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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the complexities involved in implementing continuous improvement (CI) initiatives in public sector organisations.

This paper is based on a case study of a private sector organisation based in New Zealand and its efforts in implementing CI activities in its public sector clients. In total, 12 semi-structured interviews were followed by group model building exercises based on system dynamics that led to the development of a systems model.

CI initiatives using public-private partnerships were successful in steadily improving the operational excellence and end-user satisfaction in this case. But client satisfaction was only increasing at a much slower rate. The underlying structure responsible for this behaviour was captured using a causal loop model and explained using seven interacting feedback loops.

The major limitation of this research is that it is confined to one private sector organisation and its public sector clients. Thus, the generalisability cannot be utilised for future reference.

This paper illustrates the development of strategic initiatives based on a participative model building approach. It provides a practical method for initiating long-term structural changes while managing CI activities in public sector organisations.

This paper contributes a New Zealand case of public-private partnerships for implementing CI initiatives. It illustrates a systems approach to analyse the complexities involved in implementing CI initiatives in public sector organisations.

The overall objective of this study is to holistically analyse the complexities involved in the adoption of sustainable wood supply chain in the Amazon and to develop strategic interventions to improve the system.

This study uses the systems thinking and modelling framework that included problem structuring followed by the development of a systems model. Tumbira and Santa Helena do Inglês, two Amazonian communities, were used as a case. Data were collected by staying inside the Amazon, observing the community members and interacting with them during their activities, including logging inside the forest.

A behaviour over time (BOT) graph developed as a part of problem structuring showed that deforestation of the Amazon is still increasing, despite the creation of protected areas and NGO activities in the region. Developing a sustainable wood supply chain is considered as one of the approaches for sustainable forestry in the Amazon, but its adoption is slow. The systems model captured the underlying structure of this system and explained this counterintuitive behaviour using eleven interacting feedback loops.

This study is confined to two Amazonian communities and recognises the limitations of generalisations.

This paper illustrates the development of three strategic interventions to improve the adoption of sustainable wood supply chain in the Amazon.

This study highlights the real issues faced by real communities living in the Amazon for adopting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices. It contributes to the literature on sustainable wood supply chain by systemically analysing the challenges in its adoption, not sufficiently discussed in the literature.

The Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) that aims at ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns is dependent on efficient and effective transport infrastructure. But many new transport infrastructure projects are delayed due to complex conflicts between multiple stakeholders with different stakes. This chapter illustrates how a multi-stakeholder participation process based on systems thinking can be used to generate a shared mental model of stakeholders in conflict. Using the systems thinking and modelling methodology, the complex problem situation is first structured by identifying and analysing the stakeholders. Then a participative approach is employed to develop a systems model that captures the underlying structure responsible for the problem situation. Finally, three strategic interventions are formulated by the stakeholders to improve the system behaviour in the long term. In this chapter, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using structured interviews, focus groups and secondary sources. Using a New Zealand transport infrastructure project, the chapter shows that effective multi-stakeholder participation, capable of leading to some form of multi-stakeholder partnership, can help reduce delays in a transport infrastructure project. Practically, the chapter provides a framework that can reach an accommodation between conflicting stakeholders. Overall, this chapter contributes New Zealand–based empirical research to the literature on multi-stakeholder participation for achieving SDG 12 within the context of Agenda 2030.

The purpose of this paper is to present a systemic analysis of the complex interaction of factors affecting the reverse logistics (RL) processes in a pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC).

This study uses a systems thinking approach. Initial problem structuring involved the analysis of behavior-over-time of main variables and incorporated stakeholder analysis. Further, a participative group model building process was used to develop a systems model.

The model was analysed to identify a set of feedback loops operating in the system responsible for the complexities of the problem. To address this, the stakeholders identified three strategic interventions. The first intervention relates to returns avoidance by alleviating market flooding of medicines, second intervention aims at improving the infrastructure for quality and performance management and the third targets balanced risk sharing between the main stakeholders involved in the supply chain. The findings suggest strong linkage between RL network design and key activities in returns management. The study lays a platform for developing a simulation model.

Data collection was confined to stakeholders belonging to a PSC based in the South Indian state of Kerala and excluded the participation of doctors due to practical constraints. The application of systems thinking and modelling was limited to the qualitative phases of the methodology.

The study illustrates a participative process capable of revealing the differing viewpoints of multiple stakeholders involved in a PSC.

It provides a holistic approach based on the systems thinking and modelling methodology for analysing the complexities related to RL in the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate strategic interventions that can contribute to adoption of blockchain in Asian health market.

A methodological framework based on the three qualitative phases of the systems thinking and modelling methodology, namely, problem structuring, causal loop modelling and developing strategic interventions were used. Data was collected using thirty interviews and secondary research.

The reference model developed in the study captured the system behavior, showing health market blockchain adoption increasing in other countries but struggling in Asia. The qualitative systems model developed explained this behavior by capturing the underlying system structure using six interconnected feedback loops. Three strategic interventions were formulated to change the system structure to improve its adoption.

This study acknowledges its limitation that blockchain integration in health supply chain management (SCM) and adaptability to technological trends are just few elements that contributes to challenges in blockchain adoption in Asia Pacific health market . It also acknowledges the limited scale of this study using 30 interviews with a narrow set of stakeholders, limiting its generalisability.

Although the blockchain technology has medical data security benefits, its integration in health SCM could potentially improve cost of health service delivery to patient. Not only it prevents drug counterfeiting, it enhances patient’s safety by reducing the time it takes to alert the supply chain of a product recall from few days to few seconds.

