Life cycle assessment in the food supply chain: a case study

This research aims at assessing the environmental impact of the poultry supply chain from cradle to grave using case study research and also life cycle assessment (LCA). While a limited number of generic poultry production LCA studies have been published, fewer yet assess the whole process of a specific organisation, none comparing the increased impact of further processing. Our results show that irrespectively of the impact assessment method utilised, the process of producing portions is considerably higher in total environmental impact due to the extra raw material required to produce the same mass into retail. Our research contributes to the growing number of LCA studies and could be used by practitioners for comparison against national and international averages. From a theoretical point of view, this research provides new insights into the relationship between vertically integrated supply chains and environmental performance which has not been examined in the past.     

武汉市城市可持续发展能力评估

作者根据可持续发展能力的内涵及特点 ,结合城市发展特征 ,提出了城市可持续发展能力评价与指标选取的原则、评估方法 ,建立了评价的指标体系 ,并以武汉市为对象 ,从人文、自然的角度评价其一段时间内可持续发展的动态变化 ,并在此基础上提出了一些建议。     

基于生命周期的企业价值评估方法研究

随着中国市场经济结构不断完善和企业优化竞争速率的激增,企业价值评估的重要作用日渐凸显,企业价值评估方法封市场定价和企业价值观有着重要的导向作用。不同生命周期阶段,影响企业创造价值的因素不同,企业价值评估方法也应不同。本文依据企业生命周期理论,以现金流量模型为基础,结合企业所处的生命周期阶段,补充现金流量模型在评估企业价值时的不足之处,为企业寻找更加合理的价值评估方法。     

全寿命周期集成化管理模式的思想和组织

决策阶段开发管理（DM）,实施阶段业主项目管理（OPM）和运营阶段物业管理（FM）在建设项目传统管理模式中相互独立,导致许多弊端,主要表现在最终用户需求自决策阶段开始就得不到准确的定义,项目参与各方所拥有的知识和经验不能很好地为全寿命周期目标的实现服务。对不同阶段之间界面很难进行有效的组织和管理、全寿命周期不同阶段生成的信息不能共享。本文提出了建设项目全寿命周期集成化管理（LCIM）模式的全新概念,并对相应的组织模式进行了深入的分析。     

Strategic interdependence, governance effectiveness and supplier performance: A dyadic case study investigation and theory development

Inter-organizational exchange governance approaches are often characterized as two broad types: relational and transactional. However, in fast changing business contexts, the contextual contingencies do not present ideal conditions for practicing purely relational or transactional approach. Understanding the dynamic of key contextual factors and their effects on a firm's resource capabilities and inter-organizational power structure is crucial for identifying the appropriate governance structure over time. In this paper we explore the exchanges between an OEM and five of its strategic suppliers that operate in high-end, short product life cycle motorbike industry, to understand the key contextual factors and the relationships among business context, governance structure, and exchange practices in a dyadic context. It is observed that firms deviate from the conventional choices of either transactional or relational governance to a combination of contractual and relational aspects to make the governance structure effective. Based on case studies, a theoretical framework is proposed to explain the rationale, feasibility and effectiveness of combining contractual and relational aspects in different contexts. The framework suggests that the degree of strategic interdependence between the trading partners fundamentally drives the effectiveness of governance structure and exchange practices.     

民营中小企业可持续发展与制度创新

作为我国民营企业的重要组成部分,民营中小企业的发展状况对我国国民经济全局产生重要影响。对于广大民营中小企业而言,制度对其健康有序发展意义重大。文章阐述了民营中小企业几大突出特征,全面阐述了民营中小企业可持续发展与制度创新策略。     

少数民族地区中小企业可持续发展问题及对策

少数民族地区中小企业发展过程中面临着交通不发达与信息化水平较低、政府支持力度不够、融资难、人力资源匮乏、核心竞争力不强、缺乏持续创新能力等问题,这些问题的存在阻碍着少数民族地区中小企业的可持续发展。文章在分析以上问题的基础上,提出了促进少数民族地区中小企业可持续发展的对策和建议。     

Extending the supply chain: Integrating operations and marketing in the online grocery industry

