对农业物流生态圈产生影响,而是主要通过三条路径进行,其一是外驱因素→中介因素→农业物流生态圈协同,其二是内驱因素→中介因素→农业物流生态圈协同,其三是扰动因素对内驱因素和外驱因素进行调节。     

LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE: EFFICIENCY,EFFECTIVENESS, AND DIFFERENTIATION

This research examines the nature of logistics performance and the contribution of logistics to the firm by empirically investigating the impact of logistics performance on organizational performance. Logistics performance is tested as a second‐order formative construct comprised of three dimensions: logistics efficiency; logistics effectiveness; and logistics differentiation. Results indicate that logistics performance positively impacts organizational performance. Theoretical and empirical support is also provided for measuring logistics performance as a second‐order formative construct, indicating that efficiency, effectiveness, and differentiation are not necessarily trade‐offs, but rather are complementary. Importantly, perceptual measures for organizational performance collected from managerial respondents were strongly correlated with secondary financial data for participating organizations obtained from Compustat, lending empirical credence to the logistics performance–organizational performance relationship.     

EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF FORECASTER MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER ON JUDGMENTAL ADJUSTMENTS OF STATISTICAL FORECASTS

The growing adoption of demand collaboration initiatives such as Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) has made judgmental adjustments of forecasts, an already widespread forecasting practice, an increasingly routine part of many logistics managers' responsibilities. This article investigates how logistics managers might improve forecast accuracy by judgmentally adjusting statistical forecasts and potential factors that may influence the effectiveness of such adjustments. In particular, our goal is to expand current knowledge in this area by focusing on individual differences, specifically motivation and gender, which have been thus far neglected in the extant literature. Our findings indicate that motivation has a significant effect on accuracy improvement and this relationship is moderated by gender. Managerial implications of these findings and future research opportunities are also presented.     

The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard: A Systematic Review of Architectures

The increasing strategic importance of environmental, social and ethical issues as well as related performance measures has spurred interest in corporate sustainability performance measurement and management systems. This paper focuses on the balanced scorecard (BSC), a performance measurement and management system aiming at balancing financial and non-financial as well as short and long-term measures. Modifications to the original BSC which explicitly consider environmental, social or ethical issues are often referred to as sustainability balanced scorecards (SBSCs). There is much scholarly discussion about SBSC architecture and how it can be designed to relate performance dimensions, strategic objectives and the logical links among these elements. To synthesise the widely scattered research findings and publications on the SBSC, we conducted a thematic analysis based on a systematic literature review containing 69 relevant articles spanning a period of two decades. We found that sustainability-oriented modifications of the BSC architecture are motivated by instrumental, social/political or normative theoretical perspectives. Moreover, these modifications can be mapped with a typology of generic SBSC architectures. The first dimension of the typology describes the hierarchy between performance perspectives and strategic objectives and how it is related to the organisational value system. The second dimension describes how sustainability-related strategic objectives are integrated into SBSC performance perspectives and how this is related to corporate sustainability strategy. This study contributes to the development of the emerging SBSC literature and practice and, more generally, to research on corporate sustainability performance measurement and management. We conclude with a research agenda and implications for management.     

Towards a More ‘Ethically Correct’ Governance for Economic Sustainability

In this paper, we propose that economic sustainability is seen in terms of (inter-temporal and inter-national) value creation. We claim that value appropriation (or capture), can become a constraint to economic sustainability. We propose that for sustainable value creation to be fostered, corporate governance needs to be aligned to public and supra-national governance. In order to achieve this, a hierarchically layered set of ‘agencies’, needs to be diagnosed and the issue of incentive alignment addressed. Enlightened self-interest, pluralism and diversity, as well as a representative supra-national organisation for world-wide economic sustainability can serve as a new, more ‘ethically correct’ governance for economic sustainability, but not a panacea.     

