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Article
Publication date: 1 May 2007

Purba Rao

The greening of the supply chain initiative, as implemented by world‐class ISO 14001 certified companies, has already demonstrated how much it contributes towards greening the…

1560

Abstract

The greening of the supply chain initiative, as implemented by world‐class ISO 14001 certified companies, has already demonstrated how much it contributes towards greening the industry of the region they operate in. The SMEs have been involved in such a green supply chain only to the extent of their participation as suppliers, distributors and in other capacities as business partners complementing the world‐class companies. All the same, in many regions, the environmental initiatives taken by the SMEs do conform to the different phases of the green supply chain. This study investigates if in the Philippine context this postulate is indeed true, and with the help of an empirical survey, establishes that the SME population in the Philippines do indeed carry out different phases of the green supply chain, though in a heterogeneous manner. This would be indeed expected given the heterogeneity in size and nature of business for SMEs in this region.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 February 2018

Syed Asif Raza and Mohd. Nishat Faisal

This paper aims to develop efficient decision support tools for a firm’s environment protection by using greening effort while yet improving profitability by utilizing pricing and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop efficient decision support tools for a firm’s environment protection by using greening effort while yet improving profitability by utilizing pricing and inventory decisions with discount consideration.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposed a mathematical model for price- and greening effort-dependent demand rate with discount considerations. Later, the mathematical model is extended to the situation in which the demand rate is also dependent on the stock level, in addition to the price and greening effort. Efficient solution methodologies are developed for finding the optimal solution to the proposed models.

Findings

Simple yet elegant models are proposed to mimic real-life applications. Structural properties of the models are explored to outline efficient algorithms with quantity discounts.

Research limitations/implications

The paper considers monopoly and assumes deterministic demand. Only a more commonly observed all-units discount scheme is studied.

Practical implications

The models provide decision support tools for firms in pursuit of joint profit maximization and environment consciousness goals.

Social implications

The study develops environment-friendly approaches for inventory management and improving the profitability alike.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to consider environmental protection with an investment in greening effort along with inventory management and pricing decision. The study also explored the effect of all-unit quantity discounts.

Details

Journal of Modelling in Management, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5664

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Article
Publication date: 18 August 2021

Andrew Ebekozien, Solomon Oisasoje Ayo-Odifiri, Angeline Ngozika Chibuike Nwaole, Aginah Lawrence Ibeabuchi and Felix Ebholo Uwadia

The high consumption of energy by buildings may have enhanced land degradation, flooding, air pollution and many other hazardous environmental issues. However, green practices in…

Abstract

Purpose

The high consumption of energy by buildings may have enhanced land degradation, flooding, air pollution and many other hazardous environmental issues. However, green practices in buildings have been proved as one of the successful technologies to mitigate these issues. Past studies have shown lax green practices in Nigerian buildings. Concerning public hospital buildings, this is yet to be explored. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the barriers to green practices and proffer possible policy solutions to promote hospital green buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

In attaining these objectives, the view of hospital building contractors, design team, hospital management and policymakers in the relevant ministries/agencies was engaged via virtual interviews. The collated data were analysed and presented in the thematic pattern.

Findings

Findings show that green building construction is extremely low in Nigeria, but the worst hit is the health-care buildings across the states. Government/policy-related, organisational/leadership-related, financial-related, technical-related, design team-related and stakeholders’ behaviour-related barriers emerged as the main six themes of barriers affecting public hospital green buildings implementation initiatives. Findings show that proffering possible policies to addressing these barriers may improve public hospital green construction across the states.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to barriers to green buildings implementation in public hospitals in Nigeria, and data collection was through virtual interviews but does not affect the strength of the findings. Thus, this paper suggests that the sub-themes and variables/items that emerged from the collated data as presented in Figure 1 can be further developed quantitatively via questionnaire survey to validate and improve the reliability of results from this paper.

Practical implications

As part of this study’s implications, suggestions from this paper will stir up policymakers’ decisions, to be tailored towards achieving green buildings implementation initiatives in Nigerian public hospitals.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is probably the first that attempted to investigate the barriers to green buildings implementation in public hospitals in Nigeria.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management , vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2012

Ravindra P. Saxena and Pradeep K. Khandelwal

The purpose of this paper is to aim in general to understand the perception of industries in India – a fast growing economy, towards green philosophy and to investigate further…

3012

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to aim in general to understand the perception of industries in India – a fast growing economy, towards green philosophy and to investigate further what initiatives those industries have taken for becoming green.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is exploratory in nature and attempts to understand the behaviour of three types of industries, namely, durable, non‐durable and services towards green philosophy.

