Supply Chain Initiatives Research Articles

Advancing social sustainability in supply chain management: Lessons from multiple case studies in an emerging economy

In the sustainable supply chain management literature, the social dimension has been insufficiently investigated. The aim of this research is to analyze why and how focal companies implement and manage social sustainability in their supply chains. To do this, we adopted a multiple case study research strategy in six focal companies which had implemented 34 supply chain social initiatives. We draw from the constructs of motivation and supply chain engagement to develop a typology that improves our understanding of the complex interactions between the management of supply chains and their social sustainability performance. This research also explored a third concept, social relationship level, which helps us to understand which relationship levels focal companies often use to operationalize such initiatives. Results suggest that intrinsically motivated social sustainability initiatives in supply chains led focal companies to adopt supply chain structural collaborations, while extrinsically motivated social initiatives were more strongly connected with information exchange only. The involvement of primary stakeholder groups (e.g., consumers and suppliers) occurs usually in extrinsically motivated social initiatives, while the involvement of secondary stakeholders (e.g., NGOs and community) seems to be the norm for intrinsically motivated social initiatives.

Building reliable supply chains for noncommunicable disease commodities: lessons learned from HIV and evidence needs.

Successful noncommunicable disease (NCD) management requires a reliable supply chain. The objectives of this article are to examine lessons learned from HIV supply chain initiatives, describe opportunities to advance supply chain systems for NCD health commodities based on HIV supply chain successes and identify areas where additional research is still needed for reliable NCD supply chains in LMICs. We describe practical experiences gained from developing HIV supply chain systems and how those lessons can be used to inform NCD supply chain systems. Supply chain challenges with HIV commodities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are identified and categorized using literature review and expert experiences. Solutions are described on the basis of lessons learned from global HIV initiatives. Opportunities to further advance NCD supply chain systems are recommended. Supply chain challenges can be organized into two groups: 1) resource mobilization and 2) resource utilization. Global HIV initiatives have responded to resource mobilization challenges by increasing availability of funding, filling human resource gaps, improving essential storage and creating better transport mechanisms and information technology infrastructure. These initiatives have assisted in better resource utilization by strengthening procurement processes, standardizing and simplifying supply chain systems, reducing integrity and security vulnerabilities and harnessing the power of better data. Advances achieved through HIV initiatives are readily transferrable to NCD supply chains with minimal additional investment. Research opportunities exist to identify the most efficient and cost-effective ways to develop more reliable supply chains for NCDs.

Beyond the management–employee dyad: supply chain initiatives in shipping

AbstractThis article examines supply chain health and safety initiatives in the oil shipping industry. In particular, it explores the triangular relationships between ship cargo clients, shipping company management and seafarers and reveals the inherent complexities and tensions involved. It shows that while managers capitalise on the supply chain pressure to squeeze more effort out of seafarers, seafarers tend to adhere to the corporate line colluding with managers to hide defects and falsify records. Nevertheless, seafarers occasionally use the supply chain leverage to their advantage by tactically exposing ship defects during ship inspections.

Japan plans low-carbon hydrogen supply chain initiative in Aichi

The Aichi Low-carbon Hydrogen Supply Chain Promotion Association in Japan, which includes the Aichi prefectural government, several major companies operating in the region, and municipal authorities, has recently launched the Chita City and Toyota City Renewable Energy-use Low-carbon Hydrogen Project, as a first step towards realising its 2030 Vision.

Understanding the effects of energy management practices on renewable energy supply chains: Implications for energy policy in emerging economies

Drawing from the resource-based view (RBV) and complexity theories, we test the effects of energy management practices on renewable energy supply chain (RESC) initiatives in 151 certified (ISO 14001 and ISO 50001) manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Our results showed three dimensions of energy management practices (EMP) – top management commitment, energy awareness, and energy auditing – which were positively associated with the development of RESC initiatives. We found that insufficient knowledge of energy efficiency means firms struggle to manage energy effectively, constraining opportunities such as converting waste into energy to support business’ targets. Our work has implications for energy policy. For example, we suggest that the transfer of energy efficiency management knowledge and technology from multinational to local companies could help to improve energy usage, and that local companies could generate renewable energy through supply chain networks. The findings of this work shed light on how to further develop energy efficiency policy in emerging economies, with implications for academics, practitioners and decision-makers. This work makes the case for an integrated discussion of energy management and renewable energy supply chains.

