Green Supply Chain Management Theory Research Articles

The fallacy of profitable green supply chains: The role of green information systems (GIS) in attenuating the sustainability trade-offs

While green supply chain management (GSCM) has been studied extensively, a lack of a clear view on performance improvements arising from the adoption of GSCM practices obstructs a full understanding of resultant consequences. Moreover, there are still limited efforts to understand the contingent nature of how performance is improved in this context. This study aims to ascertain whether the GSCM implementation yields sustainability–profitability trade-offs and examine the moderating effects of green information systems (GIS) on performance improvements. Survey data were collected from 189 firms operating in the UK automotive industry and analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression. The results suggest that pursuing GSCM can bring trade-offs into play, demonstrating a paradoxical view of enhanced sustainability versus less profitability. The authors call this phenomenon the fallacy of profitable GSCM. Interestingly, high levels of GIS were found to positively moderate the relationships between GSCM practices and economic performance. This study contributes to the knowledge bank of GSCM by elucidating the mixed views about the GSCM adoption and its economic effects and refutes the fallacy that “low-hanging fruits” of GSCM are readily available. Second, this study offers new directions to balance the trade-offs between sustainability and profitability, contributing to the development of a more robust GSCM theory. Two important managerial contributions can be drawn from this study: (1) managers need to prioritize GSCM practices on the basis of having the most significant performance improvement; (2) they are encouraged to develop more robust GIS and exploit the capabilities of information sharing, supply chain traceability, and monitoring as a new pathway to attenuate sustainability trade-offs. Future studies are recommended to explore wider sectors and employ longitudinal or quasi-experimental designs to capture the effects of GSCM practices on performance over time.

Green drivers and green enablers in pharmaceuticals supply chain: in the context of an emerging economy

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to comprehend the current state of green supply chain management (GSCM) and its drivers and enablers in the pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs).Design/methodology/approachThis study developed a model consisting of the factors green drivers, green enablers and green practices. For this study, data were collected from 166 supply chain heads from 124 pharmaceutical companies operating in India. The data was empirically analysed using SmartPLS3 software.FindingsThe study revealed that in Indian PSCs, public pressure, supplier pressure and competitor pressure were the major drivers for GSCM practices and coercive pressures such as pressure from government and regulatory bodies were insignificant drivers. The results indicated that the influence of green drivers and green enablers altered with supply chain flow. Green drivers indicated higher influence at the upstream of PSCs whereas the influence of green enablers was higher at the downstream of PSCs. Furthermore, the study revealed that the factor “green enablers” was a good mediator for the relationship between “green drivers” and “GSCM practices” in PSCs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was an extension work with the addition of external green drivers to the self-induced organizational activities. Further investigations can be done by including the “green barriers” construct in the conceptual model.Practical implicationsThis research connected the institutional theory with the resource-based view to understanding the role of green drivers and green enablers in greening PSC. For managers and regulators, this study provided clear insights on how to approach different supply chain drivers and enablers to maximize the impact of GSCM practices. Moreover, the findings of this study helped in incorporating knowledge about GSCM into a framework that can be used for defining strategies for setting up a sustainable PSC for pharmaceutical products leading to the development and growth of the pharmaceuticals industry.Originality/valueMost of the earlier studies on GSCM were at the firm level and some studies were at the supply chain level. To further enhance the scope of GSCM theory, this study was conducted at two different levels, first at the complete supply chain level and second at three different levels: upstream, firm-level and downstream.

Role of technological dimensions of green supply chain management practices on firm performance

