Search results

Organizations are faced with increasing pressure to engage in sustainable development. There is an ongoing discussion on how to incorporate green thinking into lean management systems. This study aims to investigate configurations of lean and green supply chain management (GSCM) practices associated with high environmental performance.

The study uses survey data from a sample of Portuguese manufacturing firms and apply fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the data. This configurational technique allows to capture the synergetic effect of lean and GSCM practices and identify distinct combinations leading to the outcome of interest.

Seven configurations of lean and green practices are associated with high environmental performance. The implementation of lean practices is required in all configurations. Analysis of alternative combinations reveals trade-offs between lean initiatives and environmental goals. Four configurations require low level of implementation of pull production. In one configuration, high environmental performance is achieved with low implementation of statistical process control and without lean employee involvement.

This study expands the literature on lean management by identifying different strategies to integrate lean and GSCM practices to achieve high environmental performance.

The findings suggest different strategies to achieve high environmental performance. Managers need to selectively implement lean and green supply chain practices to achieve the desired combinatorial effect, which may require not to implement specific lean practices.

The study demonstrates the synergetic effects of lean and green practices on environmental performance using a configurational perspective. In addition, it identifies combinations that require a low level of implementation of specific lean practices.

Businesses are increasingly called upon to support the improvement of society and the environment, and one way to do so is by expanding into international markets, particularly through exports. Despite the importance and recognised challenges of a global approach to sustainable value creation, sustainability research tends to focus on domestic contexts. This paper aims to identify the boundary conditions linking sustainable value creation practices with firm performance in the international context.

The authors merge the sustainable value creation and the international marketing literature to develop two propositions that capture the emerging nature of the field and the lack of concluding evidence regarding the link between international sustainable value creation practices and firm performance. The authors test these propositions empirically by analysing 519 responses to a survey of exporting firms in Portugal, using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

The authors identify seven configurations that support sustainable value creation in an international context. These consist of varying levels of standardised and tailored offers, management experience and competitive intensity.

The identification of seven different configurations helps managers decide whether and how to innovate when pursuing sustainable value creation opportunities in international markets.

The authors propose that an effective way for governments to achieve national and transnational social and environmental agendas is to help businesses that pursue sustainable value creation to succeed in international markets. Given that four of the seven pathways to improve export performance that the authors identified require international management experience, the authors posit that an effective way to support the internationalisation of those businesses is through targeted training programmes and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

The authors respond to calls for research to integrate the sustainable value creation and the international marketing literatures, to identify how and when firms can create sustainable value creation in an international context and thus support the resolution of global, social and environmental problems. The finding that there are multiple configurations that support this goal explains why empirical evidence collected thus far is inconclusive and helps identify the boundary conditions of existing theory.

Although well documented for physical stores, consumer motives for buying apparel online have been poorly investigated. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), the authors tested a framework that relates time savings, effort savings and money savings to satisfaction, e-loyalty and e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM).

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in Canada during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were collected from 247 participants who made online clothing purchases and analysed using partial least-squares structural equation modelling. The reliability and validity of the measurement model were assessed, and the path coefficients of the structural model were estimated.

Money savings have a strong effect on e-satisfaction, which in turn determines e-loyalty and e-WOM. Time savings have also been found to influence e-satisfaction, whereas effort savings have no influence. Finally, the results indicate that e-satisfaction competitively mediates the relationship between money savings and both e-loyalty and e-WOM.

Utilising the SET, this study contributes to deepening the knowledge of online clothing purchase in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors provide a comprehensive view of the mechanisms through which time savings and money savings are the strongest drivers of customer satisfaction, which in turn influence customer loyalty and e-WOM when buying clothes online.