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The authors apply social network theory and natural resource–based view to empirically examine a model of the relationships among business networking (BN) orientation, green operations practices and performance. A firm must achieve appropriate internal green operations practices to capitalize on its external BN orientation and thus be able to establish a competitive advantage and superior performance.

Using survey data from 132 ISO 14001–certified manufacturing firms in Malaysia, all of which participate in environmental programs and sustainability activities, the authors explore the effects of two BN orientation facets (customer-oriented and supplier-oriented) on green operations practices (green purchasing, eco-design and regulatory practices) and their subsequent influence on environmental and economic performance.

Structural equation modeling outcomes confirm only one BN orientation facet positively affects green operations practices, nor do the advantages affect economic performance directly. The results illustrate how environmental outcomes mediate the links between green operations practices and economic performance.

Drawing on social network theory and natural resource–based view, authors propose internal green operations practices as a channel through which external BN orientation induces firm performance. Internal green operations practices determine a firm's ability to exploit its external BN orientation to achieve operational competencies and lead to superior performance. Rather than focusing on the social connections generated by external BN orientation itself, the authors recommend that firms address the core competencies contributing to their green operations practices and engage in network building.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the various supplier selections construct impacts on firm’s operational competitive capability as well as an overall performance from a developing country’s environment.

Structural equation modeling was used to study the relationship between supplier selection criteria, competitive operational capabilities and overall organizational performance using survey of informants.

In this work, the authors demonstrate that an effective supplier selection will lead to an enhanced competitive capability of the buying firm. Specifically, the authors show that selecting suppliers based on quality will lead to an improved quality of the buying firm, service will lead to improved delivery time and supplier strategic fit will lead to reduced cost, improved delivery time and improved flexibility of the buying firm. Furthermore, the buying firm competitive operational capabilities in terms of improved delivery time will lead overall performance from the Ghanaian business environment. The results indicate no significant difference between the manufacturing and service sectors.

The results indicate the relevance and the implications of the various supplier selection criteria from a developing country’s environment such as Ghana.

The research shows how supplier selection criteria should be structured to enhance operational competitive capabilities and overall performance of the buying firm.

The work illustrates and provides some insights and build on the literature in the area of supply selection strategies from a developing country’s environment.

This study uses data from 255 global pharmaceutical/biotechnological companies to (1) determine the impact of internationalization on firm performance and (2) explore the moderating effect that product diversity has on the relationship between internationalization and company performance. The results highlight the rewards of pursuing internationalization and demonstrate that companies benefit from internationalization activities by achieving higher overall performance. This finding contrasts with recent empirical evidence that an S‐curve relationship exists. Analysis of the moderating effect of product diversity indicates a strong effect on the internationalization‐performance relationship and thus shows that the payoff from internationalization is moderated by product diversity

Previous empirical results on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance have been mixed. Both monotonic and curvilinear relationships have been reported. Most recent studies have focused on different types of curvilinear relationships, such as inverted Ushaped, standard U‐shaped, and multiple waves. This paper utilizes a more current sample of firms than prior studies have used and decomposes traditional financial performance measures, applying two different measures of degree of internationalization, country scope and foreign sales as a percent of total sales (FSTS), to measure the effects on financial performance of different degrees of internationalization. Several financial performance measures, including traditional indexes (ROE and ROA) and a decomposition of traditional ones (Profit Margin, Total Asset Turnover), are examined.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate entrepreneurship, social capital and resources contribute to the implementation of supply chain management (SCM) practices in Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) automotive industry.

A conceptual framework of antecedents of SCM practices and several research hypotheses were proposed. Hypotheses were tested with data from original equipment manufacturers suppliers in the ASEAN automotive manufacturing industry. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were used to test the hypotheses.

The analysis of survey data suggests that corporate entrepreneurship theory and social capital theory play a key role in motivating and preceding SCM practices. However, traditional resource-based explanations of SCM decisions by western manufacturing firms do not always apply to ASEAN automotive suppliers.

This paper may have excluded some crucial constructs that affect SCM practices. This study also suffers from the common limitations of empirical research, including the reliance on a single respondent. Prior studies suggest that firms with better resources are likely to create more effective SCM operations. This study contributes to the literature by adding behavioral explanations to the research stream. That is, drawing on corporate entrepreneurship and social capital theories, the authors’ link firm behavioral factors to their resources and thus help explains SCM practices.

This study provides some notable managerial implications. The study shows that to implement successful SCM practices, emerging ASEAN automotive suppliers should exploit both the internal and external antecedents of SCM. Internal antecedent in the form of corporate entrepreneurship that measures a firm's innovativeness and proactiveness, and external antecedent in the form of social capital that measures a firm's relationships with its supply chain members are important factors that affect SCM practices. Also, these factors are important in counteracting the adverse forces of the environmental uncertainty to improve performance.

These findings extend prior research by establishing the importance of the relationships between SCM practices and its antecedents. Also, this is one of the few studies that specifically examined the ASEAN automotive industry.

