1,721,009 research outputs found
The path towards environmental and social sustainability: the case of manufacturing companies and their suppliers
Full text linkIn 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported that two-thirds of the world’s ecosystems were being exploited well beyond sustainable levels. Given that manufacturing firms rely strongly on natural resources to conduct business, it is surprising that many have failed to make their supply chains more sustainable. I believe this occurs not because companies are acting in their own self-interests, but because understanding is still lacking on how to become sustainable. The Key is that good environmental and social performance are not simple to achieve, since ‘new’ practices have to be developed in a coordinated fashion. That is, most companies do not choose to ignore environmental and social harm, but the complexity is such that their knowledge is often insufficient.
The goal of this dissertation is to offer practical guidelines which help companies to coordinate the complex bundle of practices which have to be adopted along the pathway that lead to high environmental and social performance in the supply chain. To do so, I develop three distinct but compatible papers. The first looks at the role of a company’s willingness/ability to change, i.e. its innovativeness, as a distinguished factor whose absence may hinder, retard or even constrain the development of sustainable practices. The second paper acknowledges the globalization process that supply chains are undergoing, which creates the need for differentiated approaches to the management of sustainability. Third, the last paper looks at the inter-relationship between internal and external practices (i.e., activities without direct supplier involvement vs. activities that include transactions with suppliers) and at their specific impacts on sustainability performance.
Taken as a whole, this dissertation sheds some light on the pathway companies should undertake to boost their environmental and social sustainability while helping suppliers to develop their own capacity to deal with this matter
Supply chain sustainability: the key role of trust and suppliers’ performance
Full text linkDoes sustainable supply management (SSM) (i.e., supplier monitoring and collaboration) contribute more to supply chain sustainability compared to sustainable process management (SPM) (i.e., management system and certifications)? Does the improvement of suppliers’ sustainability performance contribute significantly to a firm’s sustainability performance? Does trust have significant implications for supply chain sustainability? To provide an answer a conceptual framework has been developed and tested by applying the PLS methodology on a sample of 71 firms. Results show that SPM enables SSM and impacts firms’ sustainability performance. Further, in presence of trust, SSM impacts suppliers’ sustainability performance and, indirectly, a firm’s sustainability footprint
Manufacturing Postponement: reducing upstream vulnerability by means of an improved flexibility
Full text linkAs supply chain vulnerabilities and the dependence of companies to their partners (i.e., suppliers) intensify, companies are adopting manufacturing postponement in order to reduce potential negative effects of supply risks. Indeed, manufacturing postponement allows firms to properly manage point of differentiations along their production lines, improving companies’ reactions capabilities. This study built a framework that relates the adoptions of postponement underlying tactics (i.e., product modularity and process re-sequencing) to the development of flexibility and to the achievement of competitive advantage (i.e., reduced exposition to supply risks). Based on data collected from54 Italian manufacturing companies we show that the adoption of manufacturing postponement directly influence firms’ resiliency. Furthermore, we show that this relationship can be partially explained by an indirect path through flexibility
Why do industrial companies show different posture towards supply networks sustainability? A multiple case studies analysis
Full text linkThis research aims at moving a step forward toward the understanding of why industrial companies show different postures toward sustainability in their supply networks. Specifically, the role played by external pressures (i.e., from government and market) and internal capabilities (i.e., organizational commitment, supply management capabilities, innovation power) in determining companies’ attitude toward suppliers’ sustainability is theoretically and empirically investigated. To achieve our objectives, a multiple case studies analysis was performed since it is particularly suited when new complex phenomena are approached. This paper contributes to former literature by proposing a new comprehensive model specifying the role played by sustainable supply chain management’ (SSCM) antecedents in driving industrial companies’ postures
How does innovativeness foster sustainable supply chain management? a multiple case analysis
No full textRecent literature asks for more attention to be paid on the implementation of sustainability in supply chains and on its antecedents. Therefore, this research aims at moving a step forward toward the understanding of why companies adopt different approaches in managing supply chain sustainability. Although we simultaneously analyze the role of different antecedents, this paper mainly focuses on the role of firm innovativeness. The relatedness between innovation and sustainability is not completely new to the literature. Innovativeness has been recognized as an important organizational capability for an effective deployment of internal environmental practices and for the inception of SSCM practices. Nevertheless, it has not been theoretically or empirically described why it matters and how it contributes to the development of sustainability strategies and to the adoption of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices. To achieve our objective, a multiple case studies analysis was performed. This paper contributes by proposing a set of propositions and a new comprehensive framework, shedding further light on the role that innovativeness has in fostering SSCM. Specifically, we found that innovativeness has implication on how companies perceived and respond to external pressure from customers and government. It also facilitates the intra-inter organizational diffusion of environmental and social commitment, as well as the development of necessary strategic and supply management capabilities
