Environmental Supply Chain Management Research Articles

Practices Pursuing the Sustainability of A Healthcare Organization: A Systematic Review

This study aims to investigate efficient practices pursuing the sustainability of healthcare organizations, as the healthcare sector and its activities affect different spheres of social life, the economy, and the state’s performance, highlighting the importance of this subject. To achieve the aim of this study, a systematic review methodology was applied, and the data were obtained from 67 papers published within the scope of the two most cited databases: Scopus and Web of Science. As a result of the analysis, the following efficient practices were suggested to improve the sustainability of healthcare organizations: improvements in management practices, leadership practices, manager selection, the engagement of clinicians in the management, the promotion of organizational culture and management style, the promotion of virtual health communication, environmental supply chain management, rational resource consumption, and waste management.

Going green: Impact of green supply chain management practices on sustainability performance.

The rising environmental challenges are capturing the attention of stakeholders of corporations due to increasing competition. The sustainable performance of firms does not merely gauge their economic performance but also their sustainable development. Since the environmental supply chain management of firms has an important part in maneuvering their sustainable performance, the present study focuses on assessing the impact of green supply chain management practices on the sustainable performance of the textile, automobile, and tobacco industries. The data were collected from 384 organizations and analyzed through SPSS and AMOS. The results reveal that the impact of green manufacturing, green purchases, eco-design, and green information system are significant and positive on the sustainable performance of the organizations, whereas the impact of cooperation with customers is insignificant. Similarly, the moderation of institutional pressures between green manufacturing, green purchases, eco-design, and sustainability performance is insignificant, whereas it significantly moderates between cooperation with customers, green information systems, and sustainable performance. The study is significant and novel for considering five different factors of green supply chain management (GSCM): green manufacturing, green purchasing, cooperation with customers, eco-design, and green information systems. Furthermore, adding institutional pressures as a moderator between GSCM and sustainable performance adds to the novelty and uniqueness of the research. The managerial implications have also been discussed.

When Words and Actions Don’t Match: How Greenwashing a Firm’s Supply Chain Practices Can Backfire

We study how individual-level consumer evaluations and firms' value are negatively impacted when firms' claims about their environmental supply chain management (ESCM) initiatives are revealed to be misleading. Drawing on signaling theory, we propose that consumers interpret firms' disclosure of ESCM initiatives as a signal of the company's commitment toward pro-social behaviors and that these signals positively influence consumers' purchase intentions. When, however, it becomes evident that there is a lack of signal fit, we propose that consequently there will be a negative effect on evaluations of the firm. In a pretest, based on Information Manipulation Theory we use a vignette-based experiment to evaluate consumer reactions to a comprehensive set of possible means of greenwashing environmental supply chain initiatives, We find that individual-level consumers are most sensitive to

ICT Utilization in Supply Chain Environmental Collaboration Practices as the Moderator of Firms’ Financial Performance

The purpose of this study is to verify whether increasing the intensity of ICT utilization in environmental collaboration practices (ECPs) in the supply chain has a positive impact on firms’ financial performance (FP). As such, it answers the call for investigating the moderators of firms’ FP in their environmental supply chain management. The paper presents the results of a study conducted among 500 firms located in Poland with the use of the CATI technique. The research results show that increasing the intensity of ICT utilization in ECPs, in most cases, does not affect the firms’ FP. Statistically significant relations were observed only in green design ECPs, which shows that increasing the intensity of ICT utilization in green design ECPs reduces the likelihood of revenue growth thanks to ECPs implementation. The paper fills a research gap in the moderating role of the intensity of ICT utilization in increasing financial benefits thanks to the implementation of ECPs in the supply chain. As such, it contributes to the environmental supply chain management literature. The results highlight the need for further research on the moderators of firms’ financial benefits from ECPs implementation, which should be studies in isolation but also jointly, to verify their combined effect. Also, the character of different ECPs categories should be studied to link them with the most appropriate ICT.

