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This paper aims to introduce a supply chain strategy for supply chain sustainability performance and explain why it is different to normal business/operations strategy.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce a supply chain strategy for supply chain sustainability performance and explain why it is different to normal business/operations strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of supply chain managers and detailed case studies of three successful supply chain sustainability organisations identified four components of a supply chain sustainability strategy, the mechanisms behind them and how they interacted.
Findings
Sustainability leadership, supply chain member involvement in organisational sustainability initiatives, supply chain member involvement in supply chain sustainability strategy planning and technical competency were identified as the four components of a sustainable supply chain strategy. Sustainability leadership legitimises the objectives and involvement of the staff in supply chain-oriented sustainability initiatives and planning. Technical competency provides the capability and language necessary for the development of a supply chain sustainability strategy. This is different to business/operations strategy, however, parallels to other forms of strategy constructs support its ability to achieve performance improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on data from developed countries; the findings may be different for emerging economies. Potential hypotheses for future research are suggested.
Practical implications
The supply chain sustainability strategy will enable organisations to improve the sustainability of their supply chains. Its application is described in the paper.
Originality/value
The paper develops a strategy framework different to the approach taken in business/operational strategy. It indicates how the sustainability performance of supply chains external to the organisation is increased through their interconnectedness with the organisation.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore environmental sustainability (eco-sustainability) policy and strategy adoption and implementation in Australian companies. Specifically, it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore environmental sustainability (eco-sustainability) policy and strategy adoption and implementation in Australian companies. Specifically, it assesses what influences the extent of organizational eco-sustainability strategy implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used semi-structured interviews with senior executive from a list of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 200 companies in banking, materials, real estate and transportation industry groups. A purposive sampling method was used to select the most appropriate participants. The “elite” interviewing method was adopted with persons who are recognized as the expert in the topic under investigation. Finally, an interpretative approach to data analysis was used.
Findings
The paper shows the importance of eco-sustainability strategy alignment with the overall business strategy. Similarly, organizational structure and systems are recognized to be equally important. The senior executives also agreed that shared values, passionate skilled and experienced staff, the Board and senior management, as well as governance, are critical in ensuring a successful adoption and implementation of organizational eco-sustainability policy and strategy.
Practical implications
This research provides some understanding of how organizations implement their eco-sustainability policy and strategy and what influences the extent of their eco-sustainability strategy implementation, and answers to why each dimension is important for a particular organization was gained through interviews with the senior executives. This paper also facilitates a better understanding of the relative importance placed on each dimension as a factor influencing eco-sustainability adoption and implementation.
Originality/value
Drawing on theories from various disciplines and the McKinsey Seven S’s framework, this paper strengthens the foundation for industry practitioners to understand what influences the success of the eco-sustainability strategy adoption and implementation.
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Rafaela Cabral Almeida Trizotto, Leandro da Silva Nascimento, Josiane Piva Testolin da Silva and Paulo Antônio Zawislak
Challenges related to sustainability have increasingly become pivotal in the realm of business strategy and innovation. Nevertheless, the incorporation of sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
Challenges related to sustainability have increasingly become pivotal in the realm of business strategy and innovation. Nevertheless, the incorporation of sustainability principles into business strategies and innovative practices remains a subject of ongoing scholarly debate. This paper aims to undertake a thematic literature review on this theme.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from the Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct databases. The final sample comprised 85 papers. For analytical purposes, this study adopted topic modeling using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) methodology.
Findings
The authors identified five dominant topics concerning the relationship between sustainability, innovation and business strategy. Through a cross-analysis of these topics, the authors theorize that a sustainable innovation strategy encompasses three complementary and interdependent dimensions: capabilities, management and firm. Building on this analysis, the authors outline a research agenda aimed at further exploration and advancement of this theme.
Practical implications
This review enhances the synthesis of research on the theme, prompting reflections on how companies can initiate innovative sustainable actions that align with their business strategy. Additionally, the authors identify specific elements that require improvement to enhance each of the three dimensions of sustainable innovation strategies, such as eco-efficiency, circular economy and the adoption of innovative business models oriented toward services/servitization.
Social implications
By interweaving sustainability with innovation and business strategy, this study underscores the critical topics that companies and public policymakers should address to support sustainable development at the national level.
Originality/value
While previous literature reviews have focused on the dyadic relationships between sustainability and strategy, or sustainability and innovation, this study extends the boundaries of knowledge by integrating these three concepts into a hybrid theoretical stream.
