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The importance of integrating sustainability into business activities rises continuously. In addition to an established focus on forward logistics, there is a growing awareness of reverse logistics. Reverse logistics ensures sustainable practices and increases competitiveness for companies, but it also comes with challenges. Therefore, the implementation of reverse logistics is associated with uncertainties. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the development and comprehensive potential of reverse logistics as a sustainability tool.

To bridge the research gap, a real-time Delphi study was conducted. Through an extensive desk research, semi-structured interviews and an expert workshop, 14 projections for the German food sector of 2040 were created. A total of 49 experts in the field of logistics, reverse logistics and food logistics assessed the future projections concerning estimated probability, impact and desirability of occurrence.

The findings derived lead to three possible future scenarios as well as potential drivers and barriers that food companies, the government and society need to consider to enable a successful transition toward implementing reverse logistics in food supply chains.

The study examined the future role of reverse logistics as a sustainability tool in food supply chains. The results serve as a framework for decision-making on the sustainable orientation of business practices, leading to increased competitiveness and resilient business strategy. Several implications are derived for practitioners, policymakers and society to promote reverse logistics. Methodologically, this study extends existing Delphi methods by conducting a quantitative dissent and sentiment analysis, considering various surface-level and deep-level diversity characteristics.

The European Union (EU) and European companies are striving for net-zero carbon targets by 2050 and are therefore focused on urgent decarbonization efforts. Manufacturing contributes to 20% of European carbon emissions, although the primary challenge lies in supply chain (SC) emissions, which highlights the field's need to transform. Amid the dissonance between public and private net-zero commitments and persistent carbon emissions, uncertainties surround the development of net-zero carbon supply chains (NZCSCs). This paper aims to address this lack of knowledge by presenting an exploration of the development of NZCSCs within the EU through 2050.

Using a real-time Delphi methodology and tool from durvey.org, this study involves a multiphase panel discussion process with 67 SC and sustainability experts. Twelve prospective theses for NZCSC development in the EU were formulated through desk research, interviews and an expert workshop. The panel assessed these theses in terms of impact, desirability and anticipated occurrence year and provided justification for their evaluations.

The study identifies three clusters that influence NZCSC development, comprising 68 implications that scholars, managers and policymakers should consider during this transition.

This study contributes to the available information regarding NZCSCs by offering insights from a multilevel perspective into the influences on NZCSC development in the EU's manufacturing sector.

The food supply chain worldwide has suffered severely due to the COVID-19 pandemic countermeasures. Previous research suggests that business model innovation (BMI) could be a viable solution for recovering from the pandemic and fostering organizational resilience. This study analyzes the capabilities that enable food companies to innovate their business model and thereby increase organizational resilience.

Results were obtained using a multiple-case study approach consisting of 15 companies along the entire food supply chain. Managers and decision-makers were interviewed, and the collected insights were enriched with additional material.

The results show several capabilities that enable companies to innovate their business model due to disruption. These capabilities are categorized into four phases based on the processual representation of BMIs.

This study contributes to the understanding of BMI in the food supply chain and provides empirical evidence on the potential for business recovery through BMI.

This paper suggests that motives for engaging in affiliative‐promotive “helping” extra‐role behavior is related to cross‐cultural differences. The cultural dimensions of in‐group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, performance orientation, and humane orientation, and their differential effect on helping extra‐role behavior in a diverse workforce are examined. Theoretical implications provide guidance for future empirical research in this area, and provide managers with more realistic expectations of employee performance in the workplace.

In a volatile and highly dynamic business environment, supply chain operations face various challenges. This study, grounded in dynamic capability theory (DCT), investigates how supply chain collaboration (SCC) and supply chain transparency (SCT) influence the relationship between supply chain finance (SCF) and supply chain resilience (SCR) in manufacturing firms. This demonstrates the intrinsic mechanism between SCF and SCR, which provides insights for relative research.

The quantitative research approach was utilized. Employing data collected from 289 Chinese manufacturing firms, structural equation modeling is conducted to test the theoretical hypotheses.

The research findings have revealed that SCF has a positive impact on SCC and SCT and SCC has a positive impact on SCT. Moreover, both SCC and SCT can improve SCR, and SCT plays a positive mediating role between SCC and SCR.

This study provides insightful ideas for managers in enhancing SCR by considering SCF. Moreover, this study highlights the concrete responses firms should do to improve SCC and SCT, thus managers can develop more effective strategies to optimize SCR.

This study contributes to the extant literature on improving SCR through SCF, considering the two dimensions of dynamic capability (i.e. SCC and SCT), which explains the intrinsic mechanisms by which SCF affects SCR. This study also broadens the scope of application of DCT.

This study aims to develop an integrative framework for strategic intelligence (SI) tailored to guide companies navigating systemic disruptions within global supply chains, identifying key determinants for its effective deployment. Current literature on management systems addresses SI components individually, hindering a precise definition and implementation strategy. This systematic review aims to fill these gaps by establishing a conceptual model of SI capability, emphasizing the interdependence of its dimensions.

Following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) mixed-method analysis approach and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, this systematic review synthesizes empirical studies, conceptual papers, mathematical models and literature reviews on SI capability dimensions. It adopts a flexible approach to explore SI within supply chain resilience during systemic crises.

The study enhances and broadens the field of dynamic capabilities (DCs) by advancing knowledge on SI as a dynamic capability inducing resilience within supply chains facing systemic risks. Additionally, it synthesizes and offers perspective on a rapidly expanding body of literature from the past three years, identifying emerging trends and gaps.

This research focused on three capacities: Supply Chain Visibility (SCV), Environmental Dynamism (ED) and Timely Seizing and Detection-Making (TSDM). While other dynamic capabilities may enhance SC resilience (SCR), this study emphasized the analytical and decision-making dimensions critical for improving SCR.

This systematic literature review introduces a novel conceptual framework, providing a foundation for empirical investigations. By offering an integrated theoretical perspective, the study proposes actionable research propositions and insights into SI’s strategic role in crisis management within supply chains.

The estimation of the effects of treatments – endogenous variables representing everything from child participation in a pre-kindergarten program to adult participation in a job-training program to national participation in a free trade agreement – has occupied much of the theoretical and applied econometric research literatures in recent years. This volume brings together a diverse collection of papers on this important topic by leaders in the field from around the world. This collection draws attention to several key facets of the recent evolution in this literature.