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1 – 10 of 431Lipeng Pan, Yongqing Li, Xiao Fu and Chyi Lin Lee
This paper aims to explore the pathways of carbon transfer in 200 US corporations along with the motivations that drive such transfers. The particular focus is on each firm’s…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the pathways of carbon transfer in 200 US corporations along with the motivations that drive such transfers. The particular focus is on each firm’s embeddedness in the global value chain (GVC) and the influence of environmental law, operational costs and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The insights gleaned bridge a gap in the literature surrounding GVCs and corporate carbon transfer.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology comprised a two-step research approach. First, the authors used a two-sided fixed regression to analyse the relationship between each firm’s embeddedness in the GVC and its carbon transfers. The sample consisted of 217 US firms. Next, the authors examined the influence of environmental law, operational costs and CSR on carbon transfers using a quantitative comparison analysis. These results were interpreted through the theoretical frameworks of the GVC and legitimacy theory.
Findings
The empirical results indicate positive relationships between carbon transfers and GVC embeddedness in terms of both a firm’s position and its degree. From the quantitative comparison, the authors find that the pressure of environmental law and operational costs motivate these transfers through the value chain. Furthermore, CSR does not help to mitigate transfers.
Practical implications
The findings offer insights for policymakers, industry and academia to understand that, with globalised production and greater value creation, transferring carbon to different parts of the GVC – largely to developing countries – will only become more common. The underdeveloped nature of environmental technology in these countries means that global emissions will likely rise instead of fall, further exacerbating global warming. Transferring carbon is not conducive to a sustainable global economy. Hence, firms should be closely regulated and given economic incentives to reduce emissions, not simply shunt them off to the developing world.
Social implications
Carbon transfer is a major obstacle to effectively reducing carbon emissions. The responsibilities of carbon transfer via GVCs are difficult to define despite firms being a major consideration in such transfers. Understanding how and why corporations engage in carbon transfers can facilitate global cooperation among communities. This knowledge could pave the way to establishing a global carbon transfer monitoring network aimed at preventing corporate carbon transfer and, instead, encouraging emissions reduction.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature by investigating carbon transfers and the GVC at the firm level. The authors used two-step research approach including panel data and quantitative comparison analysis to address this important question. The authors are the primary study to explore the motivation and pathways by which firms transfer carbon through the GVC.
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Majid Mohammad Shafiee, Merrill Warkentin and Setare Motamed
This study aims to investigate the key roles of human and relational capital in the export orientation and competitiveness of knowledge-intensive cooperative companies. It is also…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the key roles of human and relational capital in the export orientation and competitiveness of knowledge-intensive cooperative companies. It is also aimed to examine the moderating role of marketing knowledge capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 552 managers at 86 companies, selected from knowledge-intensive export cooperatives, were analyzed with structural equation modeling with the partial least squares approach.
Findings
Results indicate that both human and relational capital exert considerable effects on competitiveness. Export orientation was a driving factor for cooperatives’ competitiveness. Human and relational capital fostered the effects of export orientation on competitiveness. Moreover, marketing knowledge capabilities were found to moderate the relationships between human and relational capital and export orientation, as well as between export orientation and competitiveness.
Originality/value
By highlighting the role of human capital and relational capital in export orientation and competitiveness, this study offers an analysis of important managerial processes within cooperative companies, which have not been sufficiently addressed in previous research. This research also demonstrated the moderating role of marketing knowledge capabilities in strengthening relationships between human and relational capital and export orientation, as well as between export orientation and competitiveness, which has been neglected in previous studies. These findings provide academics and practitioners with a new framework for examining the relationships between these constructs, which will enable them to establish strategies for achieving a competitive advantage.
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Jinliang Chen, Guoli Liu and Yu Wang
The purpose of this paper is to examine the nuanced effects of downstream complexity on supply chain resilience, based on portfolio theory and normal accident theory. Intelligent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the nuanced effects of downstream complexity on supply chain resilience, based on portfolio theory and normal accident theory. Intelligent manufacturing is considered to clarify their boundary conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The ordinary least squares regression was conducted, based on the data collected from 136 high-tech firms in China.
Findings
Horizontal downstream complexity has a positive effect on supply chain resilience significantly, while the negative impact of vertical downstream complexity on supply chain resilience is not significant. Contingently, intelligent manufacturing plays a negative moderating role in the relationship between horizontal downstream complexity and supply chain resilience, while it positively moderates the relationship between vertical downstream complexity and supply chain resilience.
Originality/value
This study disentangles the nuanced effects of both horizontal and vertical downstream complexity on supply chain resilience, based on portfolio theory and normal accident theory. It also clarifies their boundary conditions by considering the focal firm's intelligent manufacturing level as the contingent factor.