PurposeThe research study aims to investigate green supply chain management (GSCM) elements as part of a complete system. It aims to understand the special properties of the GSCM system under the moderating effects of product complexity and purchasing structure.Design/methodology/approachA thorough literature review led to the building of the conceptual framework. Six constructs were identified using systems theory. These constructs include green supply chain technological dimensions (particularly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based), green supply chain strategy, green supply chain process, product complexity, purchasing structure, and firm performance. The instrument was scientifically developed for gathering survey responses using complete design test methods. The conceptual model was eventually tested based on survey data collected from 250 automotive components and allied manufacturers in the emerging economy of South Africa.FindingsThe results indicate that GSCM technological dimensions (AI-based) positively influence GSCM strategy. Further, GSCM strategy was found to positively influence the GSCM process. The GSCM processes have significant effects on environmental performance, social performance, and financial performance. The product complexity has a significant moderation effect on the paths GSCM strategy and GSCM process.Originality/valueThe findings from multivariate data analysis provide a better understanding of GSCM system dynamics and are helpful to key decision-makers. This unique model has elevated GSCM theory to a new level. There are limited studies available in the existing GSCM literature using systems theory. This study will offer an advanced/comprehensive understanding to readers in this relatively new concept.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Green Supply Chain Management Based on the Web of Science (WOS) Platform

To analyse the research progress and frontier dynamics of green supply chain management, this paper uses Web of Science’s citation database to search and filter related documents from 2007–2018. A total of 1391 articles were obtained. On this basis, a bibliometric analysis method was utilized to study the literature characteristics and research hotspots of green supply chain management research. Our results show the following: (1) The current amount of published literature on the field of green supply chain management is exponentially increasing. Research on green supply chain management tended to develop after 2013. (2) The current research on green supply chain management has not formed a core author group and among the literatures on green supply chain management, only a few authors reported some influential literatures. (3) It can be seen from the comprehensive average citation frequency and the number of publications that Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Southern Denmark and others have a strong research capability and a large field influence in the field of green supply chain management research. (4) There are 13 core journals publishing the research of green supply chain management, covering 10 fields including engineering, mathematics and social issues. (5) At present, the research hotspots of green supply chain management mainly include the following: Green production and innovation, green supply chain management theory and method, and sustainable supply chain environment and performance. Finally, this paper analyses the shortcomings of previous research and proposes a future direction for research development.

Top Management Characteristics, Green Supply Chain Management and Corporate Performance <br/>—Moderating Effects of Competition Intensity

Based on high-order theory and green supply chain management theory, this paper takes 251 manufacturing enterprises in China, the United States and Vietnam as samples to study the impact of corporate Top Management Characteristic on green supply chain management, and green supply chain management and enterprises, and then introduces competition intensity to explore whether it plays a moderating role in the relationship between GSCM and firm performance. The results show that the age, education level and tenure of executives significantly positively affect green supply chain management practices; green supply chain management practices have a positive impact on corporate environmental performance; while green supply chain management practices cannot directly improve economic performance. However, it can promote economic performance by improving environmental performance; competition intensity plays a positive role in the relationship between green supply chain management practices and economic performance.

Models for Green Supplier Selection in Green Supply Chain Management With Pythagorean 2-Tuple Linguistic Information

In recent years, the environmental problems in China have become more and more serious, for example, resource depletion, environmental pollution, ecological imbalance, and so on. At the same time, the laws and regulations about the environmental protection in the world are constantly introduced, the academic research about the environmental issues is also increasing, more and more consumers show concern for the green products, and the restrictions of the “green trade barrier” in the international to the export products in China enterprises must pay attention to the influence of their behavior on the environment in pursuit of economic efficiency. In this context, the green supply chain management (GSCM) emerges. GSCM theory first appeared in some foreign countries, and started later in China. Compared with some developed countries, the GSCM theory in China is still not mature. From the source speaking, there is lack of a complete GSCM system. In this paper, we combine the generalized weighted Bonferroni mean (GWBM) operator, generalized weighted geometric Bonferroni mean (GWGBM) operator, dual GWBM operator, and dual GWGBM operator with Pythagorean 2-tuple linguistic numbers to propose the generalized Pythagorean 2-tuple linguistic WBM (GP2TLWBM) operator, generalized Pythagorean 2-tuple linguistic WGBM (GP2TLWGBM) operator, dual GP2TLWBM (DGP2TLWBM) operator, and dual GP2TLWGBM (DGP2TLWGBM) operator, and then, the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) methods are developed based on DGP2TLWBM and DGP2TLWGBM operators. Finally, we use an example for green supplier selection to prove the MADM process of the proposed algorithms.