相似还是不同？伙伴相似性在横向运输协同的中介效应研究

互为竞争者的运输企业在运输业务上的横向协同能有效促进物流业降本增效,健康发展,但“不合适”的伙伴常会造成协同的高失败率,“伙伴相似性”被用于衡量这种合适程度。文章对地处我国西部的运输企业进行研究,结果表明,横向运输协同能够提升企业绩效,并受到运输企业所处的地理位置和企业规模的显著调节。此外,在三个维度上的“伙伴相似性”完全中介了横向运输协同对企业绩效提升的主效应,协同伙伴之间的能力和文化相似性作用显著,市场相似性却不显著。     

Where Do We Go From Here? Progressing Sustainability Implementation Efforts Across Supply Chains

T he findings from an inductive study conducted in the United States and Europe focused on sustainability implementation efforts across supply chains are reported. In particular, the study focuses on developing a better understanding of: “how do companies involve other members of their supply chain into their sustainability efforts?” Building upon themes that emerged from the data, a typology for the supply chain implementation of sustainability initiatives is proposed. A lack of supply chain integration was identified and companies reported a tendency toward a “mandated” implementation when extending efforts across companies. These efforts are generally initiated by the dominant companies and then forced onto the weaker upstream members. The data suggests that the merits of these initiatives are viewed as being disproportionately awarded to the dominant firm and thus did not receive full buy‐in from the other party. A common vision by both sides of this relationship is to develop a more collaborative implementation that can be supported by all the involved parties. In theoretical implications, empirical findings are viewed through the lens of several prominent management theories in order to augment and elaborate current theory. Managerial implications, limitations, and opportunities for further research are detailed.     

Analysis of Social Performance in the Spanish Financial Industry Through Public Data. A Proposal

Banking firms are becoming increasingly aware that their clients’ management of environmental and social risks may in term threaten their own business as lenders and investors. In addition, stakeholders are requiring banks to improve their social performance. As a result, some banks are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and management systems to reduce potential risks and improve their performance. In the Spanish financial system, half of the banking firms are savings banks, most of which have always used some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria in their management. Private Banks have only recently started to integrate social aspects in their performance. However, no formal analysis has been carried out on the impact of CSR strategies. Various initiatives have been launched nationally and internationally to include the social dimension in management systems. The purpose of this research is to analyse the social performance of the main Spanish financial companies through public data such as social or sustainability reports and media sources. In order to do this, we need to determine which CSR criteria most greatly affect banking firms and to choose the most accurate quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure social performance.     

Does Sustainability Pay? Evidence from the Food Sector

This research investigates sustainability concepts, linking them with social, environmental, and operational activities in the food supply chain. Building on the literature treating social sustainability as an antecedent of environmental sustainability, we present the effects of environmental sustainability on operational performance using constructs that reflect flexibility, quality, and responsiveness. For this purpose, manufacturing companies in the Turkish food industry are surveyed and 101 responses are collected. A partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) is constructed to test the reliability and the validity of the measurement model and the structural model. The results show that social sustainability is positively associated with environmental sustainability. Moreover, environmental sustainability has a positive influence on operational performance measures: flexibility, quality, and responsiveness with effect sizes that range from medium to large. Organizations in the food supply chain should consider not only the economic, but also the social and the environmental aspects of sustainability. To do this, governments could inform manufacturers in the food sector about the importance of sustainability and encourage them with different incentives towards more sustainable operational practices. This work establishes that investing in social and environmental sustainability returns increased operational performance. The limitation of the research is the size of the sample. In the future, the questionnaire can be used to compare results from other countries and other sectors.     

线上线下与物流协同的逻辑推演、影响因素与构建策略

线上线下与物流协同是"新零售"发展的核心。总体看来,我国"新零售"发展已跨越初级阶段向中高级阶段进化,也对线上线下与物流协同提出了新的要求。基于"新零售"发展现实,围绕线上线下与物流协同发展的四个阶段对协同发展进行逻辑推演,结合零售系统、物流支撑、技术应用等多要素探讨协同的影响因素。研究发现,从动态视角来看,电商与物流协同和线上线下融合为线上线下与物流协同奠定基础,而线上线下与物流协同要经历由线状协同向网状(立体)协同进化过程,也预示由初级协同向中高级协同的迈进;线上线下与物流协同主要受底层逻辑(线上线下协同融合程度、零售业网状协同水平)、核心支撑(物流网络建设、物流运营管理水平、物流生态体系协同)、升级保障(数智化技术协同应用、供应链整合与创新)三个方面共七类因素的影响,而不同因素又具有不同的作用方向。基于此,线上线下与物流协同要秉承"四化"理念,即以规模化运营为基础,以创新化模式为引领,以数智化技术为依托,以生态化体系为关键,提升协同服务水平和效率,构筑协同系统。     

