Chaminda Wijethilake and Athula Ekanayake
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework which sheds new light on how sustainability control systems (SCS) can be used in proactive strategic responses to…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework which sheds new light on how sustainability control systems (SCS) can be used in proactive strategic responses to corporate sustainability pressures.
Design/Methodology/Approach – Corporate sustainability pressures are identified using insights from institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm.
Findings – The paper presents an integrated framework showing the corporate sustainability pressures, proactive strategic responses to these pressures, and how organizations might use SCS in their responses to the corporate sustainability pressures they face.
Practical Implications – The proposed framework shows how organizations can use SCS in proactive strategic responses to corporate sustainability pressures.
Originality/Value – The paper suggests that instead of using traditional financial-oriented management control systems, organizations need more focus on emerging SCS as a means of achieving sustainability objectives. In particular, the paper proposes different SCS tools that can be used in proactive strategic responses to sustainability pressures in terms of (i) specifying and communicating sustainability objectives, (ii) monitoring sustainability performance, and (iii) providing motivation by linking sustainability rewards to performance.
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Jerónimo de Burgos‐Jiménez, Diego Vázquez‐Brust, José A. Plaza‐Úbeda and Jeroen Dijkshoorn
This paper analyses the relationship between environmental protection and mid‐term financial performance, focusing on when and why this relationship is positive. In particular…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses the relationship between environmental protection and mid‐term financial performance, focusing on when and why this relationship is positive. In particular, the paper disaggregates environmental protection, differentiating between environmental management practices, environmental proactivity and environmental performance of the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
It uses a cross‐section survey of 2,122 Welsh companies to gather information on environmental practices and the FAME database to collect data on accounting based financial performance. The paper uses regression analysis on a combined sample of 186 Welsh companies to evaluate the effect on performance of different types of environmental protection.
Findings
On the whole, the results show a positive effect of environmental protection on mid‐term financial performance. Financial performance has a positive and significant correlation with environmental proactivity and with environmental performance, while it has a no significant relation with environmental management.
Originality/value
The paper presents a disaggregated analysis of environmental protection in relationship with financial performance. The paper differentiates between environmental management practices, environmental proactivity and environmental performance of the organization in their relationship with financial performance.
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Yi-Chun Huang, Ying-Jiuan Wong and Min-Li Yang
This study examined how proactive environmental management affects firm performance and whether a controlling family moderates this effect. The paper aims to discuss these issues…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined how proactive environmental management affects firm performance and whether a controlling family moderates this effect. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted content analysis to collect data on listed Taiwanese firms and used cross-sectional regression analysis to examine the relationship between proactive environmental management and firm performance as well as the moderating role of a controlling family.
Findings
The results indicated that not all types of proactive environmental management are positively associated with firm performance and that a controlling family might be more effective in low-risk proactive environmental management practices.
Research limitations/implications
The focus was on the impact of proactive environmental management from the perspective of stockholders. Future research could investigate its impact on other stakeholders as well.
Practical implications
The findings might convince managers that the stereotype of an environment-friendly firm – that the more its green initiatives, the less competitive it becomes – may not necessarily be true. Investing in product-focused pollution prevention could increase revenues and improve performance. Even though process-focused pollution prevention is negatively associated with firm performance, companies are not expected to reduce investment in green processes since they are required for the production of environment-friendly products.
Originality/value
This study adopted a multi-dimensional approach to reveal how different types of proactive environmental management affect firm performance. The authors used the controlling family as a moderating variable to determine whether it moderates the relationship between proactive environmental management and firm performance.
