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The purpose of this research is to determine how supply chain management (SCM) might be less affected by COVID-19 by using innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), eco-friendly corporate practices and other digital advancements. It strongly emphasizes the use of technology to improve supply networks’ and Omani firms’ performance.

Using a mixed-methods research strategy, this study integrates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It involves a survey and interviews with supply chain and IT managers from various industries in Oman to gather data and evaluate the impact of technology on SCM.

This study finds that IoT capabilities, smart technologies (STs) and green practices significantly mitigate COVID-19 impacts on SCM. The performance of the supply chain and the business are both improved by these technologies’ positive effects on integrating various supply chain elements, such as suppliers, internal processes and customer relations.

The main constraint of this study is its concentration on businesses in Oman, potentially restricting the applicability of its findings to broader contexts. Future studies could investigate similar frameworks across various geographic and industry settings.

The findings suggest that incorporating STs into SCM is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency and resilience against disruptions such as COVID-19. This offers valuable insights for managers and policymakers in adopting technology-driven strategies for SCM.

This study highlights the significant role of technology in sustaining supply chains during pandemics, thereby supporting economic stability and societal well-being. It underscores the importance of technological advancements in maintaining supply chain continuity in challenging times.

By empirically examining the effect of emerging technologies on enhancing SCM in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in the Oman market, this research makes a unique contribution to the body of knowledge.

This study attempts to explore the linkages between reliable big and cloud data analytics capabilities (RB&CDACs) and the comparative advantage (CA) that applies in the manufacturing sector in the countries located in North Africa (NA). These are considered developing countries through generating green product innovation (GPI) and using green process innovations (GPrLs) in their processes and functions as mediating factors, as well as the moderating role of data-driven competitive sustainability (DDCS).

To achieve the aim of this study, 346 useable surveys out of 1,601 were analyzed, and valid responses were retrieved for analysis, representing a 21.6% response rate by applying the quantitative methodology for collecting primary data. Convergent validity and discriminant validity tests were applied to structural equation modeling (SEM) in the CB-covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) program, and the data reliability was confirmed. Additionally, a multivariate analysis technique was used via CB-SEM, as hypothesized relationships were evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and then the hypotheses were tested through a structural model. Further, a bootstrapping technique was used to analyze the data. We included GPI and GPrI as mediating factors, while using DDCS as a moderated factor.

The empirical findings indicated that the proposed moderated-mediation model was accepted due to the relationships between the constructs being statistically significant. Further, the findings showed that there is a significant positive effect in the relationship between reliable BCDA capabilities and CAs as well as a mediating effect of GPI and GPrI, which is supported by the proposed formulated hypothesis. Additionally, the findings confirmed that there is a moderating effect represented by data-driven competitive advantage suitability between GPI, GPrI and CA.

One of the main limitations of this study is that an applied cross-sectional study provides a snapshot at a given moment in time. Furthermore, it used only one type of methodological approach (i.e. quantitative) rather than using mixed methods to reach more accurate data.

This study developed a theoretical model that is obtained from reliable BCDA capabilities, CA, DDCS, green innovation and GPrI. Thus, this piece of work bridges the existing research gap in the literature by testing the moderated-mediation model with a focus on the manufacturing sector that benefits from big data analytics capabilities to improve levels of GPI and competitive advantage. Finally, this study is considered a road map and gaudiness for the importance of applying these factors, which offers new valuable information and findings for managers, practitioners and decision-makers in the manufacturing sector in the NA region.

The purpose of this paper is to shed some new light on the entrepreneurial finance of green start-ups, for which there has been little quantitative empirical evidence thus far. It explores what challenges green start-ups might experience when it comes to financial access.

The paper includes a survey of start-ups in Finland, Germany and Sweden and the separate evaluation of the “greenness” of participating companies’ product/service portfolios based on Eurostat’s Environmental Goods and Service Sector classification. A logistic regression is carried out for different company phases for two measures of challenges (“difficulty accessing finance” and “rejection by investor/funder”).

Green start-ups as an overall group cannot be said to have more challenges in access to finance. Particularly, a lack in business education and a high level of innovativeness, however, seem to be lead to more challenges for green start-ups in accessing finance compared to other start-ups.

Further research might seek to identify which exact characteristics of innovative green start-ups lead to challenges in financial access, i.e. is it individual factors such as high risk levels, high investment sums, long development periods or a low return prospect – or is it rather a combination? It might, furthermore, be rewarding to investigate whether “interventions” of business-related training might reduce challenges.

Suggestions are made for improved policy support to sustainable entrepreneurship in the case of green start-ups.

