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The purpose of this paper is to propose a holistic approach for supplier evaluation and purchasing order allocation among the ranked suppliers who meet acceptable levels of economic, environmental and social measures.

A mixed research method of case study and analytical approach is adopted in this research. A fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (FAHP) is applied for ranking of suppliers. Supplier ranks are validated using judgements from multiple decision makers. Purchasing order allocation among the ranked suppliers is determined using cost minimization subject to multiple criteria of economic, environmental and social conditions. A cement manufacturing case example demonstrates and validates the proposed approach.

The research shows that both economic and environmental considerations are significant when suppliers are evaluated for sustainable procurement within the best practice of supply management process. Ranking of suppliers, based on experts’ opinions, indicates varying degrees of importance for each criterion. Adoption of sustainable procurement criteria for evaluating supplier in a cement manufacturing organization is explained by three organizational theories including resource-based, institutional and dynamic capabilities theories. Preferred suppliers from FAHP method are confirmed by judgements from multiple decision-makers. The analysis reveals that purchasing order allocation is different when suppliers are evaluated based on their relative importance and overall ranking.

Currently, individual performance measures and decision-makers are selected from a limited set. The purchasing allocation among ranked suppliers, subjected to cost minimization, incorporates environmental objective of acceptable carbon dioxide emission and social perspective of health and safety of workers, and provides a new approach for dual supplier evaluation and purchasing allocation problem in cement industry. Adopting the proposed supplier evaluation and order allocation approach in practice needs to be guided by the operational principles and an overall methodology which is appropriate for the specific industry with sustainability objectives.

This research enables decision-makers to incorporate sustainability analysis in the supplier evaluation as the basis for best practice with an industry-friendly holistic approach. Using organizational theories, the research re-enforces the importance of not only the energy consumption and environmental management systems of environmental dimension as driving forces/factors from Institutional theory perspective, but also pollution controls and prevention as purchasing capabilities from resource-based theory perspective. The proposed approach is expected to motivate decision-makers to consider sustainable perspectives in supplier evaluation and order allocation processes in a global supply chain and can become a benchmarking tool.

Suppliers’ information on health and safety of their truck drivers are used in order allocation, thus emphasizing the importance of social dimension and encouraging better conditions and benchmarking for delivery drivers.

This paper extends the contribution to the literature by providing guidelines for managers to set strategies, benchmarks and policies within broader sustainable supply chain practices and demonstrates the applicability of the approach using a cement-manufacturing scenario in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation level of just‐in‐time (JIT), manufacturing resources planning (MRPII) and total quality management (TQM) within the cement industry in Libya.

This paper covers an overview of the investigated manufacturing and quality techniques and philosophies. A survey methodology has been applied in this investigation using an intensive questionnaire to the correspondent organizations.

Based on the analysis of the survey questionnaire responses, the results show that the management body does not have a clear strategy towards most of the areas that are considered as being crucial in any successful implementation of the JIT and MRPII techniques/philosophies, with slightly better results for TQM. The research has identified limitations within the investigated areas and has pointed to areas where the management should take immediate action in order to achieve successful and effective implementation of JIT, MRPII and TQM within their organisations. This is an important finding for the future success of the cement industry in particular, and the manufacturing industry in general, within Libya.

Future research could be applied to cover other industries, in order to investigate how widely the findings from this study are reflected in other industrial sectors within Libya.

This research is the first to investigate the implementation status of manufacturing, planning, control and quality techniques and philosophies within the cement industry in Libya. It makes a contribution by providing an insight into what extent JIT, MRPII and TQM are understood and implemented within the Libyan cement industry.

The purpose of this paper is to develop knowledge management constructs comprising of KM processes and KM practices through marketing and sales to derive competitive advantage (CA) in the cement industry.

A thorough and detailed analysis of the literature was carried out to develop the measures for KM practices, KM processes and their impact on CA. A total of 65 variables affecting competitiveness in the form of questionnaire were developed. The questionnaire was administered through e-mail to 962 territory sales managers (TSM) and equivalent employed in the marketing and sales function of the cement organizations in India. A total of 121 valid and complete responses were received, representing a response rate of 12.6 percent. The factor analysis was carried out on the data collected to establish reliability and validity of the measures.

A total of seven constructs pertaining to knowledge management practices and processes and competitiveness that comprises of 65 variables have been developed. The statistical results establish that the constructs and the variables considered in the study are reliable and valid.