Findings

Results of the study reflect that industries in India, in general have a positive view for practicing green philosophy. They feel becoming green will help them in gaining the competitive advantage and will support them in sustainable growth. Also the industries that have a positive attitude towards greening have taken some measures and initiatives in this direction to establish a sustainable competitive advantage for succeeding in today's highly challenging and dynamic global markets.

Research limitations/implications

The present exploratory study provides a starting‐point for further research. Researchers can further explore whether industries using green philosophy were able to register a competitive advantage and could gain added market share and profits by becoming green. They can investigate the reason behind this green attitude, whether industries are using green practices for cutting costs in turn to increase their profits or whether they have a genuine concern for environmental protection and society's welfare and therefore adopting green practices in their industry.

Originality/value

Most of such studies in the field of green marketing and social economics are done in developed countries and remain conspicuously missing in the context of fast developing Asian countries. This research is a step to filling this gap and providing a platform for further research in this area.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 39 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

Remko I. van Hoek

To lower the environmental damage of business we need to examine our “ecological footprint”. We need to move forward with the business at the same time. In order to solve that…

18296

Abstract

To lower the environmental damage of business we need to examine our “ecological footprint”. We need to move forward with the business at the same time. In order to solve that dilemma, a value‐seeking and proactive approach to greening is proposed in the (general) management literature. However, literature on the role of supply chain operations, mostly published in the area of reversed logistics, has failed to develop grounded theory and frameworks to support the application of such an approach. Furthermore, research is needed that goes beyond the partial and fragmented contribution of reversed logistics. This research note looks at challenges for research on green steps to take, and green supply chains to make in practice, as a step up to lowering the ecologic footprint of supply chains.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2018

Benjamin Cohen, Kira T. Lawrence, Andrea Armstrong, Miranda Wilcha and Alexa Gatti

A coalition of students, professors, administrators and operational staff at Lafayette College designed an environmental module to integrate in-class curricular education with…

Abstract

Purpose

A coalition of students, professors, administrators and operational staff at Lafayette College designed an environmental module to integrate in-class curricular education with out-of-class environmental engagement. The purpose of this study was to improve the ethos of sustainability across campus.

Design/methodology/approach

The research reported here draws from qualitative and quantitative assessments to corroborate previous evidence that institution-wide collaboration is a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of such environmental campus programming.

Findings

It adds to those prior conclusions with the finding that three intertwined factors are critical keys to success. One is attention in the design process to coalition building between the academic, administrative and operational units of campus; second is a strong focus on organizational capacity; and third is explicit attention to preparing long-term management.

Practical implications

The particularities of college campuses, where student residence is temporary while the campus environment is continuous, require attention to organizational sustainability as much as the more common technical features of sustainability (e.g. energy, water, food, transportation systems, etc.). For small colleges seeking to implement similar programming to foster a culture of sustainability on their campuses, that commitment to organizational sustainability demonstrates that maintenance, durability and invested personnel are essential factors when similarly seeking interdisciplinary environmental education initiatives.

Originality/value

This paper describes the original program structure of Greening Lafayette. The program was built on the campus of Lafayette College through specific co-curricular, administrative, academic and facilities efforts. The paper details the approach Lafayette College students and faculty took to draw from best practices in campus sustainability, analyze their campus’ baseline engagement in and awareness of sustainability and leverage their college’s structures to design a program that generates a campus ethos of sustainability. It further elucidates the importance of ensuring the organizational sustainability of the program itself. While Greening Lafayette was designed for the context of a specific undergraduate campus, the program offers a model for faculty, students and administrators of other colleges and universities to build coalitions, design sustainability programming and develop an ethos of sustainability on their campuses.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 19 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2016

Tracy H. Porter, Vickie Coleman Gallagher and Diane Lawong

Organizations have viewed sustainability as a societal problem and unrelated to business. To recognize sustainability as an organizational issue requires companies to deal with…

1045

Abstract

Purpose

Organizations have viewed sustainability as a societal problem and unrelated to business. To recognize sustainability as an organizational issue requires companies to deal with the challenge of transforming into environmentally sustainable enterprises. This requires institutions to align mission statements with values. The purpose of this paper is to replicate previous research in sustainability and the cultural facets which impact the process.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case study method was used to analyze 25 organizations within the US Midwest with various contexts to determine how their respective cultures impacted their change initiatives. Specifically, the authors spoke to sustainability change agents with regard to their leadership and culture, and the factors that are conducive to (or barriers to) implementing sustainability initiatives.