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Nora Annesi, Massimo Battaglia, Ilenia Ceglia and Francesco Mercuri
Organisations are confronted with the challenge of navigating various pressures arising from activities that shape environmental and social impacts, which stakeholders find…
Abstract
Purpose
Organisations are confronted with the challenge of navigating various pressures arising from activities that shape environmental and social impacts, which stakeholders find significant. This research endeavours to ascertain a process facilitating the analysis and seamless integration of sustainability into corporate strategy. The goal is to establish an “integrated” ESG governance framework adept at effectively managing institutional pressures.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs an action research approach, focusing on a leading company within the sugar industry. The investigation delves into the relationship dynamics associated with business issues through a process that engages, either directly or indirectly, board members, top managers, as well as industrial and commercial customers, along with final consumers.
Findings
The formulation of a sustainability strategy serves as a guiding framework for the Board of Directors in effectively navigating tensions arising from environmental, social and economic pressures.
Research limitations/implications
The research contributes to bridging the realms of business governance and institutional theory (viewed under a paradoxical lens). On a managerial level, the study introduces a structured process aimed at seamlessly integrating sustainability objectives into governance, aligning with international ESG guidelines (OECD, 2023; WEF, 2020).
Originality/value
The originality of this research lies in crafting a sustainability strategy by the BoD that takes into account the impact of governance and responds to the demands of strategic stakeholders.
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Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu, Kevin Baird and Sophia Su
This study examines the impact of environmental activity management (EAM) on triple bottom line (TBL) performance and the role that sustainability strategies play in mediating…
Abstract
This study examines the impact of environmental activity management (EAM) on triple bottom line (TBL) performance and the role that sustainability strategies play in mediating these relationships. Data were collected using a survey of Australian managers and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings indicate that each of the three levels of EAM – Environmental Activity Analysis, Environmental Activity Cost Analysis, and Environmental Activity Based Costing – influence-specific aspects of performance, either directly and/or indirectly through environmental and social sustainability strategies. The findings suggest that managers could enhance their use of EAM practices through the use of sustainability strategies in order to enhance performance. This study provides empirical insight into the impact that EAM practices and environmental and social sustainability strategies have on all three aspects of TBL performance.
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Nathalie Crutzen and Christian Herzig
This chapter reviews empirical studies into the relationship between management control, strategy and sustainability.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter reviews empirical studies into the relationship between management control, strategy and sustainability.
Approach
The review explores the theoretical frameworks and models used in previous empirical research as well as the research questions and methods applied to empirically explore this emerging research area.
Findings
Even if a growing body of empirical research has emerged over the last decade, our knowledge of how companies design or use management control to support sustainability strategy appears to be limited, providing considerable scope for further research.
Originality of the chapter
This review structures the state of our empirical knowledge in the area of management control, strategy and sustainability and makes suggestions for future research paths.
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Susana Pasamar, Mar Bornay-Barrachina and Rafael Morales-Sánchez
This paper empirically addresses the effect of coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on sustainability results, focussing on the three dimensions of the triple bottom line…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper empirically addresses the effect of coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on sustainability results, focussing on the three dimensions of the triple bottom line approach: environmental, economic and social. The mediating role of compliance, analyser or proactive corporate strategies towards sustainability is also considered.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses developed in this study were tested using data from a sample of private companies from two industries: manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, and manufacture of basic metals.
Findings
The results confirm the role played by institutional pressures for sustainability in explaining the involvement of organisations in economic, social and environmental aspects. The mediating effect of corporate strategy is also confirmed, although only for environmental aspects.
Originality/value
Research into sustainability development is evolving rapidly; however, few studies have explored its diffusion amongst organisations from a triple bottom line perspective by considering the role of different current external pressures, the corporate strategy and the diverse results.
研究目的
本研究擬對強制壓力、規範壓力和模仿壓力對可持續性成果的影響進行實證研究。研究的焦點放在三重底線法的三個層面上,即是環境層面、經濟層面和社會層面。研究人員亦探討尋求可持續性的承諾、分析儀和積極主動的公司戰略的中介作用。
研究方法
研究人員測試其建立的各項假設; 使用的數據取自兩個企業的私人公司的樣本,它們是製造化學品和化學產品的企業,以及製造基本金屬的企業。
研究結果
研究結果確認了尋求可持續性所帶來的制度壓力,在解說企業於經濟、社會和環境三方面的參與上所扮演的角色。研究結果亦確認了公司戰略的中介作用,唯這只見於環境的層面上。
研究的原創性
探討可持續性發展的學術研究發展迅速,唯當中較少從三個基本的角度去探討可持續性發展在組織內的傳播; 本研究考慮了目前各種外來壓力、公司戰略和不同的結果所扮演的角色,以彌補這研究差距。
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Osama Meqdadi, Thomas E. Johnsen, Rhona E. Johnsen and Asta Salmi
This paper aims to investigate the impact of monitoring and mentoring strategies on sustainability diffusion within supply networks through focal companies and how suppliers…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of monitoring and mentoring strategies on sustainability diffusion within supply networks through focal companies and how suppliers engage in implementing these strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports on three in-depth case studies conducted with focal companies and their suppliers. An interaction approach was adopted to guide the analysis of focal companies’ strategies for implementing and diffusing sustainability in supply networks.