This study reports results from case studies of four Internet-ordering and home-delivery grocers and 2440 of their customers. Each grocer follows a different operations strategy as determined by choice of where to fulfill customer orders (from existing stores or from a dedicated DC) and by choice of delivery method (direct to the customer's home/office or indirect via customer pickup or third-party logistics provider). The survey data from customers are used to assess the degree of integration between marketing and operations and the relationship with customer behavioral intentions. The results indicate that eBusiness-, product-, and service-quality, all have a significant direct effect on customer behavioral intentions to purchase again. There is limited support for technology as a moderating factor. Finally, the relationships between the predictor variables and customer behavioral intentions differ across grocers. This supports the idea that grocers utilizing different operational strategies should focus attention on different facets of their business and provides insight as to where efforts should be directed.     

城市胁迫发展理论--城市可持续发展的生态学视角

将生态学的胁迫概念引入到城市的可持续发展领域中,探讨了城市的供应系统、生产系统、消费系统在面临资源、能源以及环境不足时产生的胁迫调整规律.同时对胁迫调整的作用力进行了分析,并进一步提出了城市胁迫发展的概念,对其核心问题进行了细致的阐述,从而为解决城市的可持续发展提供了一条行之有效的发展模式.     

城市发展中的文化自觉与文化创新——以"新天地"为例

在城市现代化进程中,如何处理好历史文化与城市改造之间的关系是显示城市文明程度和关系到城市文化发展的重要课题.以上海"新天地"区域的改造模式为案例进行文化层面的解读,力图阐明城市发展中文化自觉与文化创新的必要性和实践性,分别从实例分析和理论阐释层面指出,建立在认识自我和借鉴他者基础上的文化自觉精神和文化创新实践是城市文化发展的必由之路.     

Competing in the global aerospace supply chain: The case of the Canadian aerospace industry

In light of the vertical disintegration of the global aerospace industry, this paper reports on a study that was commissioned by Industry Canada to evaluate whether Canadian aerospace firms have been able to develop the new set of manufacturing and managerial capabilities required to compete in the global aerospace supply chain. A strategic management framework was used to assess the fit between the key success factors of the external environment and the resources and capabilities of the firms studied. The results indicate that although smaller aerospace firms seem to possess technological and engineering skills that are vital strengths in the aerospace industry, better marketing efforts would enable them to enlarge their client base and intensify their participation in the global aerospace supply chain.     

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.     

创新驱动与绿色发展的理论思考

当今世界正处在从经济复苏迈向新的发展阶段的关键时期,绿色发展是保护环境与发展经济的重要结合点。以能源与环境技术、绿色低碳技术为代表的绿色技术创新和以绿色经济制度体系构建为代表的制度创新,将为我国经济社会与资源环境可持续发展提供新引擎。本文通过分析绿色创新的特点与正反馈机制,找出创新与绿色发展的关系,并剖析了创新驱动与绿色发展的相互促进机制。最后从实践角度探讨了世界各国的绿色技术创新政策。     

A contingent theory of supplier management initiatives: Effects of competitive intensity and product life cycle

Direct investments in supplier development and close relationship building are the two major collaborative supplier management strategies for developing and accessing superior supplier capability. The impact of these two strategies, however, has not been uniform across firms, calling for a deeper examination of their relative effectiveness. Utilizing multiple theoretical frameworks, this study examines the relevance and effectiveness of the two collaborative strategies across the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle (PLC). Specifically, the study analyzes the influence of competitive intensity as an antecedent to supplier development and relational initiatives, and the role of product life cycle as a moderator of the inter-relationships among competitive intensity, supplier development, relational initiatives, and supplier capability. Based on primary survey data, and discussion with practicing managers, the study finds that the individual and integrative effectiveness of supplier development investments (SDI) and relational orientation (RO) can be influenced differently by competitive intensity and PLC stage. In particular, RO can have a foundational role in motivating SDI for superior supplier capability, as also in safeguarding against supplier opportunism in the standardized product market context of the maturity stage. The managerial and theoretical implications of varied emphasis on the two collaborative supplier management strategies across the PLC stages are discussed.     