Influence of procurement decisions in two-period green supply chain

Abstract This paper focuses on optimal retail pricing and procurement decision of a retailer, and wholesale pricing and product's greening level decision of a manufacturer under two-period supply chain frameworks. In manufacturer-Stackelberg vertical game setting, three procurement scenarios are considered. It is found that the product greening level cannot achieve its optimum level if the retailer and manufacturer remain strict to imply the conventional single period procurement decision. If the retailer decides to buildup strategic inventory then the supply chain members receive higher profits and the manufacturer can invest more in improving product greening level. The consumer also receives product at its highest greening level. If the retailer procures products in a single lot to satisfy demand of two selling consecutive periods, then consumer receives the product at its lowest greening level and the manufacturer receives lowest amount of profits among three procurement scenarios. If the retailer participates with the manufacturer's green supply chain initiatives then the retailer can receive highest amount of profit, but the greening level of the product reaches at its lowest level. Therefore, the retailer's participation does not always motivate the manufacturer to produce greener product. Overall, the retailer's procurement decision is a key factor for the green supply chain initiatives of the manufacturer.

Modernisation of dairy farms: the case of Nestlé’s Dairy Farming Institute in China

Subject area Operations and Logistics. Study level/applicability Senior undergraduate students and postgraduate students specialising in agricultural economics/agribusiness/supply chain management and can also be used for executive training for supply chain managers and corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers of food companies. Case overview This case presents an industry leading company – Nestlé’s sustainable initiative in its dairy supply chain in China. The case begins with the background of China’s dairy industry, followed by an introduction of the case company. The case then moves on to the comparison of Nestlé’s fresh milk supply chain operation before and after 2008 and different approaches to help the dairy suppliers’ transformation. The focus is on Nestlé’s innovative industry collaboration platform, the Dairy Farming Institute. Expected learning outcomes This case allows students to explore the following theoretical frameworks: sustainable supply chain management; supply chain leadership, supply chain learning and supply chain structure. By analysing this case, students should be able to gain an understanding of how multinational corporations (MNCs) play a supply chain leadership role in supply chain learning of sustainable supply chain initiatives. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Modelling critical success factors for sustainability initiatives in supply chains in Indian context using Grey-DEMATEL

Sustainability assists organisations to enhance ecological, financial and societal performances of their entire supply chains. The present paper uncovers the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for effective adoption of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain in Indian context. Fifteen CSFs for the successful adoption of sustainability initiatives were identified and finalised firstly from the literature and followed by expert inputs. A methodology based on Grey-Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was used to envisage the organisation of complex causal relationships between the recognised CSFs. ‘Government Legalisation’ has been found to be the most influential factor and ‘Community Welfare and Development’ is most easily influenced factor. A multiple case example of three automotive companies operating in India is conducted. To the end, some important policy measures and recommendations are proposed to help practicing managers and government bodies to adopt and effectively manage the concepts of sustainability oriented supply chains in India.

Unveiling barriers to sustainable public procurement in emerging economies: Evidence from a leading sustainable supply chain initiative in Latin America

In light of the Theory of Ecological Modernisation, this is the first work to explore the organisational barriers affecting one of the most significant sustainable public procurement initiatives in Latin America: the Brazilian Environmental Agenda for Public Operations Management (the ‘A3P Programme’). This article explores the barriers to sustainable procurement in a Brazilian context, inspired by the work of Brammer and Walker (2011). Based on the results of a survey of programme managers, our first recommendation is to group the barriers to sustainable procurement into five categories: organisational culture, motivation, economic uncertainty, market, and operations. Amongst these, it was found that organisational culture stands out as a particular barrier to sustainable public procurement. This work also highlights Ecological Modernisation Theory as a useful tool for understanding why variables related to cost and budget are not barriers to implementing sustainable public procurement initiatives. Consequently, the main implication of this study is that government should consider cultural change management when developing sustainability management initiatives.

