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This paper aims to examine how significantly the COVID-19 pandemic affects supply chain operations and how the firms have reacted to the COVID-19-induced supply chain crisis. In addition, this paper investigates whether the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are affected disproportionally by the COVID-19-induced supply chain crisis.

This paper developed a series of hypotheses and tested them using cross-tabulation, canonical correlation, discriminant and exploratory factor analyses of the empirical data.

The descriptive data analysis and hypothesis test results revealed that the labor productivity of the manufacturing, logistics and healthcare industry sectors was affected disproportionally by the COVID-19-induced crisis. However, outsourcing and global sourcing practices themselves did not necessarily exacerbate the severity of supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19. The authors also found that MSMEs were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to a different degree than their large counterparts.

This paper is one of the first of its kind to assess the extent of the COVID-19 adverse impact on supply chain operations using the exploratory analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire survey of US firms representing various industries sectors.

Despite a growing interest in business analytics (BA) from the business and academic communities, it is still unknown what truly motivates and hinders the adoption of BA. To have a clear picture of what will lead to the successful implementation of BA, this paper identifies contextual variables (e.g. user characteristics, organizational readiness and technology infrastructure/expertise) that significantly influence the BA adoption decision.

This paper conducted a series of classification, discriminant and logistics regressions analyses to analyze the differences in mail survey responses between adopters and nonadopters of BA and then determine what either motivate or inhibit the BA adoption.

Through a series of hypothesis testing, we discovered that large firms with a greater number of information technology (IT) staff and budget tended to adopt BA more than their smaller counterparts. Also, we found that BA skeptics, who did not fully recognize BA benefit potentials, were more concerned about BA implementation costs and experienced the greater organization resistance to BA adoption than the others did. Therefore, they were less likely to adopt BA.

In the era of knowledge-based economy, the firm's ability to derive actionable insights from big data can be a game changer. Such ability can be developed and nurtured by utilizing BA which is designed to help business executives and policymakers make well-thought and informed decisions. This paper is one of the first attempts to develop practical guidelines for the successful implementation of BA based on the exploratory study of BA practices among the Korean firms.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of competitive market environments on the firm’s decision to adopt green supply chain management (GSCM) practices, while checking to see if the firm’s commitment to particular types of GSCM practices improves its performance.

To confirm a positive link between the firm’s GSCM practices to its performance, the authors collected the data from 322 Korean firms via questionnaire surveys and then analyzed these data using the structural equation model.

Among various types of GSCM practices, green purchasing has the greatest impact on both manufacturing and marketing performances. Also, internal environmental management positively influenced both manufacturing and marketing performances, whereas cooperation with customers and reverse logistics had no significant impact on the firm’s manufacturing and marketing performances.

To provide a practical advice for firms which are hesitant to embrace green supply chain practices due to skeptical views about their true managerial benefits, this paper discerned more effective GSCM practices from less effective GSCM practices. In so doing, this paper is one of the few studies which pinpointed what types of specific GSCM practices are most effective in enhancing firm performance.

To identify sources of the success and failure of COVID-19 control measures and develop best-practice public health policy in mitigating the spread of COVID-19, this paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of various combinations of government COVID-19 control measures among OECD countries. This paper also identifies which factors critically influence the efficiency of COVID-19 control measures.

This paper employed two-stage network SBM (slacks-based measure of efficiency) models with variable returns-to-scale and constant returns-to-scale, respectively, among various forms of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. As a post hoc analysis, the authors used Tobit regression for examining the causal relationship between a nation's cultural dimensions and its COVID-19 control measure's efficiency scores.

The authors found that the pervasive less individualistic and higher uncertainty avoiding culture positively influenced the efficient control of COVID-19 outbreaks since such a culture helped the government impose its mandatory COVID-19 control measures without people's strong resistance to those measures.

Many public health policymakers are wondering why COVID-19 control measures are not effective in coping with the COVID-19 outbreaks. This paper helps the government find the most efficient combination of COVID-19 controls measures for curbing the spread of the stubborn coronavirus. This paper is one of the first attempts to identify pandemic risk mitigation factors from a cultural perspective.

An indiscreet strategy of offshoring from low-cost countries (LCCs) can do more harm than good, since invisible supply chain risks may increase hidden costs and subsequently more than offset cost-saving opportunities. Considering the potential impact of these risks on offshoring, the purpose of this paper is to identify risk factors that significantly hinder the efficiency of offshoring and then measure specific risks associated with offshoring in foreign countries.

This paper develops performance metrics for gauging the offshoring attractiveness of potential sourcing countries using data envelopment analysis and then identifies the benchmark sourcing country using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

This study reveals that, defying the conventional wisdom, LCCs are not necessarily the most desirable offshoring destinations. This study also discovers that LCCs tend to be less business friendly, less logistically efficient, and riskier to source than their high-income country counterparts.

This paper is one of the first to introduce the concept of wealth creation efficiency for an offshoring decision and consider a host of key determinants such as wealth creation efficiency, logistics efficiency, business friendliness, and various supply chain risks for selecting the most desirable offshoring destination.

With a growing demand for safe, clean and affordable energy, emerging economies (EEs) across the globe are now seeking to create and rapidly develop renewable energy (RE) businesses. The success of these businesses often hinges on their ability to translate RE into sustainable value for energy consumers and the multiple stakeholders in this industry. Such value includes low production costs due to an abundance of natural resources (e.g. wind, water and sunlight) and public health benefits from reduced environmental pollution. With that in mind, this paper aims to gauge RE’s potential for sustainable value creation and then develop an effective RE business strategy.

