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The purpose of this paper is to explore how two mega-trends, e-commerce and urbanization, have the potential to reshape logistics practices around the world. Primary focus is on how Chinese business practices and logistics innovations are increasingly relevant to the USA and other western countries.

Experience-based thought piece focusing on specific Chinese logistics innovations centering on speed, adaptability and new business models.

The Chinese economy has played a key role in providing support and enabling logistics innovations in China. Key enablers include the ubiquitous connectivity and applications availability, the dynamic low-cost labor environment and government support for the Chinese logistics industry.

This study suggests new areas for research.

This study provides insights into the potential value associated with adopting innovative Chinese logistics practices.

This study provides suggested areas of attention to help focus on logistics operations on key societal trends.

Our paper provides insights into the potential value associated with adopting innovative Chinese logistics practices. We believe this represents a significant contribution as little coverage of the topics have been noted to date in leading logistics/supply chain journals.

In 2020, the logistics market in Malaysia was valued at USD 37.60 billion, and it is projected to grow to more than USD 55.0 billion by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 4%. However, more information is needed about the impact of green logistic practice determinants by the local SMEs on the market share. This study serves as a focal point by examining the factors involved by offering a conceptual framework of determinants and their potential outcomes. This study contributes by demonstrating a conceptual, theoretical framework derived from the synthesis of two theory such as the Resource-Based View theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. At the same time, it offers a holistic approach with an in-depth understanding of the Technological and Organizational factors of SMEs. The relationship between the implementation of green practices and organizational performance is also explored.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental sustainability practices of third-party logistics providers (TPLs) in a developing country and analyze the efforts made by TPLs to implement green practices through a case study of Moroccan TPLs.

This qualitative case study of Moroccan TPLs was conducted using an interview guide.

The findings indicate that the internal and external drivers motivate TPLs to implement green practices while internal and external obstacles hinder them. The authors identified two groups of TPLs, each with a specific environmental sustainability approach. The results indicate also that environmental sustainability is at an early stage of development in Moroccan TPLs. Based on these findings, the authors were able to develop several propositions for further research. It is suggested that TPLs market coverage can influence positively their green initiative; the lack of collaboration and partners involvement hinders TPLs environmental initiatives; and the lack of clear environmental strategy limits TPLs environmental sustainability initiatives.

This study has some limitations that provide future research opportunities. Because this study is qualitative, further statistical support is needed to justify wider generalization of its findings. The possibility of generalizing the present findings to countries beyond Morocco is limited by the fact that data were collected exclusively there. Studies might therefore do well to investigate TPLs in developing countries other than Morocco to increase the external validity of the results. Also, the research could be expanded by taking into account how shippers or client companies collaborate with TPLs to improve sustainability initiatives.

The results can be used to inform companies about environmental sustainability initiatives that have been implemented or to identify practices that can be adopted.

The relevant literature has centered on advanced countries, and few studies have been conducted in the logistics market. Research on the sustainable initiatives of TPLs in developing countries in general and African countries in particular is sparse. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the sustainable practices of TPLs in Morocco.

This study aims to examine management attitude and awareness towards green logistics, explores the external conditions that drive and restrict its positive behaviour, investigates the level of its adoption amongst logistics service providers (LSPs) and determines the major barriers affecting its application in the industry.

This research investigates the key decision-making process on green logistics attitude and behaviour through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis.

This study explores both institutional and individual-level attitudes/awareness. Then, the driving and restraining forces and the challenges that influence the industry’s adoption of green initiatives are determined. Finally, this study constructs a framework following a behavioural driving route with interactions among green “attitude”, sustainable “subjective norms”, “behavioural control” and “external context” factors.

Findings can enlighten the practitioners who are struggling to adopt the green or low-carbon practice and provide valuable insights and constructive advice to LSPs and their stakeholders.

Findings can draw the government and policy-makers’ attention to provide necessary financial or non-financial support for the practitioners to improve their green operations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to adopt the hybrid theoretical lens on the green behaviour of the logistics industry. New insights are added to existing environmental management literature with a wider understanding and deeper investigation of the decision-making on green logistics in the industry. The theoretical framework in this study can offer future applications to a relevant large-scale study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between logistics park platforms, logistics location and operational performance. Relationship analysis helps managers respond to the changes that today’s logistics companies face, which include limited resources and facilities, market uncertainties and financial instabilities.

A structured questionnaire is developed based on the resource-based view. Qualitative data collected from 273 companies in China are used in a structural equation model to test the conceptual model.

In logistics parks, logistics park platforms and location positively influence companies’ resource integration, which is positively related to operational performance. While logistics park platforms can improve operational performance directly, logistics location cannot. Resource integration is thus a full mediator between logistics location and operational performance, while it is a partial mediator between logistics park platforms and operational performance.

This study fills a gap in the literature on logistics parks, particularly on the relationships among operational performance, resource integration, logistics park platforms and the location of logistics parks in China. The authors provide guidelines for logistics park managers to organize their resources and develop capabilities for improving the operational performance of companies in logistics parks.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different logistics resources and resource patterns, such as logistics infrastructure, logistics location, logistics knowledge and logistics information, affect logistics capabilities and operational performance.

