Publications

Autonomous and External Motivation Measure

Critical factors for sub-supplier management: A sustainable food supply chains perspective

The food industry and its supply chains have significant sustainability implications. Effective supply chain management requires careful consideration of multiple tiers of partners, especially with respect to sustainability issues. Firms increasingly approach their sub-suppliers to drive compliance with social and environmental efforts. A number of complexities and unique challenges make sub-supplier management more difficult than direct supplier management, e.g. a lack of contractual relationships to sub-suppliers, few opportunities to put direct pressure on sub-suppliers, or lack of transparency concerning sub-suppliers' involvement in a focal firm's supply chains. The literature has not investigated, either from sustainability or other perspectives, the critical success factors (CSFs) for firms' sub-supplier management. Therefore, this study seeks to explore and increase understanding of critical factors that help to overcome the complexities and unique challenges of sub-supplier management, with a focus on the food industry. Using data and information from a year-long field study in two food supply chains, the research identified 14 CSFs that influence the success of sub-suppliers' compliance with corporate sustainability standards (CSS). The identified CSFs can be classified into (1) focal firm-related, (2) relationship-related, (3) supply chain partner-related, and (4) context-related CSFs. The present research expands on the theory of critical success factors by applying the theory to the sustainability and sub-supplier management context. In support of critical success theory, it was found that CSFs do exist and their management will be necessary for effective sub-supplier management success as highlighted and exemplified by field study insights from practitioners. Multiple research avenues are necessary for further evaluation of sub-supplier management in the food industry and other industries who may find similar issues that arose from the food industry.

Policy insights from a green supply chain optimisation model

This paper introduces a practical supply chain optimisation model that incorporates both economic and carbon emission objectives. The proposed model is implemented to examine the possible economic and environmental trade-offs for various carbon-pricing and fuel-pricing scenarios in an actual case company representing the discrete, durable parts manufacturing sector. Analysis of the numerical results provides important managerial implications and policy insights. For industry practitioners, the findings can assist in identifying the critical activities along the supply chain on which to focus in order to minimise the cost implications of a carbon-pricing regulation. For related policy-makers, the findings provide insights on how carbon should be priced to make meaningful impacts on emissions reduction while matching variations in fuel prices.

Green information systems & technologies – this generation and beyond: Introduction to the special issue

Contributors

Blockchain Practices, Potentials, and Perspectives in Greening Supply Chains

Blockchain technology is an inchoate technology whose current popularity is peaking. Some of the most pervasive blockchain technology use cases exist for supply chains. Sustainable, and especially green, supply chains can benefit from blockchain technology, but there are also caveats. The sustainability and environmental management research and academic literature is only starting to investigate this emergent field. This paper seeks to help advance the discussion and motivate additional practice and research related to green supply chains and blockchain technology. This viewpoint paper provides insight into some of the main dimensions of blockchain technology, an overview of the use cases and issues, and some general research areas for further investigation.

Examining the effects of green supply chain management practices and their mediations on performance improvements

Environmental pressures have caused green supply chain management (GSCM) to emerge as an important corporate environmental strategy for manufacturing enterprises. For manufacturers to fully realise the performance potentials of GSCM, they need to integrate internal GSCM practices emphasising functional coordination with external GSCM practices such as cooperation with suppliers and customers in the implementation. Using coordination theory, this article examines three models used to evaluate the mediation relationships between the external and internal practices of GSCM with respect to environmental, economic, and operational performance. We posit that the strategic stance of manufacturing enterprises in improving their overall performance and competitive position requires a joint coordination of internal and external GSCM practices. Survey data collected from 396 Chinese manufacturing enterprises are used to validate our arguments by testing the mediation effects of two categories of GSCM practices. Our empirical results show support for the mediation effects, which indicates the importance for manufacturers to coordinate between the internal and external aspects of implementing GSCM practices to reap the performance benefits. Coordinating internal and external GSCM practices to seek performance improvements is an important aspect of the manufacturing operations strategy. The dynamics of implementing GSCM practices and the performance contingencies are worthwhile topics to pursue in future research.