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Filip Flankegård, Glenn Johansson and Anna Granlund
This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast these with the factors identified from the customer perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple case study approach was used, including four companies. Data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews, six workshops and documents.
Findings
A model is presented that merges this study’s nine identified critical factors with seven critical factors from the customer perspective. The model provides a dual perspective of supplier involvement in product development, wherein the supplier and customer perspectives are concurrently addressed. Some factors are unique for the supplier, but several mirror those on the customer side.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on data from SME suppliers in Northern Europe. As it is expected that SME companies are more constrained by limited resources, future studies could study critical factors at larger suppliers.
Practical implications
Customers and suppliers having insights about the critical factors can provide better conditions for product development for the other actor; for example, when evaluating customer–supplier integration.
Originality/value
The presented model of critical factors provides a more nuanced picture of supplier involvement in product development as prior research has been biased toward the customer perspective. This study emphasizes the importance of contextual information that has been unnoticed in the literature.
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Gregor Pfajfar, Maciej Mitręga and Aviv Shoham
In this paper, the authors aim to introduce international dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMCs) theoretically derived from marketing capabilities (MCs), dynamic marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors aim to introduce international dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMCs) theoretically derived from marketing capabilities (MCs), dynamic marketing capabilities (DMCs) and international marketing capabilities (IMCs) and provide a novel conceptualization of the concept by applying a holistic view of the international enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a literature review that maps the current research on MCs, DMCs and IMCs and serves as a basis for the theoretical conceptualization of a novel IDMCs concept as well as for the identification of research gaps and the development of future research directions on this phenomenon.
Findings
Existing typologies of MCs, DMCs and IMCs are classified into four categories: strategic, operational, analytical and value creation capabilities. A new typology of IDMCs is proposed, consisting of digital MC and dynamic internationalization capability as strategic capabilities, agile IMC, IM excellence and absorptive capability in IM as operational capabilities, IM resilience capability, IM knowledge management capability, AI-enabled IDMC and Industry 4.0-enabled IDMC as analytical capabilities, and ambidextrous IM innovation capability as value creation capability. Finally, the authors identify research gaps and develop research questions that open future research avenues for the coming years.
Originality/value
This paper offers a novel view of MCs, DMCs and IMCs and argues that, in contrast to the majority of previous research, a comprehensive understanding of these is only possible if all levels are considered simultaneously: the strategic, the operational, the analytical and the value creation level. A new conceptualization and typology of IDMCs follows this logic.
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I aimed to obtain a deeper insight into the link between supplier involvement in product development (SIPD), supplier relationship resilience and company performance.
Abstract
Purpose
I aimed to obtain a deeper insight into the link between supplier involvement in product development (SIPD), supplier relationship resilience and company performance.
Design/methodology/approach
To collect data, a survey among 500 Polish manufacturing companies was conducted. I used quantitative methods (structural equation modeling) to test several research hypotheses referring to a single supplier–customer relationship. Thanks to the use of multi-construct measurement of SIPD and supplier relationship resilience, the study provides detailed research results on the topic.
Findings
Collaborative practices implemented during SIPD increase procurement flexibility and decrease redundancy in the relationship with the involved supplier. Communication during SIPD increases supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Increased supplier flexibility and increased procurement flexibility in the relationship with the involved supplier as well as collaborative practices during SIPD positively impact company performance. I confirmed the indirect effect between communication during SIPD and company performance when the mediators are supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Decreased redundancy in relationship with involved supplier does not impact company performance.
Practical implications
Supply chain managers need to rethink SIPD practice to effectively ensure supply chain resilience (SCRES), especially in the face of the contemporary global crisis and black swans affecting the supplier base. My article provides important managerial insights into drivers of SCRES and company performance.
Originality/value
To the best of my knowledge, this research is among the first to conclude that SIPD does not have an unequivocally positive or direct impact on supplier relationship resilience. The research fills the gap by analyzing the impact of SIPD on two main SCRES elements. The study examines supplier relationship resilience, understood as flexibility and redundancy elements, in a single supplier–buyer relationship perspective. Thus, the presented considerations go beyond the traditional understanding of flexibility and redundancy in supplier relationship management, that is through the prism of double or multi sourcing and having back up-suppliers.
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Arifin Angriawan, Ramendra Thakur and David Baker
The purpose of this study is to understand the strategic roles of service customer equity (SCE) and innovation protection on firm performance (FP).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the strategic roles of service customer equity (SCE) and innovation protection on firm performance (FP).
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed model. The authors tested the model using managerial data from two countries: USA and India.
