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The purpose in this paper is to develop a systematic literature review aiming to reveal innovation opportunities associated with the thematic collaboration and trust in the reverse logistics field.

The authors adopted a parallel analysis approach segregating the systematic literature review papers in two groups at NVivo®, collaboration and trust in the supply chain and collaboration and trust in reverse logistics, aiming to explore in the first group of papers insights for innovation on collaboration and trust in reverse logistics. The content analysis strategy was supported by the knowledge exchange theory described in Gravier et al. (2008).

Reverse logistics is hardly dissociated from broader sustainable supply chain management approaches, which make all considerations on collaboration and trust designed for such approaches valuable and valid for reverse logistics. Collaboration and trust concepts in supply chain and in reverse logistics contexts are quite similar, while collaboration/trust is mandatory for managing networks in sustainable approaches and in reverse logistics, as well. Downstream and upstream, the chain disruptive innovation business models may be developed between focal companies and returns system third-party logistics providers, fourth-party logistics providers or end-customers, in a business-to-customer collaboration approach. Several collaboration technologies are listed in three perspectives: knowledge sharing, knowledge generation and knowledge implementation.

This study uses a specific protocol for the systematic literature review, and due to inclusion and exclusion criteria, other protocols can provide different results. The strategy of analysis under the knowledge exchange perspective may give a type of result different from other perspectives.

This research systematizes the existing knowledge on the collaborations and trust, which is a priority basis for reverse logistics, providing insights to researchers and practitioners in the area and identifying an agenda for future studies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of collaboration and information technology (IT) on the reverse logistics competency of firms. Through collaboration firms can improve their ability to handle returns, but this research introduces IT as providing a moderating influence over the impact of collaboration in the advancement of a reverse logistics competency.

A survey was administered to employees involved with supply chain relationships. Empirical evidence from 267 respondents is analyzed with structural equation modeling.

Support is found for the positive moderating influence of an IT competency on the relationship between collaboration and a reverse logistics competency. Additional benefits for logistics performance are also realized.

This research provides theoretical implications for the development of a reverse logistics competency through an application of resource-based theory/resource-based view of the firm. The study is limited to the selected research questions and sample of predominantly US firms.

This research assists managers as they attempt to develop a reverse logistics competency to address the growing problem of returns through collaboration with supply chain members and the development of an IT competency.

The framework developed in this research provides insights regarding the handling of product returns. Specifically, the moderating influence of an IT competency is addressed as it enhances the impact of collaboration on the development of a reverse logistics competency.

This study aims to examine and understand the impact of reverse logistics adoption on firms' digitalization and collaboration activities. Specifically, leveraging the knowledge-based view, this study examines how adopting sustainable logistic practices (reverse logistics) prepares firms to embrace digitalization and encourages them to collaborate with other organizations.

The study used longitudinal survey data from two waves (2017 and 2019) from the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research. The authors used the negative binomial regression analyses to test the impact of reverse logistics adoption on the digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration dependent count variables.

The study's findings highlight the usefulness of reverse logistics in enabling digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration. The results show that the firms investing in sustainable supply chains will be better positioned to nurture digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration.

For resource-bound managers, this study provides an important insight into prioritizing activities by highlighting how reverse logistics can facilitate digitalization and collaboration. The study demonstrates that the knowledge generated by reverse logistics adoption can be an essential pillar and enabler toward achieving firms' digitalization and collaboration goals.

The study is among the first to examine the effect of reverse logistics adoption on firm activities that are not strictly associated with the circular economy (digitalization and collaboration). Utilizing the knowledge-based view, this study reports on the additional benefits of reverse logistics implementation previously not discussed in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major reverse logistics design aspects in used clothing value chains, and those enabling and challenging manifestation of value creation.

This research is based on an exploratory study of 12 established organizations in Swedish used clothing networks. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, secondary sources, and subsequent field visits.