“Blockchain-as-a-Service” has wide applications in SCM, identity management, payments, smart contracts, governance risk and compliance management, with its market size expected to grow in future. This affordable solution opens up the roads for future empirical research for information systems academicians and information technology practitioners.

This research provides a holistic analysis of the challenges facing blockchain adoption in the health market for Asia. It offers a methodological approach based on systems thinking and modelling to improve its adoption.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the supply chain performance through collaborative effectiveness, from the organisations of Asia–Pacific region perspective, compared with that of global organisations based on collaborative supply chain practices.

The survey research methodology was adopted, involving the collection of survey data from 223 participants across 10 different industries and 6 geographic regions. Data included 103 organisations in the Asia–Pacific region including Australia, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

From a collaborative effectiveness perspective, the supply chain performance of Asia–Pacific organisations is different when compared with that of global organisations. It was also found that global organisations are driven by sales performance, while Asia–Pacific organisations are focussing mainly on the cost in terms of the number of employees, and therefore productivity. The metal industry stands out to be the best performing industry from a collaborative effectiveness perspective in the Asia–Pacific region and globally.

The research findings can be used as a guide by industry practitioners to develop benchmarks for collaborative supply chain practices by industry and region of operations. This research has been limited to a few industries such as manufacturing, logistics, service and retail industries.

This research generates new knowledge on the relationship between the collaborative effectiveness and supply chain performance, from the perspectives of both Asia–Pacific and global organisations, based on a collaborative effectiveness framework. The study proposes an innovative approach of assessing supply chain performance through collaborative effectiveness from the perspectives of geographical boundaries and industry types.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how three core elements of critical management studies (CMSs), “de-naturalisation”, “reflexivity” and “(non)-performative intent”, can help expand the current debate in the supply chain management (SCM) field.

The authors used a systematic literature review to select 103 articles published in 12 high-ranking journals in the SCM field based on the Academic Journal Guide of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

The findings of this study suggest that SCM studies can be narrowed down into four major CMSs themes: “power”, “ethics and environmental issues”, “diversity” and “working conditions”, but even these themes are still under-discussed and undertheorized in SCM. The literature the authors reviewed is more concerned with explaining these phenomena than questioning them and proposing new agendas. This paper, therefore, will discuss how these three core elements of CMS can help transform the “hidden” issues of SCM, which it will do by illustrating it in the context of buyer–supplier relationships and lean manufacturing.

This research will encourage SCM scholars who are interested in conducting more critical studies and teaching the harmful effects of global supply chains.

This paper highlights that a combination of SCM and CMS approaches is important when we decide to adopt a more critical “constructive” view of supply chain challenges and engage practical and critical views, respectively, to generate knowledge that not only increases (corporate) performance but also highlights social needs and values.

This study aims to analyze the complexities of the Brazilian soybean supply chain (SSC) and develop strategic interventions to improve the origin system’s performance.

This study used stakeholder interviews to identify the SSC bottlenecks and determine and assess drivers of competitiveness. A methodological framework based on the systems thinking approach for developing long-term structural changes was used. The problem was structured using behavior over time graph and causal loop modeling to propose three investment strategies to solve the logistics problem in SSC.

This study highlights the gaps in coordination between stakeholders and the public sector regarding the public policy for infrastructure investment. Three strategic interventions were developed to address the agro-industrial logistical problem, namely, investment in storage, multimodal transport systems and improvements in existing transport infrastructure. To overcome transport and storage logistics limitations, the authors suggest different forms of partnerships, including public-private partnerships.

This research is limited to evaluating an agricultural commodity (soybean) and does not include its by-products. The sample of stakeholders was limited and the boundary of analysis was Brazil. Nevertheless, the study showed how strategic interventions could be developed following a holistic analysis.

The proposed integrated approach illustrates the development of three strategic initiatives. It can be implemented by stakeholders, including the public sector, which is the basis for providing assertive long-term investments in Brazilian logistics.

The SSC analysis could promote the implementation of systemically determined interventions and strategies. It could significantly improve the performance of agricultural systems and help the formulation of public policies aimed at rural development.

The use of system dynamics to identify intervention points is an essential contribution to mitigating the SSC’s hindrances. Moreover, the combining methodologies resulted in comprehensive intervention strategies.

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of corporate reputation (hereafter CR) and the degree of economic development on firms’ cost of capital remains unresolved. This study addresses these issues.

Using a global sample across 20 countries, the study investigates the discrete and joint effects of CR and jurisdictional economic development on the cost of equity (COE) and cost of debt (COD) capital. The analysis encompasses a dual data set, comprising 1,308 observations for COE and 1,223 observations for COD, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of these dynamics.

The findings indicate that CR leads to a reduction in the cost of capital for reputable firms. Nevertheless, the extent of this decrease varies per type of capital and firm’s reputation level and is contingent upon the economic development level within the firm’s jurisdiction. Particularly noteworthy is the moderating effect of economic development on CR, which shows that COE capital tends to be lower for reputable firms operating in economically developed jurisdictions. Albeit, this is not the case for COD capital for reputable firms in similarly developed jurisdictions.

This study illustrates that effective CR management, aimed at reducing the cost of capital, necessitates a combination of the firm’s unique competitive advantage and the economic development context of its jurisdiction to truly achieve its intended goal.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first global study to explore the impact of CR on both COE and COD capital. Furthermore, this study is primarily towards understanding the moderating role of economic development in the relationship between CR and cost of capital.