Findings
The findings of this study indicated positive direct impacts of service innovation (SI) on FP and positive indirect impacts via SCE in both samples. SI and SCE impacts on FP were both stronger in the US samples. However, the effect of SI on SCE is stronger in India than in the USA. This study also identified moderating impacts of service innovation protection (SIP) on the relationship between SI and FP in the Indian sample and between SI and SCE in the US sample.
Originality/value
Although there is scholarly research in SI and its impact on FP, there are no studies the authors identified that discuss the moderating effect of SIP. The authors studied the moderating effect of SIP because (1) it is crucial for industries to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, (2) it protects industries investment in research and development and (3) it also protects industries intellectual property, such as trademark, copyrights and patents. There are two key contributions of this study: (a) investigating the effect of SCE between SI and FP and (b) investigating the moderating effect of SIP using managerial data from two countries (USA vs India).
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Evelyn Lopez, Jose A. Flecha-Ortiz, Maria Santos-Corrada and Virgin Dones
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the importance of understanding how these businesses can become…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the importance of understanding how these businesses can become more resilient and how service innovation can be an effective strategy to increase their adaptive capacity and survival. This study aims to examine the role of dynamic capabilities in service innovation as a factor explaining the resilience of SMEs in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic during the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on service innovation. Additionally, the authors assess whether service innovation has a significant impact on value cocreation in these businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a quantitative method by surveying 118 SME owners in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The data were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results reflect important theoretical contributions by analyzing resilience from an innovation perspective instead of a retrospective approach, which is an area that has not been analyzed in the literature. Additionally, theoretical contributions to marketing services in SMEs are discussed, which is an underresearched topic. The results advance by discussing the role of service innovation through the reconfiguration of resources and how this can be an effective strategy to increase value cocreation with customers during crises.
Originality/value
This study is original in that it analyzes resilience from the perspective of innovation, and not from a retrospective approach. It offers a vision in response to the need for studies that provide a clearer conceptualization of resilience in small businesses. This highlights the importance of considering regional differences and service innovation as effective strategies to enhance resilience and value cocreation with customers.
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Christian Kowalkowski, Jochen Wirtz and Michael Ehret
Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to identify key service- and digital technology-driven B2B innovation modes and proposes a research agenda for further exploration.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper adopts a techno-demarcation view on service innovation, encompassing three core dimensions: service offering (the service product, or the “what”), service process (the “how”) and service ecosystem (the “who/for whom”). It delineates the implications of three digital technologies – the internet-of-things (IoT), intelligent automation (IA) and digital platforms – for service innovation across these core dimensions in B2B markets.
Findings
Digital technology has immense potential ramifications for value creation by reshaping all three core dimensions of service innovation. Specifically, IoT can transform physical resources into reconfigurable service products, IA can augment and automate a rapidly expanding array of service processes, while digital platforms provide the technical and organizational infrastructure for the integration of resources and stakeholders within service ecosystems.
Originality/value
This study suggests an agenda with six themes for further research, each linked to one or more of the three service innovation dimensions. They are (1) new recurring revenue models, (2) service innovation in the metaverse, (3) scaling up service innovations, (4) ecosystem innovations, (5) power dependency and lock-in effects and (6) security and responsibility in digital domains.
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It Nguyen Van, Anna Kotaskova, Alberto Ferraris and Thanh Tiep Le
This study investigates the impact of human capital (managers' capital, employees' capital) and orientation (market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation) for accelerating the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the impact of human capital (managers' capital, employees' capital) and orientation (market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation) for accelerating the digitalization process and improving the firm performance. It also studies the role of supply chains as both direct and indirect mediators of the correlation between digitalization and business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This article aims to develop an empirical study using a random sampling technique and survey data collected from 368 managers and owners of different food enterprises in Vietnam. The study adopted a methodological approach quantitatively. Analysis of the relationships and confirmatory factors was performed using structural equation modeling (SEM), a technique to evaluate the proposed relationships.
Findings
In line with expectations, the findings emphasize the impact of human capital (managers' capital, employees' capital) and orientation (market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation) for accelerating the digitalization process and the role of supply chains as both direct and indirect mediators of the correlation between digitalization and improving the firm performance, in the context of emerging markets.
Originality/value
This is an important investigation, according to the authors' knowledge, regarding the role of developing human capital (managers' capital, employees' capital) and orientation (market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation) as a key strategy for accelerating the digitalization process and improving the firm performance. Further, the study's novelty reinforces the role of supply chains as both direct and indirect mediators of the correlation between digitalization and business performance in the Vietnamese food companies, where a market economy is emerging.
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