Impact of Customer Awareness and Buying Behavior on Sustainability Capability of Nestle SSCM

Firm sustainability has been becoming increasingly significant for firms and has been considered as the main constituent of the social contract between society and business. We specifically chose Nestlé food and beverages and define sustainable development as a means to increase global access to nutritious food so that future generations will be able to contribute to sustainable social and economic stability and climate security. Our core business approach is to create long-term sustainable equity across Nestlé's 135-year existence for our customers, buyers, workers, shareholders, and the world as a whole. The Nestlé Values of the group say openly that we support long-term market growth in the short term. We urge managers not to do so at the risk of efficient, long-term growth while pledging ourselves to safe profits. Awareness of the consumers is important for improving the company's sustainable environmental development and supply chain management. To evaluate the role of client understanding in a sustainable supply chain we would like to examine the specific connection between consumer knowledge and their durability in the sustained management of the supply chain. In addition, the effect of customers on the viability of the supply chain processes in Nestle is strengthening. A computational model is proposed to test the importance and influence of customer awareness. It is necessary to increase knowledge about how sustainable supply chain management operates to boost organizations’ capacity to create a social and environmental difference in supply chains. We use SPSS software for data analysis and P-test, F-test, and T-test for analysis.

Purchasing's contribution to supply chain emission reduction

Does environmental purchasing and supplier management (EPSM) help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the supply chain and, thereby, mitigate climate change? And, if so, under which conditions? Taking these two questions as a starting point, we hypothesize that heightened environmental protection efforts targeting the upstream value chain should lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the buying companies' supply chain. We continue to delineate three contingency factors that might affect the relationship between EPSM and supply chain GHG emissions: The power of the buying firm over supply chain partners, prior experience in EPSM, and materiality of environmental supply chain management in a certain industry. We collect longitudinal data from 260 companies and analyze them using hybrid panel data analysis. We find that the increase of EPSM leads to a significant reduction of the GHG emission intensity of buying firms’ supply chains and that this reduction is stronger for companies operating in industries where emission management is more material.

Exploring Environmental Supply Chain Innovation in M&A

Organisations are challenged with executing innovation for sustainable development within the context of their operations and value networks—networks which are increasingly fuelled by mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and which accounted for USD 4 trillion in global deal value in 2019. While outcomes from M&As may produce mixed results, merger synergies fundamentally change the environmental, social and governance (ESG) footprint of an organisation and its product-supply chain. These compounding challenges of innovation for sustainability and ESG product-supply chain due diligence are not adequately explored in the operations management literature or practically considered during M&As. In this article, we consider those factors that determine “how innovative is the deal?” and explore how environmental supply chain innovation for sustainability might inform M&As. A case study approach is adopted, drawing upon an exemplar deal within the global food product-supply chain for ingredient production, where high M&A deal-interest and ESG sustainability considerations exist. The theoretical lens is the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm. A deal analysis framework, integrating key concepts from strategic environmental supply chain management and the M&A process literature, is defined. These findings suggest that product design and technology selection factors represent sources of M&A value creation when exploring an innovation for sustainability deal thesis. The implication for firms with ambitious environmental agendas or motives is that the M&A process needs to be reconfigured, such that product design and technology selection, currently secondary factors, are considered primary drivers. Together, these drivers form substantive strategic considerations and new merger motives of both theoretical and practical relevance, informing a new perspective of operations sustainability targeted M&A.

Servitization and sustainability actions. Evidence from European manufacturing companies

Servitization is a process adopted by some industries and companies to create competitive advantage and increase the value of physical products by adding services. Manufacturing companies may decide to integrate a product–service system into their activities. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of servitization on performance or sustainability, particularly in a circular economy. The aim of this study was to assess the potential impact of servitization on sustainability in a sample of 208 European listed manufacturing companies by investigating corporate sustainability disclosure, environmental performance, and policies. Using the business descriptions in the Bloomberg database, we identified two groups of companies: “pure manufacturers” and “non-pure manufacturers.” We examined potential differences in sustainability between the two groups resulting from servitization. Data were collected for the fiscal year 2016. Our findings suggest that servitization leads to improved energy consumption and therefore enhances environmental performance. However, servitization had no effect on corporate sustainability disclosure and other environmental policies such as environmental assurance, emissions reduction policies, and environmental supply chain management.

ภาวะผู้นาแลกเปลี่ยนกับการจัดการห่วงโซ่อุปทานเพื่อสิ่งแวดล้อมในธุรกิจกรรมอาหารและเครื่องดื่ม ในจังหวัดปทุมธานี (Transactional Leadership and Environmental Supply Chain Management in Food and Beverage Business in Pathum Thani Province)