Findings

The original study demonstrated the presence of seven contextual conditions which are important in the process of imbedding sustainability within the institution. This research found the same dimensions to be present; however, they manifested differently 15 years later.

Practical implications

The original research offered a somewhat dark picture of the sustainability change initiatives within organizations. The current study however; offers a much more positive perspective which demonstrates organizations appear to have progressed with regard to sustainability.

Originality/value

This is a replication study whereby we discovered similar themes as to the nature of contextual factors that can hinder or advance sustainability initiatives; however, the findings 15 years later show a marked difference in the current state of affairs and the ability to implement sustainability initiatives.

Details

American Journal of Business, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-5181

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2021

S. Maryam Masoumik and Salwa Hanim Abdul-Rashid

In the current highly competitive market, most organizations are moving away from reactive and compliance-based to proactive environmental management. This proactive approach to…

Abstract

In the current highly competitive market, most organizations are moving away from reactive and compliance-based to proactive environmental management. This proactive approach to environmental management calls for taking a strategic approach to adoption of green practices beyond an organization’s internal borders. In this respect, incorporating green practices into a firm’s supply chain has attracted interest of operations management scholar and practitioners. The influence of external pressures on the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices has been established in the literature. This research posits that the adoption of GSCM practices is also driven by a firm’s internal strategic factors including its key resources and competitive strategy. It also suggests that these direct effects are further mediated by the green strategies (GSs) adopted in companies. Theoretically, these relationships are supported by combining the institutional theory with the natural resource-based view. A structural equation modeling is applied to formulate and analyze the relationships and the mediating effect using a survey data collected from 139 ISO14001-certified manufacturers in Malaysia. The results verified the mediating effect of GS adoption on the relationship between internal and external strategic factors, and GSCM practices. This research has made an original contribution to knowledge by bridging the fields of strategic environmental management and GSCM.

Details

Strategic Responses for a Sustainable Future: New Research in International Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-929-3

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 August 2016

Pourya Pourhejazy and Oh Kyoung Kwon

Nowadays, climate change and environmental pollution have become major international concerns, in which logistics and manufacturing activities are playing the major role. In the…

Abstract

Nowadays, climate change and environmental pollution have become major international concerns, in which logistics and manufacturing activities are playing the major role. In the past decade, more attention has been directed toward environmental issues than ever before. The Paris agreement is one of the most recent milestones in this regard. Due to local and international legislation, managers are highly encouraged to seek out sustainable innovations and strategies to reduce the negative impacts of their business activities. An array of academic and practical activities has been formed around the greening of the supply chain (SC). This paper attempts to review and classify green supply chain management (GSCM) disciplines and best practices from a practical point of view. The authors also investigate the different areas of application and review the GSCM practices in some well-known companies. On this basis, the paper disclose the superiority of Apple company over the other studied cases in applying green practices, particularly in the manufacturing and design areas, while the parcel delivery company has been quite active in the green transportation and green marketing. It is also shown that all of the reviewed cases have been successful in implementing green logistics initiatives thus far.

Details

Journal of International Logistics and Trade, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1738-2122

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 October 2017

Panagiotis Liargovas, Nikolaos Apostolopoulos, Ilias Pappas and Alexandros Kakouris

The aim of this chapter is to examine the way in which small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adapt their financial and operational planning in order to develop green…

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to examine the way in which small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adapt their financial and operational planning in order to develop green entrepreneurship. This is examined through two different practices which may be followed by companies: policies and strategies that lead enterprises to energy upgrade and policies and strategies relating to environmental protection. This chapter draws upon the dataset from 100 Greek SMEs. The process of data collection was conducted by delivering questionnaires to the sample of companies in question. The novelty of this research, in comparison with other surveys, is that the level of adopting green strategies is approached not only in the fields of energy or environmental efficiencies but also attempts to introduce techno-economic parameters with related items in the questionnaires delivered to the SMEs. Hence, a more thorough analysis for the greenness of Greek SMEs is discussed based on 10 (i.e. techno-economic) research hypotheses. The results indicate that the SMEs should be supported more effectively by the Greek government and European Union through funding initiatives. The funding initiatives do not have the expected results so far towards this direction. However, it seems that the SMEs realize the importance of green strategies as they believe the consumers are willing to pay more for green products.

Details

Green Economy in the Western Balkans
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-499-6

Keywords

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