This paper develops a structural equation model, conducts an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analyses with and without common latent factors and proposes a moderated mediation analysis to identify a host of factors that influence the success of RE businesses.

This paper discovers that RE business performance is significantly affected by integrated vision, intellectual capital and social capital.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first empirical studies that identify various factors influencing successful RE businesses in EEs such as Asian (e.g. China and India) and Latin American countries.

This paper aims to examine which role governments can play in facilitating the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)' environmental capabilities in a global marketplace. It also investigates whether the extent of the impact of government intervention on firm performance varies depending on country-specific policies.

The authors develop a series of hypotheses that are predicated on the ecological modernization theory and the institutional theory. To test those hypotheses, the authors collected cross-national data reflecting both Korean and Chinese SME practices and then used the structural equation model. In addition, the authors utilized cross-validation techniques for methodological rigor.

A series of hypotheses test results revealed that government intervention had a positive impact on the MNF's environmental innovation capabilities and technological innovation capabilities. In addition, the authors discovered that SMEs' reaction to government intervention had a mediating effect between government intervention and the SME's performance. This discovery verifies the ecological modernization and institutional theories.

This is one of the few studies that conducted cross-cultural analyses of two different nations with contrasting government structures (i.e. capitalistic versus socialistic).

The purpose of this paper is to find ways to develop more efficient mass transit systems across the USA and, thus, make the best use of state/federal/municipal government funds and taxpayers’ monies. This paper conducts benchmarking studies. In doing so, this paper identifies the best-in class mass transit practices that every regional mass transit system can emulate.

The continuous underutilization of a mass transit system can increase public scrutiny concerning the increased investment in mass transit services. To defuse such scrutiny, this paper analyzes the past (in year 2011) performances of 515 mass transit agencies in the USA using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Also, to identify which factors influences those performances, the authors paired DEA scores for transit efficiency at the state level against a set of independent variables using a special form of regression analysis called Tobit regression.

The authors found that the greater population density of the service area, the greater number of riders can be served in a short amount of distance and time. Also, the authors discovered that the transportation mode of mass transit services could affect mass transit efficiency. On the other hand, the authors found no evidence indicating that the public ownership or private operation of transit systems could make any differences in the transit efficiency.

This paper is one of the few that assessed the performance of mass transit systems in comparison to their peers using a large-scale data and identify the leading causes of mass transit inefficiency. Thus, this paper helps transit authorities in handling juggling acts of protecting the conflicting interests of government policy makers against the general public and, then, make sensible future investment decisions.

Based on the empirical findings from a survey of Korean firms with greater environmental risks, this paper aims to identify variables that either promote or inhibit the successful implementation of green sourcing strategy and to evaluate the effects of green sourcing on the firm’s supplier selection, waste management, packaging and regulatory compliance.

To help multinational firms configure an environmentally conscious (green) sourcing strategy, this paper conducted a mail-questionnaire survey and then analyzed the survey results obtained from more than 300 valid responses by using a series of multinomial logistics regression, ordinal regression and discriminant analyses. In addition, the authors performed a cluster analysis, chi-square tests of independence and cross tabulation to analyze the data.

The authors found that the main driver for the firm’s green sourcing practices is its customer needs and preferences for the environment-friendly product and services instead of peer pressure or government mandates (including environmental regulation). Surprisingly, the authors also found that the firm with a greater purchasing power did not necessarily factor the supplier’s advances in environmental programs into its supplier selection, although the firm’s amount of purchase volume can give it a bargaining strength to pressure its supplier to adopt the environmental programs.

A rapid industrialization of Asia-Pacific countries for the past several decades brought unprecedented economic prosperity in those countries. However, it also eroded ecosystem quality gradually through air, water and ground contamination and pollution caused by industrial activities. Such concerns have prompted many firms in the Asia-Pacific region to reassess their up-stream supply chain strategy such as sourcing strategy. This paper is one of the first to examine how Asia-Pacific firms develop such strategy and identify the most common green sourcing practices that can be guidance for other firms embracing environmental programs.

In times of increasing shipping risks and uncertainty, the purpose of this paper is to analyze fiercely competitive shipping markets in the Asia-Pacific region and help the carriers develop the optimal pricing schemes, shipping networks (e.g. routes and shipping frequency), and future investment plans.

This paper develops viable maritime logistics strategies based on the non-cooperative game theory which determines the optimal vessel size/type, shipping route, and shipping frequency, while taking into account multiple cost components and unpredictable shipping market dynamics.

This study revealed that the container carrier’s optimal shipping strategy was insensitive to changes in freight rates, fuel prices, and loading/unloading fees at the destination ports. However, it tends to be more sensitive to an increase in the shipping volume than the aforementioned parameters. In other words, aggressive pricing schemes and drastic cost-cutting measures alone cannot enhance carrier competitiveness in today’s shipping markets characterized by overcapacity and weak demand.

This paper is one of a few attempts to identify a host of factors influencing the container carrier’s competitiveness using the game theory and develop an optimal shipping strategy in the presence of conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders (e.g. carriers, shippers, and port authorities). To validate the rigor and usefulness of the proposed game-theoretic model, the authors also experiment it with an actual case study of container carriers serving the Northeast Asian shipping market.