Thai Abstract: การศกษานมวตถประสงคเพอศกษาภาวะผนาแลกเปลยนทมผลตอจดการหวงโซอปทานเพอสง แวดลอมในธรกจอาหารและเครองดม จงหวดปทมธาน ตวอยางทใชในการวจยครงนคอ พนกงานททางานในอตสาหกรรมอาหารและเครองดม จงหวดปทมธาน จา นวน 400 คน เครองมอทใชในการวจย คอ แบบสอบถามการวเคราะหขอมลใชสถตเชงพรรณนา ไดแก ความถ รอยละ คาเฉลย และสวนเบยงเบนมาตรฐาน และใชสถตเชงอนมาน ไดแก การทดสอบคาเฉลย การวเคราะหความแปรปรวนทางเดยว การวเคราะหคาสหสมพนธเพยรสน และการวเคราะหความถดถอยพหคณ โดยวธแบบขนตอน ผลการศกษาพบวา ปจจยสวนบคคลของพนกงานในดานอาย (Sig =.003) และระดบการศกษาทตางกน (Sig. =.000) จะมระดบการจดการหวงโซอปทานเพอสง แวดลอมในธรกจอาหารและเครองดมตางกน ผลการศกษาโดยใชสมประสทธสหสมพนธเพยรสน พบวา ภาวะผนาแลกเปลยนดานการใหรางวลตามสถานการณ (r =.744) และการบรหารแบบวางเฉย (r =.621) มความสมพนธเชงบวกกบการจดการหวงโซอปทานเพอสง แวดลอมในธรกจกรรมอาหารและเครองดม นอกจากนยงพบวา ภาวะผนาแลกเปลยนดานการใหรางวลตามสถานการณ (ᵦ =.579) และดานการบรหารแบบวางเฉย (ᵦ =.343) มอทธพลในเชงบวกตอการจดการหวงโซอปทานเพอสง แวดลอมในธรกจอาหารและเครองดมในจงหวดปทมธาน อยางมนยสา คญทางสถตทระดบ 0.05 English Abstract: This study aimed at studying transactional leadership and environmental supply chain management in food and beverage business in Pathum Thani province. The samples were of 400 of employees working in food and beverage business in Pathum Thani province. The questionnaire survey was used to collect the data. The data analysis employed descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics including independent Samples t - test, One-way ANOVA, Pearson product moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis with Stepwise method. The findings indicated that employees with different age (Sig =.003) and education level (Sig. =.000) had different degree of environmental supply chain management. From the study by Pearson’s correlation, it found that transactional leadership in terms of contingent reward (r =.744) and management by exception (r =.621) had moderate and high correlation on Environmental Supply Chain Management. In addition, transactional leadership in terms of contingent reward (ᵦ =.579) and management by exception (ᵦ =.343) had an effect on and Environmental Supply Chain Management at the statistically significant level as of 0.05. at the significant level as of 0.05.

Environmental supply chain management in the construction sector: theoretical underpinnings

ABSTRACTEnvironmental implications of a product/project are typically spread across its supply chain, from design through to end-of-life. This is particularly acute for construction sector because of the inherent nature and complexity of its supply chain. The sector, therefore, could benefit from the application of environmental supply chain management (ESCM), a systematic and integrated approach towards restraining the adverse environmental impacts emanating from the supply chain. Unfortunately, uptake of ESCM in construction vis-à-vis other sectors is limited and fragmented. This formed the motivation, which using 39 interviews across 20 firms in the UAE construction sector, provide systemic insights on the various facets of ESCM namely, core and facilitating environmental practices, internal and external drivers (pressures/motives) and barriers/challenges affecting environmental practices’ implementation, and relevant environmental performance measures across different firm types and stakeholders with the support of several established/emerging theories. The findings is expected to enhance the application of ESCM in construction.

The Relationship of Environmental Supply Chain management’ Driver·Relationship Practice and Corporate Performance

The Relationship of Environmental Supply Chain management’ Driver·Relationship Practice and Corporate Performance

Buyer and supplier perspectives on environmental initiatives

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine managerial perspectives in both buyer and supplier firms implementing environmental initiatives in their supply chains, and explore the impact of environmental initiatives on buyer-supplier relationships.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, grounded theory approach is used as the methodological approach to this research, including 15 in-depth interviews with managers from buyer and supplier firms implementing environmental initiatives in their supply chains to gain multiple perspectives of the buyer-supplier relationships.FindingsThe results suggest that implementing environmental initiatives within the supply chain changes the buyer-supplier relationship from transactional to collaborative, shifting from a commodity-focused purchase to a more strategic purchase as environmental initiatives are implemented.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough both buyer and supplier perspectives were considered, matched dyads were not used; researchers should continue to provide a holistic perspective of the phenomenon with dyadic data. Additionally, the use of a qualitative research approach suggests a lack of generalizability of results, and therefore researchers should further test the propositions.Practical implicationsImplementing environmental initiatives within the supply chain may require different approaches to supply management and development for long-term success. Suppliers should recognize that the capability to implement environmental initiatives with their customers is a differentiator. The nuances involved in managing the implementation of environmental initiatives between firms can be better managed by collaboratively developing metrics specifically related to the environment.Originality/valuePrevious research in environmental supply chain management has examined drivers and barriers of implementing environmental initiatives with suppliers, but fails to address the relationship dynamics involved when implementing environmental initiatives between organizations. This research begins to fill that gap.