The case for value chain resilience

Purpose Value chain analyses that help businesses build competitive advantage must include considerations of unpredictable shocks and stressors that can create costly business disruptions. Enriching value chain analysis with considerations of system resilience, meaning the ability to recover and adapt after adverse events, can reduce the imposed costs of such disruptions. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides a perspective on resilience as both an expansion and complement of risk analysis. It examines applications of both concepts within current value chain literature and within supply chain literature that may inform potential directions or pitfalls for future value chain investigations. Established frameworks from the broader field of resilience research are proposed for value chain resilience analysis and practice. Findings The synthesis reveals a need to expand value chain resilience analysis to incorporate phases of system disruption. Current explorations in the literature lack an explicit acknowledgement and understanding of system-level effects related to interconnectedness. The quantification methods proposed for value chain resilience analysis address these gaps. Originality/value Using broader resilience conceptualizations, this paper introduces the resilience matrix and three-tiered resilience assessment that can be applied within value chain analyses to better safeguard long-term business feasibility despite a context of increasing threats.

Learn from the Past, Practice in the Present, Prepare for the Future

This issue of the IEEE Engineering Management Review (EMR) is the last of our 50th volume. Looking back on just more than 50 years of publication of EMR-related topics seems apropos. Given this goal, we begin with a series of papers in this issue that takes us from the past 50 years or so. These topics have resonated in the engineering and technology management community—and will likely continue. Clearly, not all topics can be covered—it would be impossible to do so given the breadth and scope of developments in EMRrelated fields.

Overview of corporate environmental management

Corporations have been facing a variety of greening pressures. At first greening effort focused on making sure that corporations did not break the law. Completing forms, putting in requests for permits, making sure information is kept, reporting to various levels of governments to meet regulations and avoid fines are the core and traditional concerns of corporate environmental management functions. Greening was viewed as a cost center and costs needed to be minimized. Minimizing costs includes minimizing risks and liability. The thought was private lawsuits and paying fines and penalties are minimized through good environmental practice.

Examining the role of BRICS countries at the global economic and environmental resources nexus

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are central to future global economic development. However, they are facing both environmental and natural resource stresses due to their rapid economic growth. This study examines the balance between economic benefits and cost of environmental emissions and resource usage in BRICS countries so that future sustainable development insights can be provided. The historical trends of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), water, land, energy and material footprints of these countries from 1995 to 2015 are evaluated with a multi-regional input-output model. Also, whether a decoupling relationship exists between economic development, environmental emissions and resources consumption, is examined. In addition, whether environmental emissions and resource usage costs to obtain identical economic gains of these countries in global trade are explored. The major results show that in congruence with economic development, the average annual growth rates of footprint indicators ranged from 0.2% in 1995 to 9.8% in 2015. A decoupling effect did not occur for CO2 emissions or water consumption but did exist for other indicators. Global trade across the supply chain shows to achieve a unit of USD economic benefit from trade, BRICS countries tend to use relatively greater environmental emissions and resource consumption to high income countries, when compared to other income level countries. These emergent economies did receive relatively greater benefits per environmental emissions and resource usage cost from lower-middle and low-income countries.

Evaluation of library skills

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Virtual company formation for agile manufacturing using ANP and Goal Programming

In the current competitive environment of further product customisation and agile response to customer requirements, stand-alone corporations are having difficulties in excelling without the aid of the specialised expertise and cooperation of other organisations. Temporary cooperation, achieved through virtual enterprises or corporations, may be valuable in satisfying these dynamic market and customer needs and expectations. In an agile manufacturing environment marked by rapid change and specialised activities and products, the success of the Virtual Corporation (VC) depends on the performance and hence appropriate selection of the various constituent organisations that form the VC which are termed as Virtual Constituent Companies (VCCs). This paper discusses one such comprehensive VCC selection methodology using Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Goal Programming (GP). The VCCs within this multi-phased methodology are evaluated on qualitative as well as quantitative factors.