Findings
The monitoring strategy impacts sustainability diffusion at the dyadic level, while the mentoring strategy is a prerequisite for the diffusion of sustainability at the supply network level. The findings suggest that coupling monitoring with mentoring can lead to diffusion beyond first-tier suppliers. Interaction intensity, supplier proactiveness and mindset change facilitate sustainability diffusion in supply networks.
Research limitations/implications
The authors suggest more research be conducted on specific practices within monitoring and mentoring, as some of these imply very different levels of commitment and interaction.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that in the future, companies will be increasingly called upon to adopt cooperative initiatives to enable the diffusion of sustainability in supply networks.
Originality/value
The contribution of the paper lies in its identification of the impacts of monitoring and mentoring strategies on the diffusion of sustainability in networks, revealing different supplier engagement in these strategies, which may foster or hinder sustainability diffusion.
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Nowadays, companies abandon their traditional rent-gaining strategies. They pursue triple bottom-line results by implementing economic, environmental and social sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, companies abandon their traditional rent-gaining strategies. They pursue triple bottom-line results by implementing economic, environmental and social sustainability strategies. This paper aims to link the main sustainability strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging and developing markets (EDMs) to the strategic, industrial, market and institutional antecedents of sustainability development.
Design/methodology/approach
Positivism and a deductive research approach are used to test propositions through a multiple case study strategy, to identify the sustainability strategies of five MNEs belonging in five different industries, and the antecedents of these strategies.
Findings
Strategic leadership and strategic behavior/orientation are among the most important antecedents of sustainability strategies development in EDMs. The sustainability strategies are partially industry specific. However, all companies had undertaken activities that go beyond the mitigation of their negative impact, acting as regulators of the EDMs.
Originality/value
Previous literature has explained sustainability as an attempt of the MNEs to cover institutional voids and the absence/failings of the state. This paper contributes to the exploration of sustainability strategies of MNEs in EDMs, by identifying the strategic and market influences driving sustainability and by linking this strategic behavior to industrial and institutional idiosyncrasies.
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Eijaz Ahmed Khan, Md Maruf Hossan Chowdhury, Pradip Royhan, Sunaina Gowan, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman and Mehregan Mahdavi
Sustainable development goals and the climate change agenda are becoming widely promoted topics of research for the 21st century. The role of cities is increasingly recognised as…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable development goals and the climate change agenda are becoming widely promoted topics of research for the 21st century. The role of cities is increasingly recognised as central to investigating these topics. Yet, the field of informal sector entrepreneurship which so many urban entrepreneurs in developing countries depend upon is seldom considered. To redress this imbalance, this study aims to develop a decision model in accordance with institutional theory (IT) and resource dependency theory (RDT) for city managers to deploy. The model identifies and prioritises optimal strategies to address the three areas of sustainability requirements environment society and economy within the study context of Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a mixed methods research design. In the qualitative part, the authors identified the three areas of sustainability requirements (i.e. environment, society and economy) and their corresponding strategies involving the informal sector that operates within the urban environment. In the quantitative part, the authors applied fuzzy quality function deployment (QFD) integrated with the 0-1 non-linear optimisation technique to identify optimal strategies.
Findings
The findings show that strategies such as legitimate frameworks, waste management, allocation of urban public space and training programs contribute in important ways to the three areas of sustainability requirements.
Practical implications
The proposed decision model will assist policy-makers and city managers to prioritise sustainability requirements and implement optimal strategies to address those requirements.
Originality/value
Through the integration of IT and RDT, the decision model developed in this study is unique in its application to urban-based informal entrepreneurship in the context of developing countries. The effective application of the fuzzy QFD approach and the optimisation model in the context of urban-based informal entrepreneurship also offers unique contributions to the field of study.
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