The Impact of Institutional Pressures on Green Supply Chain Management and Firm Performance: Top Management Roles and Social Capital

This study investigates the impact of three institutional pressures, namely government, customer, and competitor pressures, on the environmental and operational performance of firms. These three institutional pressures are examined by implementing green supply chain management, considering the role of top management and studying social capital between buyers and suppliers in the supply chain. Data were collected through an electronic mail survey from buyer firms in the manufacturing industry in Korea. With 241 complete and usable responses, we used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Our findings revealed that the majority of our hypotheses were supported, which is in line with the existing literature. However, the impact of coercive pressure on top management support and the impact of structural social capital on performance were found to be insignificant. The major contribution of our study is that it broadens the framework of green supply chain management (GSCM) by integrating major and recent constructs in the GSCM theory, while also providing instructive managerial implications through empirical evidence.

Comparing linear and circular supply chains: A case study from the construction industry

In the last decades, green and sustainable supply chain management practices have been developed in efforts to try and reduce the negative consequences of production and consumption processes on the environment. In parallel to this, the circular economy discourse has been propagated in the industrial ecology and production economics literature and, lately, in business and practice. The ideals of circular economy principles suggests that the frontiers of environmental sustainability can be pushed by emphasising the idea of transforming products in such a way that there are workable relationships between ecological systems and economic growth.By arguing for these ideals to be integrated into green supply chain management theory and practice, the paper uses a case study from the construction industry to demonstrate the environmental gains in terms of carbon emissions that can be achieved through some circular economy principles as against traditional linear production systems. The paper therefore asserts that an integration of circular economy principles within sustainable supply chain management can provide clear advantages from an environmental point view despite some external supply chain influences and scenarios.Further to this, emerging supply chain management challenges and market dynamics are also highlighted and discussed.

Building Theory of Green Supply Chain Management using Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM)

Theory building in green supply chain management (GSCM) has in recent years received increasing attention from academia and practitioners. There are numerous published studies that have adopted a quantitative research methodology for building and testing theories in the fields of green supply chain management or environmental supply chain management. The aim of our paper is to build a GSCM theory using total interpretive structural modelling. To achieve this we have used an exhaustive literature review and identified the enablers of and barriers to GSCM. After identifying these enablers and barriers, we developed a questionnaire and distributed this among leading manufacturing firms who have embraced green supply chain management or environmental supply chain management as a guiding philosophy. The enablers were converted into a structural self-interaction matrix and we have further, based on expert opinion of individuals identified from academia and industry, developed a total interpretive structural model. The model presents the complex relationships among enablers and can in future be statistically validated using a larger sample size. The present study is an attempt to contribute in the field of theory building in GSCM, which is the pressing call of the time. Finally, we conclude our research and identify numerous research opportunities which may help to take the current study to the next level.

Understanding the genesis of green supply chain management: lessons from leading Brazilian companies

This work discusses the internal structuring processes of leading companies when adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. A multiple case study approach was adopted as the research methodology, with four large Brazilian companies that are leaders in their market segments. The introduction of green products is a key step towards initiating concern for the environment among suppliers and customers. This study's results show the importance of having green teams, a dedicated functional area, and/or green jobs that support the discussion of environmental management among a business and beyond. The practical results of this study offer new insights into the behavior of companies that are adopting GSCM practices, thereby generating new evidence for the extension of GSCM theory.

Construction and Evaluation of Environment-friendly Green Supply Chain in Steel and Iron Manufacturing Industry

combined with the supply chain management practice in Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron and Steel Limited Corporation (Xiang Gang for short in the following), through applying the green supply chain management theory, on the basis of demonstrating the connotation of environment-friendly green supply chain, the paper constructs the green supply chain model based on green purchasing, green manufacturing, green marketing, waste recycling and some other links; puts forward the green supply chain comprehensive evaluation index system of steel and iron manufacturing industry; constructs corresponding index evaluation model through applying level fuzzy comprehensive appraisal. Taking Xiang Gang for example, the construction of green supply chain for it is evaluated. The research plans to establish the green supply chain structure oriented to the cycle of material of steel and iron manufacturing industry “resource-product-waste-renewable resource”, to explore a sustainable and green way for the development of steel an iron manufacturing in manner of low input, high output, low consumption, less emission and cycling.