Developing strategic planning of green supply chain in refinery CPO company

We are conducted a research at the company of the manufacturing CPO into cooking oil, margarine and materials of oleochemical industries. Today palm oil based industries are facing global challenges related to environmental issues. To against these challenges, it is necessary to have an environmentally friendly supply chain. However, the limited resource owned by the company requires the integrated environmental strategy with the company’s business strategy. The model is developed based on management orientation towards external pressure, internal key resources and competitive advantage that can be obtained as the decision factor. The decision-making method used is Analytical Network Process (ANP). The results obtained institutional pressure becomes the criterion with the greatest influence on green supply chain initiatives and sub criteria of customer desires and stakeholder integration having the most significant influence on green supply chain initiatives. There are five green alternative initiatives that can be done: green product design, greening upstream, greening production, greening downstream and greening post use. For green supply chain initiative, greening upstream is the best priority.

The role of supply-chain initiatives in reducing deforestation

A major reduction in global deforestation is needed to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. Recent private sector commitments aim to eliminate deforestation from a company’s operations or supply chain, but they fall short on several fronts. Company pledges vary in the degree to which they include time-bound interventions with clear definitions and criteria to achieve verifiable outcomes. Zero-deforestation policies by companies may be insufficient to achieve broader impact on their own due to leakage, lack of transparency and traceability, selective adoption and smallholder marginalization. Public–private policy mixes are needed to increase the effectiveness of supply-chain initiatives that aim to reduce deforestation. We review current supply-chain initiatives, their effectiveness, and the challenges they face, and go on to identify knowledge gaps for complementary public–private policies.

Evaluating the Drivers to Information and Communication Technology for Effective Sustainability Initiatives in Supply Chains

Supply chain (SC) sustainability has become a global issue. To develop sustainability focused SC networks, the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is of great significance. An effective information system and management can help not only in improving better customer service and in cost control, but also can assist planning to achieve the three pillars of sustainability (ecological, economic, and societal development), thereby enhancing business efficiency. This paper aims to identify and evaluate the drivers relevant to ICT for sustainability initiatives in SCs. The drivers are finalized through a literature survey and use of the Delphi technique. The finalized drivers are analyzed by a procedure using the fuzzy DEMATEL approach. The research findings suggest that “Government support systems and subsidies”, “Knowledge and awareness of ICT tools and techniques,” and “Information systems network design” drivers have the most significant influences in the implementation of ICT for incorporating sustainability in SCs. This work may help practitioners and researchers in strategic decision-making and in formulating effective plans for the implementation of ICT and for incorporating sustainable concepts in SCs.

The emergence of conflict-free, ethical, and Fair Trade mineral supply chain certification systems: A brief introduction

This introduction briefly examines the emerging field of ‘conflict-free’, ‘fair’, and ‘transparently sourced and traded’ minerals and the dynamics of their supply chains. Linking the growing prevalence of Corporate Social Responsibility norms in the global mining industry with increasing awareness of reputational risks associated with mineral extraction and trading that are associated with environmental impacts and armed conflict, the paper provides an overview of the Kimberley Process for rough diamonds and the various supply chain initiatives that it has inspired over the past 15 years. It distinguishes between conflict-free supply chains; efforts to embrace Fair Trade in artisanal mineral supply chains; and a third group of independently-organized interventions that lay claim to ‘ethical’ or ‘fair’ labels for often very specific instances. Finally, it provides a brief overview of the papers included in the Special Section.

Drivers to sustainable manufacturing practices and circular economy: A perspective of leather industries in Bangladesh

Sustainable manufacturing practices and the circular economy have recently received significant attention in academia and within industries to improve supply chain practices. Manufacturing industries have started adopting sustainable manufacturing practices and a circular economy in their supply chain to mitigate environmental concerns, as sustainable manufacturing practices and a circular economy result in the reduction of waste generation and energy and material usage. The leather industry, in spite of it contributing remarkably to a country's economic growth and stability, does not bear a good image because of its role in polluting the environment. Therefore, the leather industries of Bangladesh are trying to implement sustainable manufacturing practices as a part of undertaking green supply chain initiatives to remedy their image with the buyer and to comply with government rules and regulations. The main contribution of this study is to assess, prioritize and rank the drivers of sustainable manufacturing practices in the leather industries of Bangladesh. We have used graph theory and a matrix approach to examine the drivers. The results show that knowledge of the circular economy is paramount to implementing sustainable manufacturing practices in the leather industry of Bangladesh. This study will assist managers of leather companies to formulate strategies for the optimum utilization of available resources, as well as for the reduction of waste in the context of the circular economy.