The sample of respondents for developing constructs consisted of TSM and equivalent employed in the marketing and sales function of cement companies in India. Research scope can be enhanced in the future study by including middle and senior level managers in cement companies to better diagnose and understand perception of KM initiatives across different levels in the cement industry. The work can also be extended to incorporate inbound logistics and procurement that directly contributes to the overall value chain to have a holistic perspective.

The measures developed in this study would be effective management tools for the implementation of knowledge management initiatives in the marketing and sales function to ascertain their level of implementation and impact on the competitiveness.

This study is probably the first of its kind in India to provide KM measures combined for practices and processes to understand the relationship with competitiveness in cement companies pertaining to marketing and sales function. It provides valuable insights as a strategic tool for investing in KM initiatives.

This paper aims to reveal the impact of five industry forces (IFs) on implementing input‐based competitive strategies (CSs) and to determine relationship of these CSs on cement plants' environmental performances (EPs).

Data were collected from cement manufacturers in Turkey. This study employed structural equation methodology to examine relationships between IFs, CSs, and EP.

Cement plants with the advantage of low buyer bargaining power, low threat of new entrants, and few rivalries exhibit strong energy and raw material strategies. Also, an advantage of low supplier bargaining power and low threat of substitutes causes competitive raw material strategy. Finally, competitive energy and raw material strategies enhance EP, while competitive human resource strategy has no influence on it.

The model should be tested on other organizations in supply chain. Future researches can also investigate the difference of findings to other industries and in other countries and examine reasons behind hypothesized relationships. Moreover, additional factors may be incorporated into the model. However, a larger participation could provide a different perspective of issues in consideration.

This paper can serve as a valuable framework for top managers to draw the direction of their companies in terms of IFs, CSs, and EP. In this context, practitioners should focus on production inputs to withstand external environment and to experience better EP practices.

A better EP can both enhance sustainability of the overall environment and affect society positively. For such benefits, sustainability of EP should be a subsequent step to be taken to possess long‐lasting societal advantages.

This study is first to propose a model that integrates competitive IFs and input‐based approaches to measure cement plants' EPs. These are relevant issues for competitiveness of cement manufacturers willing to increase their EPs.

This paper aims to examine the moderating role of organizational learning culture (OLC) on the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and employee competencies (EC) in enhancing organizational effectiveness (OE).

An integrated research model of HRD practices, EC, OE and OLC was developed. The validity of the model is tested by applying structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to data collected from 506 employees working in 4 medium-size cement manufacturing companies.

The results confirmed that training and career development had a significant impact on EC, the moderating effect of OLC on the relationship between HRD practices and EC was found significant and there is a significant and positive relationship between EC and employee perceived OE.

This paper contributes to the HRD literature, integrating HRD practices, OLC and EC. The research is unique as it has applied moderated SEM to test hypotheses of the study.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework and key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the sustainability of the manufacturing organizations along the integrated supply chain.

A systematic literature review of existing peer-reviewed articles has been carried out to understand the strengths and weaknesses of current frameworks. A sustainability assessment framework has been proposed for the manufacturing sector. KPIs to assess sustainability performance of manufacturing organizations are identified. An empirical study is carried out for the cement industry to test the proposed framework and KPIs.

The existing frameworks on sustainability assessment lacks an integrated assessment consisting product life cycle, resources, critical factors (product, process and policy), KPIs and their interrelationship with sustainability dimensions. In total, 121 KPIs are identified for sustainability assessment of manufacturing organizations. The empirical study of the Indian cement industry identifies 52 KPIs (17 social, 15 economic and 20 environmental), which are classified into 13 factors using exploratory factor analysis.

The proposed framework is tested for the cement sector. More studies are required to validate and refine the framework to make it generalized for the manufacturing sector.

This study has developed for the first time a close interrelation among life cycle engineering, resources, critical factors, KPIs and sustainability dimensions.

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of distributive justice on normative commitment, both directly and indirectly through job satisfaction. Instead of integrating all the components of justice and commitment, distributive justice and normative commitment have been given prominence.

The data were collected through standardised scales from the 305 executives working in the top eight cement organisations located in the central part of the Indian subcontinent. Structural equation modelling (SEM) with bootstrapping was employed to evaluate the hypotheses.

The results proved that distributive justice helps increase normative commitment and affects job satisfaction positively. Additionally, job satisfaction acts as a mediator between distributive justice and normative commitment.