Sustainability as corporate culture of a brand for superior performance

Sustainability research highlights new challenges and opportunities for businesses. This paper reviews the literature to understand the ability of sustainable green initiatives when practiced as a corporate culture to individually create new opportunities for operations, management and marketing. According to current research, business opportunities exclusively available to different functions of a firm can drive its performance. The role of marketing in the achievement of superior performance by virtue of sustainability practices is also explained by the existing literature. Branding literature, however, fails to explain the influence of a brand on sustainability-driven opportunities available to a firm for superior performance. The objective of this study is to explore if a brand can strengthen the ability of sustainability-based green initiatives of managers to drive opportunities available to a firm for superior performance. A conceptual framework grounded in the triple bottom line theory is presented based on the assumption that brand as a stimulating factor can accelerate the conversion of opportunities available to a business into superior performance. Academic and managerial perspectives have been used to draw upon the implications of the model. Both practitioners and academic researchers will benefit from future research on this topic.     

STRATEGIC ORIENTATION,CAPABILITIES, AND PERFORMANCE IN MANUFACTURER — 3PL RELATIONSHIPS

This study examines how two dimensions of strategic orientation (customer and competitor orientation) influence logistics and market performance. Two capabilities, operational flexibility and collaboration, are studied. Data were collected from manufacturers working with third party logistics providers. The findings suggest that customer and competitor orientations have different influences upon performance when leveraged through the capabilities. Competitor orientation, while having a detrimental direct effect on logistics performance, appears to be the better strategic approach, when supported with operational flexibility since it results in enhanced logistics (efficiency) and market (effectiveness) performance. Customer orientation, on the other hand, greatly improves logistics performance, i.e., internal efficiency.     

Entrepreneurs: The world needs you

The way we see the role of business is changing dramatically. What have we learned from the recent and ongoing crises? Where does one look for guidance on the “right thing to do” now? In a world where we live on one globe, it is time to shift our energy to real responsibility and sustainability. This requires a new paradigm. As Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” We are not separated from our environment, nature, and society; we are actually a part of it. Therefore, let us unleash entrepreneurship and the power of business in a way to serve us more holistically. This new type of thinking, this expanding consciousness, is giving birth to all the new concepts of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, inclusive business, conscious capitalism, and sustainable development. On the global level, there are increasing numbers of business‐oriented initiatives aimed at steering the power of business toward the public good such as the UN Global Compact and the Business Call to Action. Where to look for inspiration at the individual level? Within yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.” © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Strategic Leadership of Corporate Sustainability

Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously explicit fashion through the emergence of top management team (TMT) positions with dedicated corporate sustainability responsibilities. These TMT positions, commonly referred to as “Chief Sustainability Officers,” have found their way into the upper echelons of many of the world’s largest corporations alongside more traditional TMT positions including the CEO and CFO. We explore this phenomenon and consider the following two questions: Why are corporate sustainability positions being installed to the TMT? What effects do corporate sustainability TMT positions have at their organizations? We consider these questions through strategic leadership and neoinstitutional theoretical frameworks. Through the latter, we also engage with Weberian considerations of bureaucracy. We find that the reasons why corporate sustainability TMT positions are installed can be in response to a crisis at the corporation for which its legitimacy is challenged. We also find the corporate sustainability TMT position can be installed proactively in an effort to realize external opportunities that may have otherwise gone unrealized without concerted attention and coordination afforded by a strategic level position. Regarding effects, we determine the position can relate to the establishment of bureaucratic structures dedicated to corporate sustainability within the corporation through which formalized processes and key performance indicators to drive corporate sustainability performances are established. In the face of our finding that many corporate sustainability TMT positions are being removed despite having only relatively recently been introduced to their respective TMTs, we find that the successful implementation of bureaucratic machinery can help considerations to sustainability extend beyond the tenure of a corporate sustainability position within the TMT.