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1 – 10 of over 2000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 August 2024

Issam Krimi, Ziyad Bahou and Raid Al-Aomar

This work conducts a comprehensive analysis of how to incorporate resilience and sustainability into capacity expansion strategies for business-to-business (B2B) chemical supply

Abstract

Purpose

This work conducts a comprehensive analysis of how to incorporate resilience and sustainability into capacity expansion strategies for business-to-business (B2B) chemical supply chains. This study aims to guide both researchers and managers on ensuring profitability in B2B chemical supply chains while minimizing environmental impacts, complying with regulations and mitigating disruptions and risks.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review is conducted to analyze the interplay between sustainability and resilience in chemical B2B supply chains, specify the quantitative and qualitative methods used to tackle this challenge and identify the drivers and barriers concerning capacity expansion. In addition, a comprehensive conceptual framework is suggested to outline a compelling research agenda.

Findings

The findings emphasize the increasing importance of modeling and resolving decision-making challenges related to sustainable and resilient supply chains, particularly in capital-intensive chemical industries. Yet, there is no standardized strategy for addressing these challenges. The predominant solution methods are heuristic and metaheuristic, and the selection of performance metrics tends to be empirical and tailored to specific cases. The main barriers to achieving sustainability and resilience arise from resource limitations within the supply chain. Conversely, the key drivers of performance focus on enhancing efficiency, competitiveness, cost effectiveness and risk management.

Practical implications

This work offers practitioners a conceptual framework that synthesizes the knowledge and tackles the challenges of designing sustainable and resilient supply chains as well as managing their operations in the context of B2B chemical supply chains. Results provide a practical guide for navigating the complex interplay of sustainability, resilience and chemical supply chain expansion.

Originality/value

The key concepts and dimensions associated with capacity expansion planning for a resilient and sustainable chemical supply chain are identified through structured and comprehensive analyses of existing literature. A conceptual framework is proposed for delineating the intersections among sustainability, resilience and chemical supply chain expansions. This mapping endeavor aims to facilitate a future characterized by the deployment of a nexus of resilience and sustainability in chemical supply chains. To this end, a promising future research agenda is accordingly outlined.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 39 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 June 2024

Bruno Varella Miranda, Guilherme Fowler A. Monteiro, Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira and Vinicius Picanço Rodrigues

This paper aims to investigate delegation decisions in supply chains, exploring the metaphor that consumers who make environmentally and socially responsible choices are…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate delegation decisions in supply chains, exploring the metaphor that consumers who make environmentally and socially responsible choices are equivalent to voters in an election.

Design/methodology/approach

This theoretical paper relies on the principles of agency theory to shed light on fundamental challenges that shape our ability to transform supply chains.

Findings

This paper unravels two puzzles linked to delegation decisions within sustainable supply chains. It shows that as firms adopt sustainable production systems, their ability to convey relevant information that convinces consumers to enter in a delegation relationship diminishes, ceteris paribus; and once a delegation relationship is established, complementarity within the dimensions of the contract is necessary to guarantee the delivery of sustainability attributes.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this paper offer insights that can inspire empirical research on sustainable supply chain management.

Practical implications

Policymakers and entrepreneurs willing to incentivize the transformation of supply chains must think about the nature of the relationship between firms and consumers. This paper provides a metaphor that can help practitioners to reinterpret their role as providers or consumers of products and services with sustainability attributes.

Social implications

This paper provides insights that may enhance the understanding of how individual consumption decisions may contribute to transforming supply chains.

Originality/value

This paper expands the repertoire of theoretical tools that can be applied to study the emergence and resilience of sustainable supply chains.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 59 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 May 2024

Raja Usman Khalid, Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja and Muhammad Bilal Ahsan

This article aims to evaluate published food cold chain (FCC) literature against risk management and supply chain sustainability concepts.