Empirical insights on how various design aspects influence value creation in used clothing value chains are provided. Crucial among these are strategic and consistent collection, presence of multi-channel sales, and communication of post-retail concepts for manifesting value by bolstering consumer satisfaction, environmental motivation, and corporate image. Inter-organizational collaboration in reverse logistics processes and workplace training, further renders higher economic, environmental and information values.

The paper proposes a holistic framework of design aspects in reverse value chains, and extends existing knowledge on how these aspects manifest value creation. By doing so, a nuanced view of the design aspects is offered by highlighting how they can differentially, either enable, or challenge value creation. In this connection, seven supporting propositions are developed for in-depth future research.

The paper includes implications for the devising strategic solutions for higher value creation, by understanding of the key enablers and challenges, for many actors in the used clothing networks.

The role of various design aspects in reverse value chains for manifesting multifaceted stakeholder value creation is explicitly defined in the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to present the research carried out on the development of a conceptual framework termed as the reverse collaboration framework (RCF) to provide supply chain (SC) visibility and information sharing to practitioners in a reverse logistics (RL) operations.

The research methodology used in this research is a combination of concept mapping, and the extension of the work of other researchers (deductive approach) to develop a RCF that connects tools, techniques, systems and RL processes.

This research shows that by integrating tools, systems, tools and techniques with RL processes by means of the RCF will increase performance and productivity of a RL operations. This is demonstrated by applying the RCF to a consumer electronics business that proves that the time taken for the end to end RL operations is reduced by 20%.

The RCF has been demonstrated with the data from a consumer electronics organisation. Literature points out that there are many different mathematical models for RL across a number of industries. Thus, at this stage, it is not clear if the RCF developed in this research will work in other industries, such as the newspaper, plastic bottles and online retailers industry where product returns are high. This research work can be extended in developing an IT solution by future researchers that can be linked to the main ERP system of an organisation.

SC managers can use the RCF in the extended form of an IT solution to manage the RL operations of their organisations.

There is a lack of research in the space of reverse collaboration in the broader field of SC management. This paper has fulfilled that gap.

This study examines how compliance with government and firm's own policy and reverse logistics practices relate with firm environmental performance.

This study draws on insights from stakeholder theory, and follows a two-phase research approach. The first phase utilized an extended literature review that seeks to provide a qualitative and comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The 2001–2023 data was collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, complemented with Google Scholar. The second phase involved an empirical study—adopting a quantitative cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire to validate the theoretical conceptualizations deriving from the literature review. The empirical data were collected from 203 food and beverages manufacturing firms in Uganda and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach.

The study findings suggest that compliance with government policy positively influences firm environmental performance, both directly, and indirectly through fostering reverse logistics practices, and that the relationship between compliance with government policy and reverse logistics practices is contingent upon compliance with the focal firm's own policy.

The study findings will enhance the theoretical and conceptual development of the ideas that underpin stakeholder theory and applications. The Ugandan government will come up with better mechanisms for enforcing compliance with policy regulating the application of reverse logistics practices. In addition, the study advances the use of multi-method approaches in investigating interesting research aspects requiring in-depth examination. However, considering the fact that the empirical study was conducted in a single country context, and focused on firms more or less from the same sub-sector, the findings of the study might not be generalizable globally.

This study provides useful insights to logistics and supply chain managers involved in reverse logistics activities in food and beverages manufacturing firms. These managers can know how to leverage reverse logistics practices to enhance environmental performance of firms amidst environmental policies in the industry where they operate.

This study contributes to the built body of knowledge in operations, logistics and supply chain management literature; understanding about reverse logistics practices as a mechanism through which compliance with government policy influences environmental performance of firms. The interaction between compliance with government policy and compliance with firm policy is essential in explaining the performance effects of reverse logistics practices. In addition, the study advances the use of multi-method approaches in investigating interesting research aspects requiring in-depth examination. Complementing extended literature review with and empirical research to investigate reverse logistics practices influences on firm environmental performance, and incorporating the role of policy in explaining this relationship should make considerable contribution. Besides, the study highlights important areas for future research.

