Alice Arinaitwe, Fiona Apofia Aikiriza, John Bosco Kakooza and Vincent Bagire
This study investigates the nexus of top management commitment and institutional pressures towards enhancing sustainable energy consumption in African Higher Institutions of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the nexus of top management commitment and institutional pressures towards enhancing sustainable energy consumption in African Higher Institutions of Learning.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a structured questionnaire survey, cross-sectional data collected from 64 higher institutions of learning registered with the Uganda National Council for Higher Education were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
Findings
The findings revealed that top management commitment and institutional pressures individually associate with sustainable energy consumption. Top management commitment does not cause variations in sustainable energy consumption. However, when top management commitment coalesces with institutional pressures, they significantly predict sustainable energy consumption.
Research limitations/implications
The current study focuses on Higher Institutions of Learning in Uganda. Hence caution should be taken before generalization of findings. This study therefore sets ground for future studies to investigate sustainable energy consumption in other institutions.
Originality/value
This study tests the efficacy of top management commitment and institutional pressures on sustainable energy consumption using evidence from African Higher Institutions of Learning. It provides new directions for study in such a nascent area of critical national dimension as sustainability and climate change issues top the global agenda.
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Sheila Namagembe, Shamim Nantumbwe, Wilson Tusiime, Robert Kalema, George Kalikwani and Rashida Nampijja
The study focused on the influence of internal environmental communication on organizational environmental governance and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study focused on the influence of internal environmental communication on organizational environmental governance and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices and the mediating role of organizational environmental governance on the relationship between internal environmental communication and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used. The population used consisted of the central procuring and disposing entities. An actual sample size of 105 public sector firms in the central procuring and disposing entities category was used. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), SMART PLS version 4.0.1.8 and AMOS SPSS v26.
Findings
The findings show the relevancy of internal environmental communication in the achievement of organizational environmental governance and adoption of green inbound logistics practices. Further, organizational environmental governance mediates the link between internal environmental communication and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices. However, a partial mediation effect is observed, implying that both internal environmental communication and organizational environmental governance play significant roles in enhancing the adoption of green inbound logistics practices.
Research limitations/implications
The study examined internal environmental communication, organizational environmental governance and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices in a public sector procurement setting. The role of proactive internal environmental communication, proactive external environmental communication, organizational environmental governance and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices in both the public and private sector procurement settings needs to be examined.
Originality/value
Further, the study examines internal environmental communication, organizational environmental governance and the adoption of green inbound logistics practices in a public sector procurement context. Green logistics research is much more pronounced in the third-party logistics firm context. Further, existing research takes a holistic approach when examining the green logistics concept. Whereas the green inbound logistics and green outbound logistics form the green logistics concept, the green inbound logistics concept is much more common in the public procurement settings although no significant attention has been given to it in the existing research.
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Katri Kauppi and Davide Luzzini
Increasing amount of empirical research in operations and supply chain management is using institutional theory as its theoretical lens. Yet, a common scale to measure the three…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasing amount of empirical research in operations and supply chain management is using institutional theory as its theoretical lens. Yet, a common scale to measure the three institutional pressures – coercive, mimetic and normative – is lacking. Many studies use proxies or a single, grouped, construct of external pressures which present methodological challenges. This study aims to present the development of multi-item scales to measure institutional pressures (in a purchasing context).
Design/methodology/approach
First, items were generated based on the theoretical construct definitions. These items were then tested through academic sorting and an international survey. The first empirical testing failed to produce reliable and valid scales, and further refinement and analysis revealed that coercive pressure splits into two separate constructs. A second q-sorting was then conducted with purchasing practitioners, followed by another survey in Italy to verify the new measurement scale for four institutional pressures.
Findings
The multimethod and multistage measurement development reveals that empirically the three institutional pressures actually turn into four pressures. The theoretical construct of coercive pressure splits into two distinct constructs: coercive market pressure and coercive regulatory pressure.
Originality/value
The results of the paper, namely, the measurement scales, are an important theoretical and methodological contribution to future empirical research. They present a much-needed measurement for these theoretical constructs increasingly used in management research.
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As environmental awareness becomes more widespread, the issue of making manufacturing more sustainable has gained increasing attention. The natural-resource-based view (NRBV) sets…
Abstract
Purpose
As environmental awareness becomes more widespread, the issue of making manufacturing more sustainable has gained increasing attention. The natural-resource-based view (NRBV) sets out to explain how firms can reduce their environmental footprint while simultaneously improving their financial performance. Drawing on the NRBV and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) literature, this study examines the relationship between pollution prevention, risk-taking and financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 303 Swedish manufacturing firms were collected through a survey.
Findings
The findings reveals a positive relationship between pollution prevention and financial performance, and this relationship is found to be negatively moderated by risk-taking; that is, pollution prevention reduces the requisite for risk-taking in the achievement of financial performance.
Originality/value
This is the first study to explore how risk-taking moderates the relationship between a pollution prevention strategy and financial performance.
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Xingwen Wu, Zhenxian Zhang, Wubin Cai, Ningrui Yang, Xuesong Jin, Ping Wang, Zefeng Wen, Maoru Chi, Shuling Liang and Yunhua Huang
This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.
Abstract
Purpose
This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.
Design/methodology/approach
Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators. Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration. This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration, including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities, associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie, typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.
Findings
The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms. The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components. The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure, and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam. Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities. The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment, and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.
Originality/value
The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.
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Kejing Chen, Xiaolin Li, Qingqing Wan, Jing Ye and Mo Yang
Based on the textual-analyzed data covering 2148 IPO firms in China’s stock market during the 2007–2018 period, the authors’ purpose is to examine the influence of anti-takeover…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the textual-analyzed data covering 2148 IPO firms in China’s stock market during the 2007–2018 period, the authors’ purpose is to examine the influence of anti-takeover provision (ATP) adoption on initial public offerings (IPO) underpricing and identify the reducing effect of the former.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the sample consisting of Chinese A-share listed IPO firms between 2007 and 2018 from China Stock Market Accounting Research and Chinese Research Data Services, with ATP data collected from the IPO firm chapters. Specifically, the authors use text analysis to identify whether there are ATPs in the IPO firm chapters, as well as the number of ATPs. H1: IPO underpricing is less severe for firms adopting ATPs. H2: The effect of ATP adoption on IPO underpricing is more salient for firms in worse information environments.
Findings
The authors examine the influence of ATP adoption on IPO underpricing and identify the reducing effect of the former. This effect can be explained by the fact that adopting ATPs in IPO firm chapters can reduce information asymmetry to a large extent by helping external investors obtain more private information, which alleviates IPO underpricing. The authors also find that the reducing effect is more significant in the worsened information environment. Furthermore, the authors explore the influence of adopting ATPs on other IPO characteristics and find positive effects on IPO over-subscription, funds raised and trading activity and negative effects on listing fees.
Originality/value
This study mainly contributes to the literature from the following two aspects. First, the study enriches the literature about the influencing factors of IPO underpricing. Second, the study also enriches the literature about the economic consequences of ATP adoption. This study also has important policy implications. With the coming of the era of decentralized ownership in China’s capital market, ATP adoption has become more important and attracted more attention. Also, investors focus more on pricing efficiency. The findings in this paper provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between ATP adoption and IPO underpricing.