Drivers of green supply chain initiatives and performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how internal and external factors simultaneously drive firms to adopt green supply chain (GSC) initiatives and to construct a comprehensive research model by drawing upon institutional theory, stewardship theory, and view of performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data collected from 380 manufacturers in the electrical and electronics industries in Taiwan were analyzed via structural equation modeling and bootstrapping.FindingsFirst, institutional pressures affect the GSC initiatives of firms. Second, institutional pressures influence the environmental stewardship behaviors (ESBs) of managers. Third, the ESBs of managers affect the GSC initiatives of firms. Fourth, the GSC initiatives of firms influence their environmental performance, economic performance, and competitiveness. Fifth, the bootstrapping results reveal that institutional pressures indirectly affect the GSC initiatives of firms through the ESBs of managers.Research limitations/implicationsEnvironmental sustainability has intensified the need for firms to develop a corporate culture. Future research can investigate the relationship among the institutional pressures, greening corporate culture, and GSC initiatives of firms.Practical implicationsThose managers facing institutional pressures must continually focus on the effects of external factors on the GSC initiatives of their firms. They must also increase their commitment and support to such initiatives to attain favorable levels of environmental performance, economic performance, and competitiveness.Originality/valueThis study integrates four streams of literature on institutional theory, stewardship theory, GSC initiatives, and view of performance. Apart from analyzing field- and organization-level data simultaneously, this paper is also the first to demonstrate the relationships among institutional pressures, ESBs of managers, GSC initiatives, and firm performance.

Short Food Supply Chains in Urban Areas: Who Takes the Lead? Evidence from Three Cities across Europe

Short food supply chain (SFSCs) initiatives have developed throughout Europe as an alternative to the long industrialized chains characterizing the contemporary global food industry. They are often driven by small‐scale actors belonging to different phases of the chain (producers, retailers, consumers) and rooted in specific territorial contexts. Innovative organizational models of SFSCs are attracting interest in the academic field (Jarosz, 2008, Khan and Prior, 2010, Aubry and Kebir, 2013) and beyond (RUAF, 2015). This work contributes to the debate with a focus on the logistics of SFSCs in urban and peri‐urban areas across Europe, specifically on the role of local intermediaries in facilitating connections between urban consumers and peri‐urban and rural farmers. The structure of three small/medium enterprises (SMEs) acting as local SFSC intermediaries has been analyzed by a research network involving researchers and entrepreneurs in a mutual learning process. The aim was to identify the main business objectives of local intermediaries in SFSCs, the elements that from the SMEs point of view characterize SFSCs and their vision of sustainability. A simple theoretical model has been developed to look at leadership of SFSCs in urban and peri‐urban areas. The research process provided interesting insight into the contribution that qualitative research can give to SMEs’ reflection on their organizational model (Zakic et al., 2014).