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Outsourcing of business-logistics services is a well-established business practice that allows an outsourcer to obtain the services or products from a logistics-service provider…
Abstract
Outsourcing of business-logistics services is a well-established business practice that allows an outsourcer to obtain the services or products from a logistics-service provider (LSP). The outsourcer can order a range of logistics services, including but not limited to warehousing, transportation, and forwarding. The outsourcers had traditionally focused on service-provider selection criteria such as costs, quality, and responsiveness while having devoted considerably less attention to how sustainably the practices are carried out. Past research identified different external and internal motivators that facilitate consideration of sustainability in selection of the service providers, whereas the current study investigates the outsourcers’ perception of importance of environmental sustainability in adoption of green logistics practices and selection of LSPs. We use a vantage point of outsourcers (“buyers”) to conduct the quantitative research based on a survey conducted on large manufacturing companies. The findings reveal a (mis)match between the perception of importance and realized inclusion of environmental-sustainability criteria. Ultimately, this study finds a link between the levels of perception and rate of adoption, and provides recommendations for the future adoption of environmental-sustainability criteria in the selection of the LSPs.
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Beatriz Forés, Alba Puig-Denia and José Maria Fernández-Yáñez
This study draws on the natural resource-based view to analyze the effects of technologies, managerial commitment, and firm strategy on sustainability performance, in terms of…
Abstract
This study draws on the natural resource-based view to analyze the effects of technologies, managerial commitment, and firm strategy on sustainability performance, in terms of both environmental and social profits. It also examines how the effect of green technologies on sustainability performance can be triggered by a managerial commitment to sustainability issues, and by the adoption of a prospector strategy. Multiple linear regression was used to test research hypotheses on a sample of 426 Spanish tourism firms. The results provide important insights into the importance of the adoption of explorer strategies fostering the strategic exploitation of green technologies to obtain new efficient processes, organizational procedures, and products. This research also shows the contingent moderating effect that managerial commitment exerts on the strategic implementation of green technologies for sustainability performance.
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Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even…
Abstract
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even beyond the energy sector, stakeholders are putting increasing pressure on MNEs to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations, that is, to improve their carbon performance. While there is unambiguous evidence that national climate policy is a critical catalyst for long-term carbon performance improvements, there is limited research on how MNEs’ carbon strategies react to climate policies. This chapter reviews the concepts, drivers, and strategies connected to carbon performance in the broader sustainability and management literature to clarify potential complementarities to international business (IB). The authors then highlight how MNEs will face increasing institutional complexity along two dimensions: (1) the structural diversity of institutional environments and (2) institutional dynamism, primarily reflected by public policy. The proposed conceptual framework maps these two dimensions to national and subnational levels, and the authors present two data sources that allow the quantitative analysis of country differences in the diversity and dynamism of national climate policy. The authors conclude that there are ample opportunities for IB researchers to explore MNEs’ strategic reactions to climate policy and to inform policymakers about the consequences of national climate policy in the global economy.
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Yi‐Chun Huang and Yen‐Chun Jim Wu
This study seeks to identify the factors influencing the performance of green new product development. Additionally, an examination of the relationship between green performance…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to identify the factors influencing the performance of green new product development. Additionally, an examination of the relationship between green performance and financial performance is carried out.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed survey instrument data collected from 181 companies in hi‐tech industries including electrical, electronics, and information industries of Taiwan. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regressions were used for hypothesis testing.
Findings
Corporate environmental commitment, environmental benchmarking, R&D strength, and cross‐functional integration significantly positively influenced financial performance. Additionally, green product innovation performance has a positive effect on financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
A longitudinal research design is necessary to validate these claims of causality. Furthermore, since respondents provided data on both the independent and dependent variables, there is the possibility that the correlations were inflated as a result of single‐source bias.
Practical implications
The identification of the specific actions of both top management support and environmental benchmarking must be implemented for green new product development to occur. Additionally, successful GNPD needs to be underpinned by an environmental product strategy that is explicit, clearly defined, and linked to the overall strategy of the firm.
Social implications
Taiwan's rapid industrialization has generated numerous environmental problems. Moving forward, the Taiwanese government should implement advanced green management concepts to keep abreast of the global environmental movement. Enterprises have to be dedicated to developing GNPD; achieving GNPD success will bring great challenges for firms in Taiwan.
Originality/value
The integration of innovation, new product development, and green management philosophies is explored in order to develop and empirically test a theoretical framework of the organizational factors. This paper is the first to conduct a large sample survey of the hi‐tech industries including the electrical, electronics, and information industries in Taiwan to examine organizational factor effects on GNPD success, and the relationship between green product innovation performance and financial performance.