Blockchain-based governance implications for ecologically sustainable supply chain management

Purpose The authors explore the impact of an emerging technology, blockchain technology, on diverse governance mechanisms and sustainable supply chain practices and how its relationships with the linkage of these elements. Design/methodology/approach The methodology incorporates a literature review and a qualitative empirical analysis of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) standards. Expert opinions from various firms and organizations within the electronics sector are assessed. Through a thematic analysis, the relationships are identified and examined. Findings Data immutability, transparency and traceability capabilities of blockchain technology enhance the relationship between environmental standards and ecological supply chain sustainability practices. Although immature, the blockchain can influence the governance of supply chain sustainability practices. Immaturity of technology, lack of expertise, sharing information and trust have delayed adoption. Originality/value There is limited empirical evidence regarding blockchain's impact on governance mechanisms, specifically hybrid public-private mechanisms and sustainable supply chain practices. The study further evaluates how particular blockchain features may exert varying influences on these aspects and different sustainable supply chain traits. As an exploratory study, it proposes new areas for further research, including how blockchain's traceability function can improve sustainability standard adoption. Additionally, there is a call for integrating blockchain with technologies like IoT and sensors which may influence supply chain governance mechanisms, standards and sustainability practices.

The relationship between ISO 14001 and continuous source reduction programs

The ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard has been designed to help organizations in the creation of structured mechanisms for continuous improvement in environmental performance. This paper evaluates how ISO 14001 EMS and EMS‐like standards aid organizations in operating continuous source reduction programs by exploring some critical elements for program success. The ISO 14001 standard helps organizations define important EMS elements for continuous source reduction. However, adopting these elements may necessitate cultural changes, the core elements of which are embodied by TQM principles. The cultural changes support complex operational activities aimed at source reduction. Three case study firms are used to evaluate these critical EMS elements. Each firm showed substantially idiosyncratic situations attributable to each organization’s size, history, corporate culture, and technology. Despite the differences, however, the cases highlighted one critical point: employee empowerment, their willingness to make suggestions for improvement, and management’s effort to create employee participation in decision making are critical elements in managing continuous source reduction programs. These initial empirical observations provide some insight into how this cultural change may occur.

Reprint of “Supply chain-based barriers for truck-engine remanufacturing in China”

This paper introduces a research framework to identify barriers from a remanufacturing supply chain perspective including strategic (governmental) and operational dimensions. Using responses from expert practitioners in a truck engine remanufacturer in China, a grey-based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is applied to examine the cause-effect relationships among various implementation barriers. The results identify that lack of strong financial support for remanufacturing technologies or equipment updates and innovation are key implementation barriers. Lack of quality standards of remanufactured products, adequate availability of used truck engines, and quality guarantee marketing of remanufactured engines are also major barriers.

Evaluating green supplier development programs with a grey-analytical network process-based methodology

Under circumstances of increasing environmental pressures from markets and regulators, focal companies in supply chains have recognized the importance of greening their supply chain through green supplier development programs. Various studies have started to explore the inter-relationships between green supply chain management and supplier performance. Much of this performance can be achieved only with suppliers’ involvement in green supplier development programs. But, the literature focusing on green supplier development programs and supplier involvement propensity is very limited. In addition, formal tools and models for focal companies to evaluate these inter-relationships, especially considering propensity of suppliers’ involvement, are even rarer. To help address this gap in the literature, we introduce a grey analytical network process-based (grey ANP-based) model to identify green supplier development programs that will effectively improve suppliers’ performance. We further comprehensively evaluate green supplier development programs with explicit consideration of suppliers’ involvement propensity levels. A real world example is introduced to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model. We end with a discussion of managerial implications and present some directions for further research.

Exploring the relationship between quality ambidexterity and sustainable production

Organizational sustainability requires production systems improvement and adaptation simultaneously balancing environmental, social and business dimensions. This exploratory study investigates how quality management exploitation and exploration may ambidextrously contribute to support environmentally sustainable production development. The study uses data collected through an online survey from ISO 9001 certified manufacturing firms. Drawing upon organizational ambidexterity in management literature, and using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the data, we develop a set of propositions that link quality ambidexterity to environmentally sustainable production. Results reveal alternative equifinal configurations of quality management practices that lead to environmentally sustainable production. All configurations combine quality exploration and exploitation practices. The consideration of multiple goals, and especially the requirement for cost efficiency, reveals tensions between the two quality learning modes. The study provides evidence that quality management ambidexterity, the simultaneous presence of quality exploitation and exploration practices, is an important determinant of environmentally sustainable production. The findings provide insights for managers on how to leverage organizational improvement capabilities to achieve sustainability goals.