Recently, reverse logistics (RL) has become more prominent due to growing environmental concerns, social responsibility, competitive advantage and high efficiency by customers because of the expansion of product selection and shorter product life cycle. However, effective implementation of RL results in some direct advantages, the most important of which is winning customer satisfaction that is vital to a firm’s success. Therefore, paying attention to customer feedback in supply chain and logistics processes has recently increased so that manufacturers have decided to transform their RL into customer-centric RL. Hence, this paper aims to identify the features of a mobile phone which affect consumer purchasing behaviour and to analyse the interrelationship among them to develop a framework for customer-centric RL. These features are studied based on website analysis of several mobile phone manufacturers. The special focus of this paper is on social media data (Twitter) in an attempt to help the decision-making process in RL through a big data analysis approach.

A portfolio of mobile phone features that affect consumer’s mobile phone purchasing decisions has been taken from website analysis by several mobile phone manufacturers to achieve this objective. Then, interrelationships between the identified features have been established by using big data supplemented with interpretive structural modelling (ISM). Apart from that, cross-impact matrix multiplication, applied to classification analysis, was carried out to graphically represent these features based on their driving power and dependence.

During the study, it has been observed from the ISM that the chip (F5) is the most significant feature that affects customer’s buying behaviour; therefore, mobile phone manufacturers realize that this is to be addressed first.

The focus of this paper is on social media data (Twitter) so that experts can understand the interaction between mobile phone features that affect consumer’s decisions on mobile phone purchasing by using the results.

This paper aims to explore the effect of subsidiary autonomy on knowledge transfers during captive offshoring to emerging markets.

Five longitudinal cases of captive R&D and manufacturing offshoring to emerging markets.

The propositions entail the dual effect of operational subsidiary autonomy on primary knowledge transfer and reverse knowledge transfer. For newly established subsidiaries, operational subsidiary autonomy has a mainly negative effect on primary knowledge transfer and a mainly positive effect on reverse knowledge transfer and local collaboration activities increase this effect. Strategic subsidiary autonomy is mainly negative for primary and reverse knowledge transfer.

Limitations concerning the applied exploratory case study approach suggest that further research should test the identified relationships using surveys, after the initial pilot study.

A gradual increase of operational subsidiary autonomy as the subsidiary capability level increases is beneficial to ensure primary knowledge transfer. Allowing subsidiaries to collaborate locally within the confines of their mandates benefits reverse knowledge transfer.

This paper extends the secondary knowledge transfer concept to include knowledge flows with local collaboration partners, not only other subsidiaries and clarifies the distinction between operational and strategic autonomy concerning local collaboration. A subsidiary asserts operational autonomy when its collaboration with local partners relates to its existing mandate. A subsidiary asserts strategic autonomy when it collaborates with local partners beyond this mandate.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of information technology (IT) and supply chain management initiatives (information sharing and collaboration) impact a company's performance in reverse logistics (RL).

A survey based on a previous exploratory research and literature review was sent out to 600 US companies having substantial activities in RL. Issues addressed in the survey, such as IT types deployed, IT operational attributes, information sharing, and collaboration, involve multiple parties in multi‐tier RL networks, extending beyond a simple buyer‐supplier dyad.

The results revealed that the type of IT used per se did not have a differential impact on a company's performance in RL. However, IT operational attributes positively affected RL performance and information sharing and collaboration are critical to RL performance.

Investment in IT alone cannot improve a company's performance; managers should take full account of IT attributes when deciding IT in RL. IT operational attributes tend to support one another – an improvement in one would lead to improvements in the others. With no exception in RL, companies need to share information and collaborate with their partners.

The paper reports an empirical survey of the IT use and collaboration practices in RL, and provides insights into the relationships and impacts of IT, RL operational attributes, information sharing, and collaboration on one another as well as on RL performance.