Supply chain risk management and competitive advantage: a misfit model
No full textPurpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of congruence for the management of supply risk that is easy to apply, but also accurate. The authors also aim at providing empirical evidence about the relationship between misfit– i.e. the incongruence between a firm’s preparedness in (supply) risk management and the potential riskiness characterising the context– and competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach– In line with the purpose, literature and field interviews were used to develop a model of congruence in the context of supply risk management (SRM) and operationalise it within a questionnaire. Then, the authors collected survey data to validate the model. Findings– Results show that competitive advantage decreases when the firm’s preparedness in SRM does not match to the pattern of risk conditions (i.e. environmental vulnerabilities). Research limitations/implications– The model of congruence here developed is simple to apply but offer effective decisions support. This study, thus, stimulates future research on the assessment and management of supply chain risk. This study, also, fosters the attention to the non-linear relationship between risk management and business performance. Practical implications– This study develops a model that can be used by practitioners to configure an optimal adoption of SRM practices. Also, the analysis allows to draw some specific recommendations for supply chain managers aiming at improving their preparedness in SRM. Originality/value– By relying on SRM literature, the balanced-resilience logic and the theoretical framework of contingency theory, this study develops and test a model of congruence that shows how companies can gain competitive advantage through the management of supply risk
Manufacturing Postponement: reducing upstream vulnerability by means of an improved flexibility
Full text linkAs supply chain vulnerabilities and the dependence of companies to their parents (i.e., suppliers) intensify, companies are adopting manufacturing postponement in order to reduce potential negative effects of supply risks. Indeed, manufacturing postponement allows firms to properly manage point of differentiations along their production lines, improving companies' reactions capabilities. This study built a framework that relates the adoptions of postponement underlying tactics (i.e., product modularity and process re-sequencing) to the development of flexibility and to the achievement of competitive advantage (i.e., reduced exposition to supply risks). Based on data collected from 54 Italian manufacturing companies we show that the adoption of manufacturing postponement directly influence firms' resiliency. Furthermore, we show that this relationship can be partially explained by an indirect path through flexibility
An assessment model to evaluate supply chain resiliency: application in the assembly industry
Full text linkIn the last few years, many authors have addressed the topic of supply chain vulnerability. The main limitation of the current body of literature is its scarce use of empirical evidence. In addition, only limited attention has been paid to how companies actually respond to risk. This work aims to further develop our understanding of how companies maintain their resiliency. Specifically, this paper will present an assessment model for evaluating the extent to which companies implement risk mitigation practices. The development process for the model involved two steps. First, based on a literature review, a draft of the assessment model was designed and operationalised via a questionnaire. Then, to evaluate the validity of the model, five case studies were conducted. The model allows us to evaluate the firms' ability to reduce their vulnerability and it will also allow us to identify when specific practices are most applicable
Supply chain risk management and companies’ competitive advantage: a contingency perspective
Full text linkDuring the last decades companies have seen an increased in their dependence from suppliers. As a result, companies’ competitive advantage strictly depends on suppliers’ reliability and performance. For this reason, Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) has become a major topic for both researchers and practitioners. Anyway, despite the effort put in place by previous authors, no framework has been developed that can help companies to develop SCRM effectively. In an attempt to fill this gap, the study proposes a model of congruence between SCRM practices and risk conditions, and carried out its empirical test. Specifically, this study aims to empirically investigate the existence of a negative relationship between misfit - i.e. the incongruence between the adoption of SCRM practices and the potential riskiness faced by companies - and competitive advantage. To achieve our objective we mixed inductive and deductive logics: literature and case studies were used to develop our proposition, while we tested it through a survey analysis on a sample of 54 companies. Results suggest that misfit to a risk profile is negatively related to companies’ competitive advantage
Building credibility within sustainable supply chains: toward a conceptual model
Full text linkSupply chain managers face many challenges when developing more sustainable operations, often beginning with translating ambiguous demands from stakeholders into practice. Drawing from accounting and sustainable supply chain literatures, we synthesize a model to explain how supply chain managers might define, defend, and rationalize sustainability in their supply chain, which we term sustainability assessment and verification. This multi-dimensional model extends traditional thinking about supplier monitoring and collaboration in several ways. For example, both supplier and customer uncertainty must be explicitly addressed, and managers must recognize that the process for SAV is at least as important as the output
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