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The emission of greenhouse gases has become an increasingly relevant topic in supply chain management. The steel industry is a highly intensive manufacturing industry with significant emission levels, particularly Scope 3 emissions, which are the indirect emissions from suppliers. Since a supply chain is seen as a non-mandatory measurement item within GHG measurement protocols, this article contributes to the literature on assessing the suppliers of a focal company relative to their emissions for complying with Scope 3 (indirect emissions). It adds to the evolving literature on low-carbon supply chains.

This study first conducted a survey with 110 suppliers from a focal transnational buyer company. A cluster analysis was performed, and ANOVA compared constructs relating to public or private ownership and country of origin. Finally, regression tested the relationship between the motivators and governance in the mitigation strategies.

Using cluster analysis, two groups of companies were found that have statistically significant differences. The influence of the country of origin was also found in relation to governance and mitigation strategies, as was the influence of the type of company on governance. Furthermore, the more motivated the suppliers and the more governance measures they adopt, the more companies adopt their own GHG mitigation strategies. These findings are summarized by way of an analytical framework that integrates the constructs with empirical evidence.

The steel industry is a sector that is particularly energy-intensive and produces millions of tons of CO₂ per year. Emissions from its SC (Scope 3) are relevant but still seen as a non-mandatory item for measurement purposes within the GHG measurement protocols, which leads to less attention being paid to the subject. This study contributes by way of its analytical framework that is validated by empirical data that can be tested in further studies.

This paper aims to analyze the influence of governance mechanisms in the generation of relational rents for supplier in short food supply chains (SFSCs).

This study used data from a survey of 181 organic producers in SFSCs, using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the aid of the SmartPLS® 3 software for the analysis.

The results show the relationship between formal and informal governance mechanisms and relational rents. The predominance of informal mechanisms enabled a higher explanatory power than that provided by formal governance mechanisms. Further, the authors found that the complementary use of governance mechanisms has a stronger impact on generating relational rents. However, contextual factors such as relationship time, power asymmetry and uncertainty in demand have not shown any influence on governance mechanisms for generating relational rents.

The result sheds new light on the relevance of governance mechanisms to foster relational rents to suppliers in SFSCs. It also shows that contextual factors that affect relationships in traditional supply chains do not play a relevant role in SFSCs due to their specific characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to reflect on the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework as a milestone for concerted efforts to tackle the underlying grand challenges.

This viewpoint is predominantly conceptual in nature. However, this study adapts the University of Auckland's SDG key words to broadly map existing international business research in each SDG category across nine journals.

The SDG framework offers a positive and inclusive way forward to integrate social and environmental with economic aspects in the field of international business.

The inclusive nature of the SDG framework may achieve what previous labels such as social value creation and corporate social responsibility could not. It offers a path where integrating social and environmental with economic perspectives does not need to threaten the identity of the field. The SDG mapping exercise across nine selected journals clearly demonstrates that mainstream, economically focused research can continue to make valuable contributions to the SDGs as long as the discipline allows more room for integrators.

This study examines the relationship between the innovation ecosystem and performance measurement models. Although the innovation ecosystem and measurement models are widely recognized, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the proposed themes. Furthermore, it does not reveal how studies can be grouped to propose a thematic typology of the relationship.

The authors present a systematic literature review conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, from a textual corpus that aided the proposition of the typology that aims to provide answers regarding the addressed themes.

The results of this review are based on a total of sixty peer-reviewed articles from the innovation ecosystem literature and performance measurement models between 1995 and 2020. The results make several contributions to the literature. First, by integrating evidence from empirical studies, the authors identified a typology formed by three classes: (1) ecosystem agents (2) analytical focus and (3) structured measurement tools. Second, the authors verified the relationship between the themes and discovered the existence of gaps to be filled, with the proposition of three drivers. Third, the authors presented a comprehensive mapping of field studies with a descriptive analysis of the textual corpus.

