741 publications from this institution
This paper explores and illustrates an analytical framework to assess an organization’s logistics strategy. The optimum logistical system is evaluated based on three primary levels: the organizational/supply chain relationship involved, the principles of logistics required, and the attributes of these principles. The principles of logistics are defined and developed as strategies for achieving coordination and integration of the logistics network and supply chain. The analytic network process, a systemic analytical model, will be utilized to evaluate logistics strategies for an organization that seeks to be adaptive to dynamic competitive environments.
The integration of enterprise systems and the supply chain to an organization is becoming more critical in an ever-changing, globally competitive environment. Quick response will require close relationships, especially communications and information sharing among integrated internal functional groups as well as the suppliers and customers of an organization. Texas Instruments (TI), headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has come to realize this requirement for building and maintaining its competitive edge. Thus, it sought to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with a focus on linking it with a global electronic commerce (e-commerce) setting, an innovative and current issue (Weston, 2003). Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.
This multidisciplinary paper examines the sustainability of supply chain partners from a foreignness perspective. The arguments draw from the research on institutional theory to explain the underlying mechanisms. We propose and discuss a comprehensive conceptual framework evaluating the relationships of foreignness to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. In addition, we consider contingent factors such as the level of development of supplier's nation, level of global integration of buyer, and type of industry, on sustainable development of focal firms. The direct and contingency frameworks introduced in this paper are presented along with research propositions that provide valuable insight into the sustainable supply chain management from the international business perspective.
Purpose This viewpoint article provides insights into the potential role of blockchain technology in addressing crucial issues facing society and global supply chains. We seek to bring more attention to blockchain capabilities for social good in global supply chain settings. Design/methodology/approach This viewpoint paper provides a perspective on some major current social good and global supply chain issues. The method is based on the current state-of-the-art debate and discourse on blockchain technology as an enabler for social good. Literature, practice and author knowledge concerning the topic are used to support the concepts and actions presented in this study. Findings Social good, sustainable supply chains and blockchain technology have great promise and potential. Joint research and practice evaluation are essential to reveal the full potential and applications of blockchain technology and address the trade-offs and challenges. Theory and modeling are needed for understanding and advancing these topical areas. Originality/value Blockchain application for social good is a new area. We call for transdisciplinary research and development to advance this emerging area. We propose many open questions, and many more are arising in this blockchain and benchmarking community. The impact of this research can be substantive as we can actually seek to make our world a better place as we focus on social good.
Globalization has caused Chinese manufacturers to develop quickly while simultaneously meeting green barriers to export products. Whether internationalization has led to improved environmental management practices among Chinese manufacturers is also a related question. Using survey data collected from 377 Chinese manufacturers in four industrial sectors, we find that international institutional pressures positively relate to domestic environmentalism of Chinese manufacturers and their adoption of environmentally-related organizational learning practices. Environmental learning is a viable method for Chinese manufacturers to ease their environmental burdens by replicating environmental management practices of their foreign counterparts. On the policy side, the Chinese government should follow other developed countries efforts to deploy environmental regulations and policies, further motivating environmental awareness and responses in the manufacturing industry.
To exist in a global environment of continuous and unpredictable change, organizations must be forward-thinking, responsive, flexible, and agile. This competitive environment is further complicated by the fact that product complexity is continually increasing and the life cycle of many products is becoming shorter. One approach for dealing with this turbulent environment is for companies to rapidly team together and fill demands where voids exist in the marketplace. The need exists for a framework that facilitates the quick creation and effective operation of Virtual Enterprises. This paper presents an infrastructure intended to address this need. The infrastructure and its elements employ information technology as a mechanism to enable agile product development by multiorganization enterprises.
In many cases, projects that have strong environmental / carbon reduction benefits may be neglected due to biases associated with traditional project appraisal approaches. To reduce the level of rejections for such projects, the authors apply an innovative methodology, the financial appraisal profile (FAP) model. FAP is a normative model that seeks to address some of the issues and limitations posed by standard appraisal and evaluation approaches. By making the right decision in the first place and involving senior managers in the appraisal process, the organisation is better placed to achieve project success. The adoption of a management team approach to investment appraisals will not only enhance the information base but will also result in greater managerial commitment to a project. By adopting the FAP model with the inclusion of an environmental assessment in the form the ‘environmental score index’, will help focus top management on an increasingly important corporate strategy issue. An illustrative case study is used to outline the important aspects of this new approach. The paper concludes that this approach fills a gap in the environmental / carbon reduction investment literature, where there is a paucity of comprehensive, structured, and transparent methodologies that can prove acceptable to management decision-makers from a variety of functions and viewpoints. Keywords: Carbon Reduction, Environmental Score Index, Environmental Sustainability, Financial Appraisal Profile (FAP) Model, Investment Appraisal
The papers in this special section tackle technological development for the social good. THE slogan for IEEE is "Advancing Technology for Humanity".Implied within that slogan is the purpose of technology is for social good. Thus, this special issue falls within the spirit of the IEEE. The United Nations has been supporting social good with various goals, initially the millennium goals which evolved to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDGs represent 17 major goals covering the three major dimensions of sustainability—environmental, social, and economic goals. The linkages between the SDGs and Industry 4.0 technologies— the latest classification of production technologies— have shown some SDG benefits from these technologies. The importance of social issues and social good is not lost on recent works on technology management. Yet, although the SDGs are about a decade old—they are only just appearing in the technology management and related topics literature.