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Gino Marchet, Marco Melacini and Sara Perotti
The purpose of this paper is to categorise the research on environmental sustainability in logistics and transportation on the basis of the main themes and study methods and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to categorise the research on environmental sustainability in logistics and transportation on the basis of the main themes and study methods and proposes directions for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The review is based on 72 papers published from 1994 to 2011 in international peer-reviewed journals. The academic papers were analysed and categorised according to both their defining characteristics (i.e. year of publication, journal title, regions addressed, and research methodology adopted) and the themes tackled. Five key themes were examined: sustainability initiatives, reasons for adoption, benefits achieved following adoption, critical issues and barriers to adoption, and the evaluation and measurement of environmental initiatives.
Findings
While many studies have addressed the issue of environmental sustainability within the supply chain as a whole, papers focusing specifically on environmental sustainability within logistics and freight transportation are fewer and relatively more recent. Although researchers have started to examine the decision-making process involved in environmental sustainability adoption in recent years, many themes, such as sustainability evaluation and measurement, and the level of adoption of sustainability initiatives in the context of the third-party logistics (3PL) industry are under-represented in the literature. As far as the methodology is concerned, our review revealed that many articles are either conceptual papers or empirical studies (i.e. mostly based on surveys or case studies), while simulation and analytical modelling have rarely been addressed.
Research limitations/implications
While efforts were made to be all-inclusive, some research efforts may have inadvertently been omitted. However, the authors believe that this review provides an accurate representation of the body of research on environmental sustainability in logistics and transportation published during the specified timeframe, and that the resulting assessments are reliable.
Originality/value
The paper offers a guide to the previous research on this topic and identifies the most important issues that need to be addressed in future research.
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Duangporn Puttawong and Anusorn Kunanusorn
This study has two objectives:(1) to examine impacts of environmental activity, relational marketing, and corporate green image on firm’s competitive performance; and (2) to…
Abstract
This study has two objectives:(1) to examine impacts of environmental activity, relational marketing, and corporate green image on firm’s competitive performance; and (2) to determine whether relational marketing and corporate green image mediate relationships between environmental activity and firm’s competitive performance. They were data from 375 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the food processing industry in Bangkok, Thailand. This study also investigates the relationships between environmental activity, green corporate image, relational marketing, and influences of these factors on firm’s competitive performance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data. Results reveal significant and positive relationships between environmental activity, green corporate image, relational marketing, and firm’s competitive performance. Moreover, environmental activity, an antecedent variable, indirectly affects a firm’s competitive performance mediated by green corporate image and relational marketing. Therefore, green corporate image and relational marketing can act as mediators between environmental activity and firm’s competitive performance. Findings suggested that firms should focus on improving green corporate image and relational marketing with an appropriate environmental activity strategy to enhance the firm’s competitive performance. Moreover, this study’s result is related to the economics of the environment in terms of cost and benefit. It provides firm’s decision on environmental activity.
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Marco Sartor, Guido Orzes and Elisa Moras
ISO 14001 standard is the environmental certification developed by the International Organization for Standardization to describe the requirements for a certifiable Environmental…
Abstract
ISO 14001 standard is the environmental certification developed by the International Organization for Standardization to describe the requirements for a certifiable Environmental Management System (EMS). The standard is included in the ISO 14000 series, developed because of the need for improved environmental quality. The current version of the ISO 14001 is the ISO 14001:2015; the purpose of the revision was to structure all the ISO standard (e.g., ISO9001) similarly and facilitate management systems’ integration.
The literature highlights that many drivers encourage companies to obtain the certification (e.g., need for an improved image of the company, pressure from customers, and ethical reasons), but there are also some barriers to its implementation (e.g., risk of spreading confidential information, reduction in productivity, and cost of the certification). However, the certification is connected to better performances indicated by the increase in process productivity and control, the reduction in resources’ consumption and waste, and the improved quality of products/processes.