Due to the adaptation of self-reported questionnaires, the chances of method bias cannot be completely denied. However, the Harman’s single-factor analysis was conducted to handle it. Moreover, the data were obtained from a single source, i.e. the cement industry.

HR practitioners may use the outcomes of this study to promote distributive justice while allocating their sources. It also helps in implementing specific strategies to improve job satisfaction and commitment.

The study proposed a more complex linear model that included job satisfaction as a mediator. Moreover, the study is conducted in emerging economies, which addresses the research gaps in the existing body of literature.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation commonly fails to recognize the need to treat it as a business process automation that must be managed and monitored continuously. Moreover, many studies on business process management (BPM) assessment focus on snapshots of different areas of BPM and not on the different stages of the lifecycle. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model that combines the BPM lifecycle, program/project implementation framework, principles of good practice, maturity and critical practices to assess how companies implementing ERP apply different BPM practices, as well as which areas are lacking and why.

The relevant literature was examined to develop the model for the study. Case studies of three companies in Indonesia were then conducted. The state of BPM implementation in each case was assessed through interviews, document reviews and observations.

This study found that three leading companies in Indonesia, implementing ERP for more than five years, obtained high scores for BPM implementation. They perform well in terms of process identification, implementation, monitoring and control, but are weak in process discovery and re-design, mainly because they do not optimally use specific tools for process modeling and there is a lack of process governance. The studies also pinpoint potential linkages between competition intensity and the nature of the industry with the need for good BPM.

The model has only been tested in three cases in different industries and therefore the results, while providing good insights, cannot be generalized. More detailed assessment of certain BPM practices is needed. Furthermore, the assessment for each stage of BPM implementation was made at a single time, potentially yielding less detailed results than by assessing each stage of the BPM lifecycle.

The companies implementing ERP began with business process definition, but employ different process governance. The model developed here can be useful for leaders and teams to identify weak areas of practice within the stage of the BPM lifecycle; it can be used as an assessment tool for companies currently conducting BPM projects or programs including ERP implementation. It can also provide a roadmap for companies intending to conduct BPM programs.

Most of the BPM literature focuses on specific aspects. This study proposes a different perspective by providing a model to assess BPM implementation in each stage of its lifecycle and at the same time considers practical aspects of implementation, principles of good practice, maturity factors and critical practices.

The cement industry's environmental implications place climate change at the centre of sector organisations' corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies, such as the Secil Group. The organisation's CSR policies definition, narrative framing and communication are fundamental, as they can affect its reputation. This article aims to highlight the climate change framing in the Secil Group sustainability report (SR) narrative.

The framing theory is applied to analyse the international and sectoral climate change regulatory measures and the Secil Group SR. Document analysis is used to characterise Secil SR as a communication tool. Qualitative content analysis is used to highlight how Secil and the international and sectoral regulatory measures on climate change frame their narrative and compare each other.

The international and sectoral regulatory measures on climate change and the Secil's SR broadly frame climate change, using ethical, efficiency and effectiveness, communication and relations and law and regulation framings. The Secil's Group SR also highlights the financial frame, exposing the challenge of reconciling economic with collective interests. There is room for researchers to explore the concepts of CSR, sustainability and environment, social and governance (ESG) through the lens of complementarity.

This study shows that the Wehmeier and Raaz (2012) model, created to study transparency, can be applied to other communication studies. This paper explores a case study and, for this reason, is not generalisable. Although, the method and theoretical framework can be applied to any organisation.

The green aspects in current management practices are strongly emphasized for sustainable and environment friendly business operations. Thus, building on ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory, this study aims to test the mediating role of green absorptive capacity in the relationship between green human resources management (GHRM) practices (i.e., green training and development, and green performance management) and organizational citizenship behavior towards environment (OCBE).

Using a paper-pencil survey, the authors collected data from 170 middle-tier officers working in cement industry of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling technique was applied for data analysis through Smart-PLS.

Results indicated that GHRM practices significantly influence OCBE and green absorptive capacity partially mediates the relationship between GHRM practices and OCBE.

This study offers new theoretical and practical insights by empirically investigating the mediating role of green absorptive capacity between GHRM practices and OCBE through the lens of AMO theory. Furthermore, this study contributed in disclosing the predictors of OCBE through intervening mechanism in manufacturing sector of developing country for sustainable outcomes.