Understanding the adoption of socially responsible supplier development practices using institutional theory: Dairy supply chains in India

Supplier development (SD) initiatives play an important role in building buyer-supplier capacities to deal with social and economic performance. The aim of this paper is to explain the motivations behind the adoption of similar SD strategies to address sustainability (particularly social issues) occurring in local supply chains of a developing country. We compare the economic and social variants of institutional theory to investigate whether efficiency or legitimacy seeking drives the adoption (and copying) of SD practices. Twelve case studies involving private and cooperative dairies were conducted in India via semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that both private and cooperative dairies adopt similar SD practices to build supplier capabilities and improve social and economic performance of buyers and suppliers. Private dairies imitate SD practices of the cooperatives to survive the competition; i.e., economic performance is the main reason behind their isomorphism. Cooperatives, on the other hand, take up SD practices more for legitimacy and even philanthropic reasons; though also partly note the long-term economic benefits from developing the supplier community. These findings can be used both by practitioners and researchers to gain valuable insights into the reasons driving organisational isomorphism in social sustainability practices from a developing country perspective, something rarely done so far in the literature.     

Decision-making in the supply chain: Examining problem solving approaches and information availability

In this paper we investigate the role of two types of problem solving approaches on supply chain performance. Additionally, we investigate how the level of information availability moderates problem solving approach on supply chain performance. We draw on construal level theory from the experimental psychology literature to explain how the problem solving approaches (abstract problem solving approach vs. concrete problem solving approach) contribute to supply chain performance. From this foundation, we run a series of behavioral experiments to test our hypotheses that problem solving approaches and information availability impact supply chain performance as presented in the beer distribution game. A key finding of this study is that individuals who take an abstract problem solving approach are able to perform better than individuals who take a concrete problem solving approach in the context of limited information availability. However, in the context of complete information availability, the impact of both types of problem solving approaches on performance becomes negligible.     

循环经济：与自然和谐的经济发展模式

循环经济是通过将经济活动按照自然生态系统的模式,组成"资源-产品-再生资源"的物质反馈式循环过程,使经济活动对自然环境的影响降低到最小程度,在物质不断循环的基础上实现资源的最大化利用,促进社会经济的可持续发展.发展循环经济是人类社会发展的必然选择.在我国高速的经济增长中,资源短缺和环境污染的问题非常严重,因而发展循环经济具有重要意义.发展循环经济是一项涉及各行各业、千家万户的事业,需要政府、企业和社会各界的共同努力,增强全社会的资源忧患意识和节约资源、保护环境的责任意识,构建资源节约型、环境友好型社会.     

Implementing supply chain information integration in China: The role of institutional forces and trust

This study investigates the effects of Chinese companies’ institutional environment on the development of trust and information integration between buyers and suppliers. Three aspects of China's institutional environment are salient: legal protection, government support, and the importance of guanxi (interpersonal relationships). This study uses structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 398 Chinese manufacturing companies. Government support and importance of guanxi significantly affect trust, which subsequently influences two elements of information integration, namely, information sharing and collaborative planning. Furthermore, the importance of guanxi has a direct, positive impact on information sharing, and government support has a direct, positive effect on both information sharing and collaborative planning.     

Linking forward and reverse supply chain investments: The role of business uncertainty

This paper explores managerial efforts in reverse supply chains (RSC), where the focus is on the capture and exploitation of used products and materials. The RSC can potentially reduce negative environmental impacts of extracting virgin raw materials and waste disposal. If so, investment in the reverse supply chain should not be made in isolation, but instead must be integrated with investments selected to improve the forward supply chain. After defining and operationalizing these constructs, a survey of plant managers was used to empirically assess the linkages between supply chain investments, organizational risk propensity (i.e., willingness to take risk) and business uncertainty. Reverse supply chain investment had two primary dimensions: reconditioning (i.e., high-value recovery) and recycling and waste management (i.e., low- or no-value recovery). Ongoing investment in the forward supply chain was significantly related to investment in recycling and waste management, but not to investment in reconditioning. Moreover, risk propensity was found to mediate the relationship between the external business uncertainty and investment in the forward and reverse supply chain.