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This manuscript develops a reverse logistics monitoring system for controlling reverse flows of materials through marketing channels in emerging economies. Institutional theory is incorporated to show that both positive and negative impacts on environmental sustainability can be predicted. A partner control framework and scales are then developed for use by managers and researchers in furthering their understanding of the effective management of global reverse logistic networks

The purpose was to explore the role of work engagement in mediating between the resources of reverse mentoring and job crafting and the potential outcomes of improved performance and work withdrawal behavior

The authors investigated the subjects in the Indian IT sector. They administered a survey online to volunteers from 14 software firms. They received 369 completed questionnaires. The majority of respondents were aged between 25 and 34 and 73.7pc were men.

Results showed that both reverse monitoring and job crafting increase levels of work engagement, leading to improved performance and less work withdrawal behavior. The study also looked at work engagement as a mediating factor: It partially mediated the relationship between job crafting and both outcomes, fully mediated the relationship between reverse mentoring and withdrawal behavior, and partially mediated the relationship between reverse monitoring and work performance.

The results have practical implications. Organizations need to take note that reverse monitoring and job crafting could motivate employees to reciprocate in kind with higher levels of work engagement. By fostering opportunities for reverse monitoring, organizations could stimulate learning and connections across management levels and age groups. Meanwhile, job crafting would help employees to focus on their strengths, or areas of interest, making their work more enjoyable and productive.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The results of a study of Indian software workers showed the practices of reverse monitoring and job crafting boost engagement levels, which in turn improves both their mental and physical health.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The flexible eddy current array sensor has the characteristics of lightweight and flexibility, which has a great application prospect in the field of fatigue crack monitoring. But the exciting layout and feature signal extraction have a great influence on the crack monitoring characteristics of the sensor. This paper aims to propose a method using crack disturbed voltage as sensitivity to characterize crack propagation.

Flexible eddy current array sensors with reverse and codirectional exciting layout are proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages of three characterization methods based on the change of trans-impedance amplitude, the change of the trans-impedance’s real and imaginary part and the crack disturbed voltage are compared and analyzed by finite element simulation. Finally, the fatigue crack monitoring experiment is carried out.

The crack disturbed voltage and the change of trans-impedance’s imaginary part can effectively characterize the crack propagation for sensors with different exciting layouts. The codirectional exciting layout sensor has better crack identification sensitivity than the reverse exciting layout sensor, especially the induction coil 2. When the distance between the exciting coil and the induction coil is 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mm, it is increased by 372.09%, 295.24% and 231.43%, respectively.

Crack disturbed voltage can effectively characterize the crack propagation for sensors with two different exciting layouts.

The feasibility and desirability of reverse logistics in market-motivated contexts are examined in China. Interactions between the major barriers, that hinder or prevent the application of reverse logistics in China are analyzed. Management’s key task is to diagnose barriers to the application of reverse logistics that could be crucial to the organization’s future survival. Simultaneity, a value delivery system exists to create value for customers and environments by supplying needed products and services. Value delivery systems are at the heart of every firm and, more than anything else, determine that, whether the firm survives in the marketplace or disappears into bankruptcy or takeover. The processes and model of market-motivated reverse logistics value delivery system are discussed, and the processes content and model are presented. Simultaneity, based on the advantage of the Third Party Reverse Logistics Providers (3PRLs) and Outsourced Service Providers, an integrated evaluation model is built to select 3PRLs by using the integrated decision-making methods. Reflecting the comprehensive information requirement, the Analytic Hierarchy Process and entropy approaches are applied to calculate the objective weights. A new kind of relative similarity degree is established by combining the Euclidean distance with the grey correlation degree. An example demonstrates the model’s efficiency.

Cultural and geographical distances create friction in multinational enterprises (MNEs), friction that indigenous firms do not experience in the same manner. This friction or liabilities of distance is conceptualized as governance costs in this chapter. Unfortunately, governance costs seem to be a rather equivocal concept, although it is one of the building blocks of internalization theory, and the raison d’être of the idea that certain kind of transactions have to be internalized to overcome the most prohibitive consequences of business activities across cultural and geographical distances. By going back to an award-winning paper, published in IBR in 2009, we put forward some nuances and reflections upon theory and findings presented in that paper, as well as upon implications and behavior of governance costs. The reason for this endeavor is grounded in the idea that theories must be challenged, empirical finding, just as well. Building upon survey data from 159 Norwegian MNEs, we explore and test six hypotheses by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that information fallacies seem to be the main driver of monitoring – and bargaining costs in the relationship between MNE HQs and their foreign subsidiaries, and thereby also the indirect driver of the observed negative effects of monitoring and bargaining on subsidiary performance. On the other hand, trust shaped by bonding activities seems to be an important factor in reducing bargaining costs and improving subsidiary performance.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute significantly to the first wave of empirical investigations related to the impact of green supply chain management practices on environmental and organizational performance from a manufacturer's perspective within a supply chain context.