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to evaluate published food cold chain (FCC) literature against risk management and supply chain sustainability concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

The article uses the theory refinement logic proposed by Seuring et al. (2021) to analyze the contents of FCC management-related literature published over the past 20 years. A sample of 116 articles was gathered using Web of Science and subsequently analyzed. The respective articles were then systematically coded against the frameworks of Beske and Seuring (2014) and Vlajic et al. (2012), which focused on building sustainable and robust supply chains, respectively.

Findings

The literature review revealed that debates around managing contemporary sources of disruptions/vulnerability and making FCCs more sustainable and resilient are gradually developing. However, an overarching risk management perspective along with incorporating social and environmental dimensions in managing FCCs still needs the adequate attention of the respective research community.

Research limitations/implications

The deductive internal logic of theory refinement approach used in this paper could have been further strengthened by using additional frameworks. This limitation, however, opens avenues for further research. The findings of the paper will stimulate the interest of future researchers to work on expanding our understanding related to sustainability and risk management in FCCs.

Originality/value

The paper is the first attempt to organize published FCC literature along dimensions of supply chain sustainability and risk management. The paper thus provides the respective researchers with a foundation that will help them adopt a focused approach to addressing the research gaps.

Details

Modern Supply Chain Research and Applications, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3871

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 August 2021

Caroline Emberson, Silvia Maria Pinheiro and Alexander Trautrims

The purpose of this paper is to examine how first-tier suppliers in multi-tier supply chains adapt their vertical and horizontal relationships to reduce the risk of slavery-like…

1116

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how first-tier suppliers in multi-tier supply chains adapt their vertical and horizontal relationships to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Archer’s morphogenetic theory as an analytical lens, this paper presents case analyses adduced from primary and secondary data related to the development of relational anti-slavery supply capabilities in Brazilian–UK beef and timber supply chains.

Findings

Four distinct types of adaptation were found among first-tier suppliers: horizontal systemisation, vertical systemisation, horizontal transformation and vertical differentiation.

Research limitations/implications

This study draws attention to the socially situated nature of corporate action, moving beyond the rationalistic discourse that underpins existing research studies of multi-tier, socially sustainable, supply chain management. Cross-sector comparison highlights sub-country and intra-sectoral differences in both institutional setting and the approaches and outcomes of individual corporate actors’ initiatives. Sustainable supply chain management theorists would do well to seek out those institutional entrepreneurs who actively reshape the institutional conditions within which they find themselves situated.

Practical implications

Practitioners may benefit from adopting a structured approach to the analysis of the necessary or contingent complementarities between their, primarily economic, objectives and the social sustainability goals of other, potential, organizational partners.

Social implications

A range of interventions that may serve to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices in global commodity chains are presented.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel analysis of qualitative empirical data and extends understanding of the agential role played by first-tier suppliers in global, multi-tier, commodity, supply chains.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2024

Subhanjan Sengupta, Sonal Choudhary, Raymond Obayi and Rakesh Nayak

This study aims to explore how sustainable business models (SBM) can be developed within agri-innovation systems (AIS) and emphasize an integration of the two with a systemic…

1392

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how sustainable business models (SBM) can be developed within agri-innovation systems (AIS) and emphasize an integration of the two with a systemic understanding for reducing food loss and value loss in postharvest agri-food supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted longitudinal qualitative research in a developing country with food loss challenges in the postharvest supply chain. This study collected data through multiple rounds of fieldwork, interviews and focus groups over four years. Thematic analysis and “sensemaking” were used for inductive data analysis to generate rich contextual knowledge by drawing upon the lived realities of the agri-food supply chain actors.

Findings

First, this study finds that the value losses are varied in the supply chain, encompassing production value, intrinsic value, extrinsic value, market value, institutional value and future food value. This happens through two cumulative effects including multiplier losses, where losses in one model cascade into others, amplifying their impact and stacking losses, where the absence of data stacks or infrastructure pools hampers the realisation of food value. Thereafter, this study proposes four strategies for moving from the loss-incurring current business model to a networked SBM for mitigating losses. This emphasises the need to redefine ownership as stewardship, enable formal and informal beneficiary identification, strengthen value addition and build capacities for empowering communities to benefit from networked SBM with AIS initiatives. Finally, this study puts forth ten propositions for future research in aligning AIS with networked SBM.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding the interplay between AIS and SBM; emphasising the integration of the two to effectively address food loss challenges in the early stages of agri-food supply chains. The identified strategies and research propositions provide implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to accelerate sustainable practices for reducing food loss and waste in agri-food supply chains.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 May 2024