Probabilistic Linguistic VIKOR Method to Evaluate Green Supply Chain Initiatives

To achieve the goals of sustainable economic and environmental protection, more and more firms intend to implement green supply chain (GSC) initiatives in their products. The adoption of GSC initiatives in turn influences the firms’ operations performance. Thus, the firms have to evaluate their performances carefully when implementing GSC initiatives. The performance evaluation of GSC initiatives is a laborious task, which needs to take into account many factors including the inventory level and assurance of supply purchasing-wise and the technical capability and the innovation capability manufacturing-wise, etc. This paper develops a new probabilistic linguistic VIKOR approach to support such an assessment. To do so, a new comparison method of probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) is first presented to effectively determine the probabilistic linguistic positive ideal solution and the probabilistic linguistic negative ideal solution. Next, a new defuzzification function of PLTSs is proposed to take into account the main-criteria weights and the sub-criteria weights which are represented by PLTSs. Furthermore, several probabilistic linguistic measures are introduced, such as the probabilistic linguistic group utility measure, the probabilistic linguistic individual regret measure and the probabilistic linguistic compromise measure. Finally, the compromise solution is obtained based on these three measures. The desirable advantages of the developed method are summarized as (1) it allows the evaluators to employ PLTSs to express the imprecise performances of the GSC initiatives with respect to various criteria, which greatly improves the elicitation of linguistic information; (2) it presents a probabilistic linguistic compromise solution, which is a maximum probabilistic linguistic group utility for the majority and a minimum probabilistic linguistic individual regret for the opponent. This proposed technique provides a simple and efficient decision making approach to assist the firms to make an appropriate decision in GSC management.

Social Capital Influence on Supply Chain Integration in the Food Processing Industry in Malaysia

Supply chain integration has been established as one of the key factors in influencing supply chain effectiveness. In relation to the food processing industry, the need to integrate supply chain initiatives has become more critical as those involved in the food processing and distribution industry are deemed key players whose roles are pertinent in determining supply chain success. Drawing upon the importance of integration, this study establishes the link between supply chain social capital constructs with integration. Based on a final sample size of 184 food manufacturers, a survey was conducted to determine the influence of supply chain relational capital, supply chain structural and supply chain cognitive on the integration of the food processing supply chain. The findings reveal that all three dimensions of supply chain social capital exert significant influence on supply chain integration, thus indicating the importance and relevance of integration among members in the food processing industry. With such findings, the study establishes that both structural and relational elements are of significant importance in ensuring the achievement of ultimate business performance. Although the study has not directly relate supply chain integration with business performance, the direction of the study is substantial to postulate that such relationships is possible and this therefore will be the direction of future study.

A System of Transnational Business Interactions: The Case of the Living Wage

The living wage standard has emerged as a norm in global initiatives targeting supply chain labor practices. This is unexpected, because the living wage, if actually paid, could impose substantial new supply chain costs. There is also considerable disagreement on how to calculate a living wage in practice. Therefore, the story of how the living wage ascended to become a standard term found in global labor supply chain initiatives provides an interesting case study on how norms and standards emerge through the complex interplay of transnational business governance (TBG) interactions. The subject of TBG interactions is an emerging field of study. These interactions are complex, involving multiple public and private actors crossing vast geopolitical spaces, with sometimes shared, but often conflicting interests. This complexity makes TBG interactions both an exciting new field of inquiry for scholars, but also an extremely challenging one. In these early days of theory development, it is useful to engage in a mapping exercise that will help scholars identify and test the relationships between the many inputs and outputs of TBG interactions. This paper contributes to this exercise by proposing and developing a basic open systems framework for analyzing TBG interactions. This new systems framework is demonstrated by reference to the complex story of the ‘living wage’ standard in private governance schemes targeting labour practices in global supply chains.

Multi-stakeholder initiatives in sustainable supply chains: Putting sustainability performance in context

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in sustainable supply chains. I argue that MSIs are needed to help establish and institutionalize the natural and social thresholds in which a sustainable supply chain must operate. While a multitude of MSIs relevant to supply chains already exist, they do not yet adequately address sustainability thresholds. Building on theory and literature, I elaborate on four interrelated roles for MSIs in this area: (1) providing learning platforms, (2) developing standards, (3) developing enforcement mechanisms, and (4) issuing labels and certifications. All four roles emphasize the need for supply chains to operate within the thresholds set by nature and society. Staying within thresholds is what distinguishes between sustainable and unsustainable supply chains. The four roles form part of a broader conceptual framework outlining a way forward for MSIs in sustainable supply chains. Different MSIs could address one or more of these roles. I argue that all MSIs must be developed with special attention to their input and output legitimacy. Stakeholders from both within and beyond the supply chain must be involved in developing and implementing a MSI for it to be viewed as legitimate. I note that the conceptual framework presented here is a starting point. It would benefit from further testing and refinement. For example, future work could add further specificity to the four roles I discuss. Future research could also focus on integrating economic thresholds for sustainable supply chains into the framework.