No abstract is provided for this article.
This paper provides a review of the literature on Reverse Logistics (RL). It provides an overview of definitions, research and research opportunities in this field. It is a timely and important concept with significant international research under completion at this time. Ample opportunities exist for the growth of this field due to its multi-functional, and interdisciplinary focus. It also is critical for organisations to consider from both an economic and environmental perspective. All these issues are discussed and summarised in this paper.
For small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs), the determination of whether the adoption of environmentally supportive practices relates to good environmental performance has only been scarcely investigated. By using an empirical sample of 299 Welsh SMEs, this paper investigates just this issue. SMEs that have adopted five environmental practices and those that have not are compared as well as their environmental and economic performance using solid waste management activities. The results show that those organizations that have not adopted these practices perform better on environmental performance measures. The explanation, for what seems like a counterintuitive result, may be due to a reactive adoption of these practices to help mitigate poor performance on solid waste management practices. Additional insights and managerial implications are presented since these results will help identify methods to aid SMEs further in the adoption of environmentally supportive practices.
This study extends research on buyer firm roles in improving supplier sustainability practices by considering institutions – norms and rules – in the organisational field in which suppliers and sub-suppliers operate, exerting pressures on these actors to align their respectivepractices. We introducethe resource-based view to arrive at a framework outlining key capabilities for institutional entrepreneurs that seek institutionalisation of corporate sustainability standards (CSS) as a new institution across a multi-tier supply chain. The paper draws on the results of an exploratory research study using six comparative case studies within four industries. While institutional entrepreneurship explains how organisations drive institutional change, the resource-based view outlines criteria for organisational capabilities enabling the focal firm to achieve the targeted institutional change. Our analysis suggests five key capabilities enabling a buying firm to effectively institutionalise their requirements in multi-tier supply chains: (1) inter-firm dialogue, (2) risk management, (3) external stakeholder collaboration, (4) cross-functional integration, and (5) continuous improvement. The key organisational capabilities identified help to extend the theory of institutional entrepreneurship with concepts that facilitate institutional change in multi-tier supply chains with respect to corporate sustainability. This exploratory work opens up avenues of additional research in general and supply chain theory development.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Knowledge sharing among divisions of an organization is an important yet difficult goal for any institution to achieve. This case reports on development of a system that fosters knowledge sharing across divisions and levels of government in a New York State agency. The case will focus on project management aspects, and discuss tools and models used to aid in the development and evolution of this project from an intra-division application to a more pervasive enterprise-wide system. A number of organizational and technological elements provide the impetus for growth, improvement, and success of this system. Overall, the case study provides insights and lessons learned to problems encountered in diverse and sizable organizations, such as large companies and not-for-profit organizations, as well as state and federal governments, where knowledge is distributed and sharing knowledge is critical to organizational performance.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a methodology to identify sustainable supply chain key performance indicators (KPI) that can then be used for sustainability performance evaluation for suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – Initially the complexity of sustainable supply chain performance measurement is discussed. Then, a two-stage method utilizing neighborhood rough set theory to identify KPI and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to benchmark and evaluate relative performance using the KPI is completed. Additional analysis is performed to determine the sensitivity of the KPI set formation and performance results. Findings – The results show that KPI can be determined using neighborhood rough set, and DEA performance results provide insight into relative performance of suppliers. The supply chain sustainability performance results from both the neighborhood rough set and DEA can be quite sensitive parameters selected and sustainability KPI sets that were determined. Research limitations/implications – The data utilized in this study are illustrative and simulated. Only one model for the neighborhood rough set and DEA was utilized. Additional investigations using a variation of rough set and DEA models can be completed. Practical implications – This tool set is valuable for managers to help identify sustainable supply chain KPI (from among hundreds of potential measures) and evaluate sustainability performance of various units within supply chains, including supply chain partners, departments, projects and programs. Social implications – Sustainability incorporates many business, economic and social implications. The methods introduced in this paper can help organizations and their supply chains become more strategically and operationally sustainable. Originality/value – Few tools and techniques exist in the sustainable supply chain literature to help develop KPIs and evaluate sustainability performance of suppliers and the supply chain. This paper is one of the first that integrates neighborhood rough set and DEA to address this important sustainable supply chain performance measurement issue.
Hybrid cellular manufacturing (CM) systems are well represented in manufacturing practice and thus constitute a fertile area of research. This work studies the performance of hybrid CM systems by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA). Since DEA allows for simultaneous analysis of multiple inputs and outputs of a system, it provides for a comprehensive investigation of CM performance under a wide variety of experimental conditions. For the purpose of measuring system efficiency, the number of machines and the degree of set up reduction are used as inputs, and flow time, work-in-progress (WIP) inventory and job tardiness are used as outputs. Results indicate that the hybrid systems in the study perform best at a low to intermediate degree of cellularization.