기업의 친환경공급사슬관리 활동의 영향요인과 성과에 관한 연구

기업은 환경문제를 해결하기 위해서 친환경적 제품을 생산하고 판매하는 것이 가장 큰 목적이며, 소비자 또한 친환경 제품 소비활동도 중요하다. 기업은 환경경영을 통하여 환경문제개선 뿐만 아니라 경제성 향상에도 영향이 있으며 친환경공급사슬관리 활동을 통하여 기업 가치를 높일 수 있을 것이라고 보았다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 외부압력과 조직문화가 친환경공급사슬관리 활동에 어떠한 영향을 주는지와, 친환경공급사슬관리 활동이 환경성과와 경영성과로 어떠한 영향을 미치는지가 주요한 목적이다. 선행연구를 통하여 연구모형과 가설을 설정하고 전라북도의 중소기업을 대상으로 설문조사 한 결과 친환경공급사슬관리 활동에 영향을 주는 외부적인 요인과 기업 내부적인 요인들은 친환경공급사슬관리 활동에 영향을 미치고 있었으며 그로인한 환경성과도 잘 나타나고 있었지만, 친환경공급사슬관리 활동과 기업의 성과 측면에서는 결과가 좋지 않았다. 조직적인 측면에서는 무엇보다 내부적인 중요성이 클 것이며, 이를 협력업체에도 많은 인식을 시켜줌으로써 경제성과 환경성을 동시에 추구하여 환경성과 뿐만 아니라 기업성과에도 많은 도움을 줄 것으로 보인다, 아직은 도입에 있는 기업들이 대부분이었고, 기업의 참여도도 낮았으며 정부에서는 많은 비용을 투자하고 환경규제를 보완하여 환경경영은 선택적이 아닌 필수적인 활동으로 이끌어가야 할 것이다.

Plurality in environmental supply chain mechanisms

PurposeThe environmental management of supply chains has become increasingly relevant in the recent era. Extant research proposes two main forms of mechanisms – collaboration and evaluation – for environmental supply chain management. Despite the wide use of these mechanisms and the empirical insight into the fact that they could be adopted simultaneously, it is unknown if, and, at which levels, environmental collaboration (EC) and environmental evaluation (EE) could be complementary or substitutionary in nature. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to gain a clear understanding into the plural forms of these mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThe transaction cost economics and relational exchange theory are used to ground the research hypotheses. The results are based on survey data collected from 145 US manufacturing firms. The authors employ polynomial regression as well as the response surface methodology to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest that EC and EE can have an intriguing effect depending on the outcome measure. Specifically, the authors find the effects in the economic and the environmental/social domains to be significantly different.Originality/valueWhile scholars acknowledge that collaboration and evaluation could act as complements, extant research does not propose and test models that specifically capture complementary and substitutionary nature of these mechanisms. Accordingly, the study makes the first attempt to empirically test for the effects of the simultaneous pursuit of EC and EE.

Closed loop supply chain for glass recycling: current practices and challenges

This study investigates the current glass recycling practices through the lens of environmental economics and supply chain management. The results of this exploratory study suggest that the closed loop supply chain (CLSC) for recycled glass is highly complex and that many factors besides physical costs play a role in an organisation's decision to recycle glass. Further, despite the prevailing challenges of glass recycling, this study suggests that there are opportunities to divert used glass containers from landfills and improve the CLSC for recycled glass. These and other issues are discussed in this study as they relate to process efficiency and effectiveness in the CLSC for glass recycling.

Mediation analysis of environmental training: Perceived stakeholder pressure and environmental supply chain management practices

The purpose of this research is to examine the mediation role of environmental training in the relationship between perceived stakeholder pressure and implementation of the environmental supply chain management practices. A survey was administered to manufacturing firms and hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling analysis. This research suggests that environmental training is mediates the relationship between stakeholder pressure and implementation of environmental supply chain management practices. The results suggest that managers perceive that stakeholder pressure and environmental training are important to themselves. In this study overall, market stakeholders had a stronger relationship with the implementation of the environmental supply chain practices than the regulatory stakeholders. The findings also indicate that stakeholder pressure is an essential driver for implementation of environmental supply chain management practices. This study is one of the first to investigate the relationship between the stakeholders’ pressure and environmental supply chain management practices in manufacturing firms. The study also offers important implications for managers and partitions. Future research direction and limitation are also discussed.