Mahak Sharma, Rose Antony, Ashu Sharma and Tugrul Daim

Supply chains need to be made viable in this volatile and competitive market, which could be possible through digitalization. This study is an attempt to explore the role of…

1578

Abstract

Purpose

Supply chains need to be made viable in this volatile and competitive market, which could be possible through digitalization. This study is an attempt to explore the role of Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business performance from the lens of natural resource-based view.

Design/methodology/approach

The study tests the proposed model using a covariance-based structural equation modelling and further investigates the ranking of each construct using the artificial neural networks approach in AMOS and SPSS respectively. A total of 234 respondents selected using purposive sampling aided in capturing the industry practices across supply chains in the UK. The full collinearity test was carried out to study the common method bias and the content validity was carried out using the item content validity index and scale content validity index. The convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs and mediation study was carried out in SPSS and AMOS V.23.

Findings

The results are overtly inferring the significant impact of Industry 4.0 practices on creating smart and ultimately sustainable supply chains. A partial relationship is established between Industry 4.0 and supply chain agility through a smart supply chain. This work empirically reinstates the combined significance of green practices, Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business value. The study also uses the ANN approach to determine the relative importance of each significant variable found in SEM analysis. ANN determines the ranking among the significant variables, i.e. supply chain resilience > green practices > Industry 4.0> smart supply chain > supply chain agility presented in descending order.

Originality/value

This study is a novel attempt to establish the role of digitalization in SCs for attaining sustainable business value, providing empirical support to the mediating role of supply chain agility, supply chain resilience and smart supply chain and manifests a significant integrated framework. This work reinforces the integrated model that combines all the constructs dealt with in silos so far in prior literature.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 June 2022

Kati Marttinen and Anni-Kaisa Kähkönen

A firm's ability to cascade sustainability requirements further down to lower-tier suppliers might be affected by inter-firm power relations. This study aimed to identify the…

3079

Abstract

Purpose

A firm's ability to cascade sustainability requirements further down to lower-tier suppliers might be affected by inter-firm power relations. This study aimed to identify the power sources of focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers and to investigate how they may affect their ability to cascade sustainability requirements along multi-tier supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple case study of 24 companies was conducted to investigate the sources of power in multi-tier supply chains. In total, 42 informants from five focal companies, ten first-tier suppliers and nine lower-tier suppliers were interviewed.

Findings

Differences were found between the sources from which focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers drew power. Findings revealed that firms' power sources may increase or impair their ability to cascade sustainability requirements to lower supply chain tiers. Furthermore, multi-tier supply chain-level power sources constitute a significant determinant of firms' ability to disseminate sustainability requirements to lower-tier suppliers.

Practical implications

The results can help companies and purchasing managers understand how their own and suppliers' power may affect their ability to cascade sustainability agendas to lower-tier suppliers. In particular, the results can be useful for supplier selection and the development of supplier relationship management strategies for fostering sustainability in multi-tier supply chains.

Originality/value

This study places traditional power perspectives in the context of multi-tier sustainable supply chain management, broadening the view beyond dyadic relationships that have traditionally been the focus of the supply management literature.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 42 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 October 2017

Vahid Shokri Kahi, Saeed Yousefi, Hadi Shabanpour and Reza Farzipoor Saen

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel network and dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for evaluating sustainability of supply chains. In the proposed model…

4751

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel network and dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for evaluating sustainability of supply chains. In the proposed model, all links can be considered in calculation of efficiency score.

Design/methodology/approach

A dynamic DEA model to evaluate sustainable supply chains in which networks have series structure is proposed. Nature of free links is defined and subsequently applied in calculating relative efficiency of supply chains. An additive network DEA model is developed to evaluate sustainability of supply chains in several periods. A case study demonstrates applicability of proposed approach.