This research paper provides quantitative empirical analysis in a new research area, which has previously been predominantly theory based with some anecdotal observations as well as some early qualitative research.

The purpose of this paper is to widen the knowledge base on supply chain learning by exploring and explaining how an enterprise can compete and win in the international market by integrating quality management practices along its supply chain and, above all, by becoming the coordinator in a supply chain learning (SCL) network.

The authors conducted an exploratory case study on a group operating in the coffee market that is universally recognised for the high quality of its products: illycaffè.

This paper illustrates and explains how the illycaffè Group implements, competes and wins in the international market because of its exemplary business strategies, its focus on the competitive priority of quality, and consistent and integrated supply chain management practices that are sustained by an innovative approach: the diffusion of knowledge, know‐how and a culture of excellence in coffee quality along the entire value chain. The authors find that the diffusion of a culture of quality orients supply chain learning towards the continuous improvement of product and service quality, and above all, improves results by encouraging an emergent behaviour across different actors that creates a shared culture.

The exploratory nature and use of a single case study are the major limitations of this research. Nevertheless, this study may serve as a significant starting point for future research and analysis related to supply chain learning strategies.

The illycaffè case study contributes to the literature on quality management and on supply chain management suggesting how an enterprise can improve product and service quality using a sustainable SCL strategy based on knowledge/know‐how diffusion and a shared culture along the entire supply chain.

The interface between logistics service providers (LSPs) and shippers is an area that has received little attention in previous research and even less has been done when environmental issues are added to this interface. Nonetheless, the perception among researchers and the industry is that in many instances, supply and demand in this green interface does not coincide. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to identify the matches and gaps between LSPs' green supply and the shippers' green demand.

This paper is based on a web‐based survey sent out to Swedish LSPs and shippers. A gap analysis based on mean values and confidence intervals was conducted.

Findings indicate that the LSPs overachieve when it comes to green categories and also that they are aware of this situation. Shippers, on the other hand, interestingly are not aware of this and they seem satisfied with what they perceive is offered by LSPs.

Contrary to previous research, the paper specifies matches and gaps in the green LSP‐shipper interface. As the survey covered actors in the Swedish market, future research would benefit from similar analyses from other countries.

The findings are of use for LSPs' understanding of shippers' environmental demands, and thereby enable them to adapt better to market demand. Similarly, shippers can use the findings to understand green supply and possibly change their demands accordingly.

This paper adds to the knowledge of the green LSP‐shipper interface. Furthermore, it uses gap analysis, which appears to be something not previously done within environmental logistics research.

Globalization has led worldwide organizations to balance their economic and environmental performances in order to achieve a concrete sustainable development. In an environmental centered world, logistics is called to put into action advanced programs based on technological and organizational improvement, in order to gain or maintain a concrete competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how logistics organizations try to face the recent ecological challenges and the role that the emergent green technologies play in making them finally “green” and competitive.

Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices have been investigated to better understand their influence on economic performance and corporate competitiveness. After providing a background discussion on Green Logistics and GSCM, the authors have also identified specific research questions that are worthy of investigation, also thorough the DHL case study. The case study analysis has been conducted according to a specific conceptual model (Rao and Holt, 2005), which allows a deeper understanding of literature review results.

The present paper offers some insights on innovation influence on supply chain management (SCM) greenness, a process oriented to a sustainable and environmental-friendly approach to management of supply chain. According to DHL case study evidence, in logistics innovation, often based on emerging green technologies, is strictly related to the development of a much more sustainable and environment-friendly approach to SCM, based on reduction of core activities’ ecological impact, cost saving, quality, reliability, performance and energy efficiency. In this context, the respect of environmental regulations is fundamental to achieve not only a reduction of ecological damage, but also to overall economic profit.

There is a concrete need of further research to better understand the potential link between GSCM, green innovation and logistic organizations competitiveness. In fact, this research area still represents a source of interesting challenges for practitioners, academicians and researchers. Concluding, the research findings cannot be generalized to all logistic organizations, even if DHL is on of the most important and globalized logistic companies. Future researches should empirically test the achieved results also through comparative studies based on a large sample.

The suggestion of literature review and the result of case study analysis represent a first attempt to better understand the real and potential influence of GSCM on corporate image and competitiveness. In fact, the present investigation has pointed out that logistic organization can achieve environmental goals and acquire a better positioning than their competitors also cooperating with stakeholders. Therefore, it is necessary that organizations contribute to make them able to participate in corporate activities and develop a concrete environmental-friendly orientation, based on the respect of market’s requests and environmental regulations in order to get their corporate reputation strong than ever.