An environmental collaboration and monitoring performance model is theorized and assessed following a structural equation methodology. Data were collected from 159 manufacturing managers through an on‐line survey.

Environmental collaboration and monitoring practices among supply chain partners are found to lead to improved environmental performance and organizational performance.

As a first wave investigation of the impact of green supply chain management practices on performance, the study is somewhat exploratory.

Practitioners are provided with a framework for assessing the impact of environmental collaboration and monitoring practices among supply chain partners on environmental performance and organizational performance. The study provides evidence that green supply chain practices lead to improved environmental and organizational performance.

The results also have important societal implications. While green supply chain management practices enhance the economic sustainability of the firm, they also positively impact society through improvements to the overall environment.

The results of this investigation support the proposition that implementation of environmental collaboration and monitoring practices by supply chain partners are both environmentally necessary and good business. The paper provides manufacturing managers with a structured approach to improving both environmental and organizational performance through environmental collaboration and monitoring with customers and suppliers.

The recent “reverse”¹ discrimination decisions by the Supreme Court involving the admissions decision-making policies at the University of Michigan² illustrate the underlying need for private and public entities to justify the need to reach or maintain diversity within an organization. Clearly, the equality of the decision-making methodology and criteria used to obtain and maintain diversity was an issue, but perhaps more pressing was the question of whether such programs were necessary. The issue of parity is at the very center of these cases. If the normal admissions process would have resulted in obtaining the predicted number of minority admissions then there may no longer be a need for such programs. While the university cases have been most publicized recently, matters involving affirmative action plans and governmental programs to enhance diversity (such as minority contractor set-asides) face similar questions of parity.

Sustainable supply chain finance (SSCF) is a fascinated consideration for both academics and practitioners because the indicators are still underdeveloped in achieving SSCF. This study proposes a bibliometric data-driven analysis from the literature to illustrate a clear overall concept of SSCF that reveals hidden indicators for further improvement.

A hybrid quantitative and qualitative approach combining data-driven analysis, fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), entropy weight method (EWM) and fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) is employed to address the uncertainty in the context.

The results show that blockchain, cash flow shortage, reverse factoring, risk assessment and triple bottom line (TBL) play significant roles in SSCF. A comparison of the challenges and gaps among different geographic regions is provided in both advanced local perspective and a global state-of-the-art assessment. There are 35 countries/territories being categorized into five geographic regions. Of the five regions, two, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa, show the needs for more improvement, exclusively in collaboration strategies and financial crisis. Exogenous impacts of wars, natural disasters and disease epidemics are implied as inevitable attributes for enhancing the sustainability.

This study contributes to (1) boundary SSCF foundations by data driven, (2) identifying the critical SSCF indicators and providing the knowledge gaps and directions as references for further examination and (3) addressing the gaps and challenges in different geographic regions to provide advanced assessment from local viewpoint and to diagnose the comprehensive global state of the art of SSCF.

From a synthesis of empirical findings and literature, the aim of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for managing retail reverse logistics operations. The framework is designed to assist both practitioners and academics in better understanding the key management aspects involved. The paper also identifies some future research directions that are derived from this conceptual framework.

The study was exploratory and motivated by a grounded theory approach aimed at providing a conceptual framework for managing retail reverse logistics.

Retail reverse logistics operations are multi‐faceted and need to be managed as an integrated supply chain activity. Three overarching management dimensions are proposed; operational performance, organisational integration and management reporting and control.

This is an inductive piece of research and it is important to recognise that only analytical generalisation is claimed rather than any statistical generalisation. Also, the study was undertaken in the context of the UK retail sector and therefore further comparative work could be undertaken in different international contexts.

The adoption of the framework will have impact on practitioners by assisting them in reducing the volumes of products being returned, lower their reverse logistics operational costs and increase their product asset recovery values.

Although there is a growing body of literature relating to retail reverse logistics it is fragmented by multiple perspectives. There is little in terms of frameworks that embody the management aspects involved. Having reviewed the literature the authors' empirical results show that, in some areas, practice leads theory and therefore the findings will add to academic discourse.