The results of the research provide important implications for researchers, managers and policy makers. Furthermore, the authors suggest directions for future research, including the need to examine the performance of the entire innovation ecosystem, integrating the different agents that exist for performance measurement.

This editorial article introduces and analyzes a variety of new organizational forms that rapidly emerged in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe in the latest two decades. Among the others, these include: business model partnerships, business platforms, incubators and hubs, public–private partnerships, agribusiness companies' foundations and spin-offs, short supply chains, community-supported agriculture and other community self-organizing experiences. Building upon the recent literature and the five selected papers in this special issue, the authors discuss what is novel in these organizations and why, when and how they emerge and evolve over time.

The authors identify three elements that, when considered together, explain and predict the emergence and evolution of these new organizational forms: institutions, strategies and learning processes.

The authors demonstrate that societal actors seeking to (re)design these new organizational forms need to consider these three elements to combine the pursuit of their interests of their own constituencies with the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Taking stock from the literature, the authors invite future research on new organizational forms to take explicitly the pursuit of the SDGs into consideration; to build upon a process ontology; and to deeply reflect on our positionality of scientists studying and sometimes engaging in these organizations.

This paper investigates how chain members collaborate to ensure the sustainability of supply chains through the social capital perspective.

Following a case study design, three social capital mechanisms – reach, richness and receptivity – were used as a lens with two eco-innovative food companies and their respective supply chains in Southern Brazil. Data consisted of interviews and other sources of evidence obtained from multiple stakeholders.

Results highlight the importance of a managerial orientation for sustainability and that sustainable chains presuppose a network that is closely linked and with great affinity. Not only does the management of operations improve the green performance of companies for environmental benchmarking but it also expands to include the supply chain. Social capital mechanisms can encourage partners to develop strategic initiatives for sustainability, especially if managers share key drivers for adopting eco-innovations and overall chain sustainability.

The paper contributes to research on collaboration within sustainable supply chain management. Empirical data were gathered from different stakeholders in two food chains in a developing country. Through the lens of social capital mechanisms, the paper shows how different types of companies collaborate in their supply chain for sustainability.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of formal institution agents on export performance, mediated by coopetition. It presents novel scales for evaluating firms’ adherence to cooperation agreements with competitors, identifying coopetition networks’ main motives and goals. The study also focuses on the relationship between the export performance of small and medium enterprises from emerging markets and coopetition strategies.

The study adopts a quantitative methodology using multivariate and confirmatory methods. The sample comprised 166 firms from three different industries in an emerging market (Brazil).

The results indicate that adherence to formal institution agents promotes cooperation among competitors and that such coopetition tends to improve export performance. The role played by formal institution agents minimizes the paradoxical tension and fosters coopetitive performance. Firms in developing markets look to mediated coopetition to achieve coopetitive advantages. They cooperate to create collective advantages from shared resources, but they do not lose sight of the ultimate objective of appropriating these advantages. The cycle of creation and appropriation of advantages is fostered by the formal institution agent, acting as the conductor of an orchestra, coordinating movements and setting the rhythm for the partners. The institutional agent, thus, constitutes an important hub of the coopetition network.

The paper contributes to understanding a type of coopetition that has hitherto been underexplored in the literature – mediated coopetition.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the use of governance mechanisms in buyer-supplier relationships in the supply chain (SC) are related to the maturity of relationships and the generation of relational rents.

Several studies have analysed interorganisational governance in SCs. However, to the best of the knowledge, no study has focussed on the use of different types of governance mechanisms through maturity stages in buyer-supplier relationships and as a consequence, its relational rents. The aim of this paper is to analyse how the use of governance mechanisms in buyer-supplier relationships in the SC are related to the maturity of relationships and the generation of relational rents. To achieve this goal, this paper carried out multiple case studies.

The results show that changes in the use of formal and informal governance mechanisms contribute to the generation of relational rents and relationship continuity. This paper identified that a reduction in power asymmetry by the buyer may allow for the greater use of informal governance mechanisms and greater relational rents. Moreover, the paper highlights that a relationship might advance or regress throughout the maturity stages, according to the commitment of the buyer to maintain the relationship with the supplier.