To obtain a competitive advantage in the logistics market, international express companies should design services to stimulate customers’ usage intention by understanding customers’ affective perceptions (or in Japanese, Kansei) of the service offerings. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships among the service elements of international express, customer Kansei perceptions, and intentions to use the service, to provide new ideas for the design of international express services (IESs).

By using Kansei engineering approach, customers’ Kansei perceptions related to elements of IES are first determined, and the logistic regression technique is then used to analyze three constructed models based on the relationships among the service elements of international express, customers’ Kansei perceptions, and usage intention.

Accordingly, five critical service elements that correspond to four vital Kansei words related to usage intention were obtained based on cross-comparisons of the results of three models. The findings have important implications for international express managers, in that the priorities in designing services should be those service elements that favorably elicit certain Kansei perceptions among customers and effectively lead to customers’ usage intention in the pre-purchase phase. Moreover, some important missing Kansei perceptions further derived from customers’ real service experiences in the post-purchase stage should be incorporated into future design considerations.

This study incorporated customers’ Kansei perceptions into the procedure of IES design. By understanding the service elements and feelings that customers deem important, international express companies can improve the content of existing services and strengthen the design of new services to increase customers’ behavioral intentions.

The purpose of the study is to develop an in-depth understanding of how supplier–buyer relationships, particularly in operational coordination, are affected when a company introduces an environmental sustainability target (CO₂ emissions reduction) into its supply chain operations. The investigation focuses on the joint activities of the logistics function of the company (buyer) and the third-party logistics providers (3PLs) (suppliers).

This single-case study takes the perspective of a sustainability-conscious Danish company that outsources logistics services to 3PLs but maintains internal logistics as a boundary function. The value offering point/order penetration point (VOP/OPP) methodology is used.

The results showed that the introduction of sustainability led to the emergence of multiple decoupling points in both the demand and the supply chains. The logistics function therefore began to play the role of “integrator” across both the functions in the company and the organizations in the supply chain. The findings indicate the need to develop clear cross-functional and inter-organizational coordination mechanisms.

This is a single-case study in a Danish context.

The study provides rich insights into managing the implementation of sustainability in supply chain operations, and it exemplifies how the VOP/OPP tool can be applied by 3PLs to develop sustainable offerings.

The current research on sustainable supply chain management takes into account the entire supply chain. In contrast, this study focuses on the logistics function. The VOP/OPP concept is used to capture the processes used in actual practice, and both the buyer and the supplier are considered potential co-producers of value.

This paper aims to understand the specific role of value chain flexibility (VCF) in the strategies of green service production (GSP) in healthcare. The study explores the key dimensions of VCF and their linkages with the current GSP strategies in healthcare firms.

The study uses an exploratory case study with three representative national-level healthcare firms in India. A multiple case study methodology was utilized to explore the relationships between GSP and VCF.

The findings of the study suggest that several strategies for GSP require the support of multiple dimensions of VCF. More importantly, the role of each dimension of VCF depends upon the innovativeness of green service design, green procurement and green service practices.

The study was conducted in the emerging healthcare market of India. Thus, the generalizability of the framework needs to be tested in another context. The study reports the employee's perception, and the patients’ (customers) views were not included.

The study is a first step to understand the theoretical perspectives of the relationships between GSP and VCF by exploring the underlying concepts. Furthermore, the study explicates the dynamics of their interplay in a systematic way and contributes to a framework of GSP and VCF in the healthcare context.

The objective of this chapter is to illustrate how globalization affects labor mobility and work. The impact of globalization ranges from a profound restructuring of productive agriculture and rural labor markets to the forms through which production and labor are controlled – including the internal and external systems of food quality and safety standardization. These aspects require a broad readaptation and modernization of food distribution models and the standardization of technical principles. In the sector of local food distribution, these changes have significantly affected the lives of those involved, especially in terms of increased competitiveness and the escalation of the demands associated with the enhancement of the quality of products. Moreover, accelerated technological innovations, such as information technology, have facilitated the compression of time and space and shaped forms of social resistance. In this scenario, the reduction of logistic costs in the production and distribution of commodities has become one of the fundamental conditions for the viability of large companies. This is more the case for industries that deal with highly perishable produce such as fresh food. Through an analysis of the perspectives of workers in the refrigerated cargo industry, the chapter illustrates the pressure that fall upon the individual routine of those involved in this field and the ensuing changes in this sector's operating standards. The study was conducted in the city of Recife, in the northeastern portion of Brazil.