The use of an optimisation model to design a green supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to take the first step in solving environmental supply chain management issues. It proposes a green supply chain management (GSCM) model which would provide environmental benefits to the Thai rubber industry. To this end, a GSCM optimisation model was formulated, whereby the manufacturing processes of rubber products, along with their distribution and transportation, could be improved. The expected result is that total greenhouse gas emissions would be minimised and environmental performance maximised. Design/methodology/approach – Linear programming was chosen as the mathematical programming for investigation into the problem of finding the association of quantity of rubber product flow between the supply chain entities (farmer, trader group, and factory) and the transportation mode and route, with a view to minimise total greenhouse gas emissions. Findings – The results indicate that by using the proposed model, GHG emissions could be minimised to 1.08 tons of GHGs per ton of product. Practical implications – A GSCM model developed in this research can be used as a decision support tool for Thai rubber policy makers. This would allow them to better manage the Thai rubber industry to achieve environmental benefit. Originality/value – This research is among the first attempts to develop a GSCM model for the Thai rubber industry. It can contribute to providing a basis for a GSCM modelling framework, along with a formulation for research development in this area.

The Improvement of Metal Stamping Procurement Process

This research is aimed to improve procurement process in supply chain management with the capability to reduce environmental effect by lean production technique, and 3Rs principle, and to improve supply chain by SCOR model. The research methodology, Value Stream Mapping (VSM)is used to analyze the development of on time delivery of suppliers, and then SCOR model is applied to improve and reduce energy consumption and recycle material in supply chain. The result has been revealed that new development process could be improved on time delivery rate from 38.51% to 93.80%. This procurement process has reduced frequency of supplier's transportation from 40 to 29 times per month so it could reduce fuel consumption on average cost of 45,230.98 Baht per year, packaging cost on average of 158,295.11 Baht per year and reduce total GHG emission about 20.896TCo2e per year. Therefore,the new process can improve supply chain and being environmental friendly or sustainable green supply chain management.

Industrial ecology-based strategies to reduce the embodied CO2 of magnesium metal

Light-weight magnesium metal is used to displace heavy-weight steel and iron in automobiles and decrease CO2 emissions in the vehicle operation stage. This benefit is, however, significantly offset by CO2 emissions from high energy consumption in the magnesium production process. Thus, this study presents and assesses CO2 reduction strategies to mitigate the drawbacks of magnesium metal, based on the concepts of industrial ecology: industrial symbiosis with cement plant to utilize waste slag from magnesium production; industrial and urban symbiosis to utilize waste energy from urban area; and environmental supply chain management to purchase a feedstock with lower carbon footprint. These strategies can be used to reduce the embodied CO2 of magnesium metal by 5%, 31%, and 9%, respectively, compared to that of an existing magnesium metal. The industrial ecology-based strategies can be applied to produce low-carbon products and mitigate climate change.

How to Become Central in an Informal Social Network: An Investigation of the Antecedents to Network Centrality in an Environmental SCM Initiative

Environmental supply chain management (SCM) initiatives often evolve as informal, grassroots efforts that are driven by policy entrepreneurs at lower management levels in an organization. These individuals usually are not in positions of power or authority to convince others to support the initiative. They thus rely on central positions in informal networks to gain access to and influence over other employees to be better able to sell these initiatives. This study examines how individuals arrive at positions of centrality within the networks surrounding environmental SCM initiatives. Linking social network theory and social capital theory with findings from the organizational behavior and environmental arena, the study investigates how an individual's proactive personality and commitment profile—affective, normative, and continuance commitment—might affect network centrality through the mediating role of championing behavior. Investigating the implementation of an environmental SCM initiative at a multinational enterprise, the authors identified a 90‐actor social network surrounding the initiative. The results provide evidence that championing behavior fully mediates the relationship between commitment and network centrality and to a lesser extent between proactive personality and network centrality. These findings suggest that championing behavior can enable an actor to become more central in social networks. Further, the results indicate that in an environmental SCM context, engendering the right type of commitment is a much more important driver of championing behavior than the proactive personalities of individual actors. This finding suggests that even employees who do not have proactive personalities can champion environmental initiatives and become central within the informal networks that surround these initiatives, if they strongly desire to support the initiative and believe that the initiative will lead to positive change.