Global outsourcing shifts manufacturing jobs to emerging countries, which provides new opportunities for improving their economic development. The authors develop and test a theoretical model to predict first, how sustainable supply chain initiatives might influence reverse logistics outcomes and second, the impact of eco-reputation and eco-innovation orientation strategies on the deployment of sustainable supply chain initiatives. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The proposed new model of antecedents and outcomes of sustainable supply chain initiatives underwent a rigorous empirical test through structural equation modeling with samples from an emerging market.

The results show that firms that implement sustainable supply chain initiatives can realize positive reverse logistics outcomes; the study also provides new insights into eco-innovation and eco-reputation strategic orientations as theoretically important antecedents of sustainable supply chain initiatives.

Though the authors identify three components of sustainable supply chain initiatives, other components could exist, and ongoing research should investigate them.

The findings have important implications for managers in emerging markets seeking to initiate ecologically friendly business practices. The authors offer strong evidence of the benefits obtained from reverse logistics in sustainable supply chain initiatives. Policy makers and firms attempting to nurture sustainable supply chain initiatives should not overlook the important role of eco-reputation and eco-innovation strategic orientations, which the results identify as important enablers.

This study offers evidence of the critical role of eco-reputation and eco-innovation strategic orientations in deploying sustainable supply chain initiative programs, as well as of their mutual effects. This study also offers empirical evidence that implementing sustainable supply chain initiatives leads to reverse logistics, creating value, and a new source of competitive advantages.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of information sharing capability on buyer‐supplier relationships and firm performance. It is proposed that information sharing capability, the integration of a firm's information/decision systems and business processes with those of supply chain partners, is an antecedent of collaborative buyer‐supplier relationships, defined in terms of supply chain and relationship architecture. Further, it is proposed that these relationships positively impact a firm's market and financial performance.

This research uses multiple linear regression to analyze a set of survey data from the USA, Europe and New Zealand.

Results demonstrate positive relationships between information sharing capability and buyer‐supplier relationships, and between relationships and performance.

Information sharing capability and buyer‐supplier relationships are complex, multi dimensional constructs. While this research highlights their role in driving performance, further study is required to more fully capture their impact and to understand the implications for situational factors such as industry sector and transaction type.

Results from the study provide academics and policymakers with insights into key information sharing constructs related to the development of buyer‐supplier relationships. These provide guidance in developing the infrastructure to support such relationships.

This study adds to the extant literature by examining the dimensions of information sharing related to buyer‐supplier relationships and performance.

Environmental sustainability literature provides extensive evidence that business organizations, societies, and governments all have a stake in green operations management. Despite the importance of a firm's effort to alleviate environmental damages and provide economic benefits to organizations, little is known about the external institutional drivers that enable firms to adopt internal proactive environmental strategies. This purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which an internal proactive environmental strategy (eco‐design) and external institutional drivers (government regulations and incentives, customer pressures) motivate firms to adopt eco‐deigns that influence environmental performance.

Hypotheses are tested using data from a sample of 132 EMS ISO 14001 – certified manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Specifically, this study uses survey data to validate the major premises in our proposed model.

Empirical tests of the hypotheses with structural equation modeling (SEM) support the posited explanation that external institutional drivers influence a firm's environmental performance both directly and indirectly through its internal proactive environmental strategy. These findings extend prior research by establishing the importance of the relationships among regulations/incentives, customer pressures, eco‐designs, and environmental performance.

Although the research design incorporates extensive literature reviews, it does not capture every aspect of underlying constructs characteristics. Future efforts should establish a valid, reliable instrument for these constructs.

This research provides rigorous empirical support of the contribution of eco‐design to environmental performance. This finding helps managers recognize how to leverage their internally developed eco‐designs capabilities by responding to external pressures and institutional concerns. The response to external institutional pressures provides a basis for creating an inimitable eco‐design resource base, which is critical to environmental sustainability.

This study examines a key factor, eco‐design, that may transmit the influence of regulations/incentives and customer pressures to firm's environmental performance. The findings provide strong support for the main thesis, as well as valuable insights about predictors of firm environmental performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of inter‐organization information exchange on supply chain information and relational alignment. Drawing on literature on information systems, supply chain management, and logistics, the paper aims to present a multidimensional framework for considering electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption in supplier management and its effect on information and relational alignment.

Theories drawn from resource‐dependent and transaction cost economics, and the resource‐based view of the firm were used to establish hypotheses. Structural equation modeling using survey data of manufacturing firms was used to test the hypotheses and research model.

Results support the central premise that firms must consider EDI adoption in supplier management to improve information and relational alignment between supply chain partners. It is through this alignment that firms achieve superior performance.

This study used a single respondent from each firm due to cost considerations, and hence might have affected the inter‐rater reliability of the survey data.

Results show that firms should consider EDI adoption in supplier management because of its positive effect on information and relational alignment, which in turn impacts firm performance. However, EDI does not affect performance directly.

The role of EDI adoption in supplier management was examined and shown to indirectly affect firm performance via improved information and relational alignment. Moreover, supply chain information alignment was found to enhance relational alignment among supply chain partners.