Based on data collected from 273 companies in China, this study examines impacts of individual logistics resource dimensions on resource integration capability, customer service capability and operational performance through contingency approach. Furthermore, three logistics resource patterns are identified and linked with resource integration capability and operational performance through configuration approach.

Contingency results show that different logistics resources have different impacts on resource integration capability and operational performance. Configuration results reveal that companies’ capabilities and operational performance vary for different logistics resource patterns: the high-uniform pattern has a better resource integration capability and operational performance than other patterns, while all logistics resource patterns have similar customer service capability levels.

Future studies should examine other resource capabilities and performance indicators of companies and extend this study to other countries and regions.

This study contributes to the logistics resource literature through empirically investigating relationships among logistics resources, resource integration capability and operational performance using contingency approach, and through identifying different logistics resource patterns based on configuration approach. The findings extend the logistics resource literature, particularly on research of logistics parks in China.

Green human resource management (HRM) has been considered to be a vitally important mechanism for companies to move towards a sustainable organization. By adopting the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity as the underpinning theory, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that facilitate the adoption of Green HRM in Malaysia.

A qualitative exploratory approach research was adopted in this study. The required data for this study were collected using semi-structured face-to-face interviews with human resources directors and managers from four large manufacturing companies in Malaysia. The data collected was then reorganized into four themes.

Based on the interview, four key factors that influence the adoption of Green HRM include stakeholder pressures, relative advantage, which means the perceived benefits from implementing Green HRM, top management commitment and green intellectual capital, which means the intellectual capital incorporating green innovation or environmental management. Surprisingly, among the three dimensions of green intellectual capital, only green human capital and green structural capital were greatly discussed by the human resources directors and managers, while the role of green relational capital on the adoption of Green HRM was hardly observed.

Research studies on Green HRM in Malaysia are scarce. The originality of this paper lies in its exploration of Green HRM in an environmental sensitive sector and the insight it provides to academics and practitioners involved in the manufacturing sector. Although research findings cannot be generalized, they can be used as insights for both academics and end-users in emerging economies.

This study examines the factors of sustainable technology adoption (STA) in the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry and its impact on the environmental performance and other firm performances. Mainly, this study adopts stakeholder theory and hypothesizes necessary conditions to examine different stakeholders’ roles to facilitate STA and ameliorate firm performances such as environmental, financial and competitive advantages.

It is an empirical study which collected 240 responses from Bangladeshi apparel firms. Garment factories were considered as the unit of analysis.

Customer pressure, top management, competition among firms and government support significantly and positively impact STA. Surprisingly, regulatory pressure has no significant impact on the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry, which contradicts most existing literature in the field. The findings show that sustainable technology brings increased simultaneously enhances environmental outcomes and enhances financial performances and competitive advantage.

This study fills up the voids that exist in the STA literature in the clothing industry in the clothing industry’s STA literature. Specifically, western buyers have more influence than regulatory pressure to adopt sustainable technology and sustainable manufacturing for the Bangladeshi garments industry. Moreover, it proposes that sustainable technology can enhance firms’ competitive advantage in selling their products in the West besides environmental-friendly apparel manufacturers.

Whilst green distribution alternatives for consumers have the potential to decrease environmental impact from logistics, retailers struggle to provide such alternatives. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the factors that hinder retailers from offering green distribution alternatives to consumers.

The paper relies on a multiple case-study of three cases, with one retailer constituting each case. Semi-structured interviews with seven respondents and visits to the retailers' checkouts were used for data collection.

The offering of green distribution alternatives is a complex task for retailers, with barriers related to six categories (organisational, financial, retailer-logistic service provider (LSP) market, retailer-consumer market, governmental and technological barriers) obstructing the way forward. A process towards offering green distribution services, including barriers and potential mitigation strategies, is suggested.

The study is limited to a Swedish context, and further research could consider how barriers would manifest themselves in countries with other characteristics.

A framework with barriers and mitigation strategies offers guidance for managers within e-commerce.

The greening of logistics is an important quest towards world-wide sustainability goals, and this paper contributes with an increased understanding of how to decrease environmental impact from e-commerce distribution.

The paper is one of few that takes the consumer side of the greening of logistics into account, thus contributing with valuable perspectives to this scarce body of literature.

Drawing on institution embeddedness and the resource-based view, the authors develop a theoretical framework and empirically examine how intra-national innovation ecosystems and environmental institutions impact logistics service providers' (LSPs) technological innovation (TI) and green practices.

The authors test the theoretical framework based on survey data of 328 Chinese LSPs. Archival datasets complement the survey data.

The research reveals that intra-national institutional forces of formal and informal environment-related institutions can mitigate LSPs' reliance on their firm-specific advantages when engaging in TI and green practices. Results from a three-way interaction indicate that intra-national innovation ecosystems positively moderate the effects of environmental institutions.

The research has three critical implications. First, the study reveals the contingency role of intra-national environment-related institutions and innovation ecosystems in shaping green logistics. Second, the study finds new results about the roles of informal environmental institutions. Finally, intra-national innovation ecosystems can override environmental institutions in influencing the green practices of LSPs.

Taking a unique angle of institution embeddedness coupled with the resource-based view, the authors examined how intra-national ecosystems and environmental institutions impact LSPs' TI and green practices.