Findings

This paper assists managers to identify inefficient supply chains and take proper remedial actions for performance optimization. Besides, overall efficiency scores of supply chains have less fluctuation. By utilizing the proposed model and determining dual-role factors, managers can plan their supply chains properly and more accurately.

Research limitations/implications

In real world, managers face with big data. Therefore, we need to develop an approach to deal with big data.

Practical implications

The proposed model offers useful managerial implications along with means for managers to monitor and measure efficiency of their production processes. The proposed model can be applied in real world problems in which decision makers are faced with multi-stage processes such as supply chains, production systems, etc.

Originality/value

For the first time, the authors present additive model of network-dynamic DEA. For the first time, the authors outline the links in a way that carry-overs of networks are connected in different periods and not in different stages.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 117 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 September 2022

Anass Cherrafi, Andrea Chiarini, Amine Belhadi, Jamal El Baz and Abla Chaouni Benabdellah

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions and revealed the fragilities in supply chains. This crisis has re-opened the debate on supply chain resilience and…

7345

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions and revealed the fragilities in supply chains. This crisis has re-opened the debate on supply chain resilience and sustainability. This paper aims to investigate distinct impacts of COVID-19 on supply chains. It identifies both short- and medium-to-long-term measures taken to mitigate the different effects of the pandemic and highlights potential transformations and their impacts on supply chain sustainability and resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

To address the purpose of the study, a qualitative research approach based on case studies and semi-structured interviews with 15 practitioners from various supply chain types and sectors was conducted. Studied organizations included necessary and non-necessary supply chain sectors, which are differently impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

This study reveals five main challenges facing supply chains during COVID-19, including uncertain demand and supply, suppliers' concentration in specific regions, globalized supply chains, reduced visibility in the supply network, and limited supplier capacity. To help mitigate these challenges and develop both sustainability and resilience, this paper identifies some mitigating actions focusing on the promotion of the health and wellbeing of employees and supply chain stabilization. Further, in the post-COVID era, sustainable and resilient supply chains should consider regionalization of the supply chain, diversification of the supply network, agility, collaboration, visibility, and transparency; and should accelerate the use of smart technologies and circular economy practices as dynamic capabilities to improve supply chain resilience and sustainability.

Originality/value

This study contributes to exploring the sustainability- and resilience-related challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings can be used by researchers and supply chains decision-makers to limit disruptions and improve responsiveness, resilience, sustainability, and restoration of supply chains. The results support benchmarking through sharing of the best practices and organizations can also integrate the different capabilities discussed in this study into the processes of selection and auditing of their suppliers.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 34 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 November 2022

Marcela Ciubotaru

Food supply chains are facing significant changes and challenges coming from the need to adopt inclusive business practices and foster sustainable development. The current…

1525

Abstract

Purpose

Food supply chains are facing significant changes and challenges coming from the need to adopt inclusive business practices and foster sustainable development. The current research aims to provide insights related to the inclusiveness of sustainable business practices of a dairy production co-operative where the smallholders are engaging with a traditional business mind-set. The purpose of the research is to deliver insights about the linkages between accounting and business practices in the adoption of an inclusive business model.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on the qualitative case study of a medium-sized production cooperative company operating in the dairy industry supply chain.

Findings

This study answers the call for research on accounting and control systems in the food sector, by exploring how management and control system is practised within contemporary supply chains. The research aims to analyse the contextual insights of managerial and organizational practices that facilitate inter-organizational relationships and coordination among actors that engage along the supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation relates to the conditions of the time available and the limited number of interviews. Even if key actors were interviewed, a larger sample would have been more beneficial to the research. However, the lack of proper results for accounting tools and software access caused some loss to the research.

Originality/value

This paper emphasizes the effects of the “inclusiveness” of the sustainable business models between suppliers and leading companies by enhancing the sustainable business development within the supply chain, as part of a wider business model in the food sector from an inter-organizational perspective.

Details

European Journal of Management Studies, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2183-4172

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000