The study has the limitation of having chosen polar case studies in the organic sector in Brazil to illustrate the theoretical discussion and propose a model to be tested via further research. This study considered institutional factors in the analysis that might not affect dyadic relationships in other sectors and countries.

As a managerial contribution, the results indicate that when the buyer uses both kinds of mechanisms complementarily and encourages the utilisation of informal mechanisms, relationships become more resilient to adverse events.

The study also contributes towards valuing the role of organic farmers and encourages the government and business community to reflect on the challenges and opportunities in the sector.

Based on four propositions created by evaluating both the empirical data and previous literature, this paper proposes a buyer-supplier relationship maturity model rather than an overall SC maturity model. This paper also elaborated on the arguments of Dyer et al. (2018), proposing a causal explanation of how a relationship might advance or regress throughout the maturity stages, according to the commitment of the buyer to maintain the relationship with the supplier using governance mechanisms. This change in maturity stages, in turn, affects relational rents for the dyad.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influence of SOEs on institutions. The authors argue that in some cases there are differences in institutional shape between the shape that is actually demanded by an institution’s institutional environment and the shape that the institution itself believes is demanded of its institutional framework. The authors observed a behavior specific to institutions that change their institutional shape in response to demands, irrespective of whether these demands are legitimate, and this behavior was primarily in response to demands from governments and SOEs. The authors call this situation institutional dysmorphia and contrast it with institutional isomorphism.

This study is characterized by the qualitative approach and descriptive form. It is also a documentary study employing the systematic review technique and critical appreciation in a research group. The case of the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) is analyzed to examine the different relationships between Brazilian SOEs and BNDES. It used secondary data provided by reports, papers and relevant magazines. The authors compare them with the conceptual purpose originated in the Medicine field.

The study is illustrated by the case of the BNDES and the various different relationships between Brazilian SOEs and BNDES are examined. This is a qualitative and descriptive documentary study, employing the systematic review technique. Specific behavior is observed in institutions that change their institutional shape in response to demands, irrespective of whether these demands are legitimate, and these demands mainly come from the government and from SOEs.

The authors use of secondary data from only one country that was used to present these arguments. The focus was restricted to the institutional framework comprising one institution and SOEs. Private firms were not considered in this institutional framework, but they must be included in a macro-environment. Institutional pressures are dynamic and asymmetric. The dynamism of institutional change was not evaluated, and neither was the evolution of the relationships between government, SOEs and institutions. Finally, researchers need to understand not only top-down models of institutional effects but also the institutional process that incorporates both institutional influence and firm responses.

The term institutional dysmorphia is proposed through the contrast with concepts such institutional isomorphism, with reference to the institutional logics and institutional complexity of these institutions’ and SOEs’ environment. The situation described institutional dysmorphia happening in emerging countries context and might open new avenues for research.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an exploratory case study comparing one Brazilian beef processor's relationships supplying two different distribution channels, an EU importer and an EU retail chain operating in Brazil.

The paper begins with a short review of global value chains and the recent literature on trust. It gives the background to the Brazilian beef chain and presents data obtained through in‐depth interviews, annual reports and direct observation with the Brazilian beef processor, the EU importer and the retailer. The interviews were conducted with individual firms, but the analysis places them in a chain context, identifying the links and relationships between the agents of the chains and aiming to describe each distribution channel.

Executive chain governance exercised by the domestic retailer stimulates technical upgrading and transferring of best practices to local suppliers. Consequently, this kind of relationship results in more trust within the global value chain.

There are difficulties and challenges facing this Brazilian beef processor that are party related to the need to comply with increasingly complex and demanding food safety and food quality standards. There is still a gap between practices adopted for the export market and practices adopted locally. The strategies of transnational retailers in offering differentiated beef should be taken in account.

The research outlines an interdisciplinary framework able to explain chain relationships and the kind of trust that emerges in relationships between EU importer/retail and a developing country supplier.