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Through examining the two constructs of inter-organizational complementarity and inter-organizational compatibility in supply chains, the purpose of this paper is to develop a taxonomy of focal firms’ inter-organizational fit (IOF) configurations with their suppliers and customers, and examine the relationship between these configurations and environmental innovation (EI) in order to answer the question of “with whom” to collaborate for EI development.

A survey instrument was elaborated and data from a sample of 171 US firms were collected. The authors adopted cluster analysis to identify the IOF taxonomy. Canonical discriminant analysis was employed to uncover underlying dimensions between clustering variables and cluster membership. Then, ANOVA tests were conducted to investigate relationships between IOF configurations in the context of EI in supply chains.

Three configurations were identified based on the complementarity and compatibility between focal firms and their supply chain partners. It is observed that the overall IOF level is positively related to firms’ EI outcomes. Moreover, inter-organizational complementarity facilitates incremental EI while inter-organizational compatibility plays a more crucial role in radical EI. Both are required to achieve the best innovation outcome.

This research develops the first taxonomy for depicting IOF in a supply chain innovation context and also clarifies different rationale behind the development of incremental and radical EI through examining distinctive effects of the complementarity and compatibility with supply chain partners.

Collaboration is an important emerging dimension of sustainable supply chain management. How to improve supply chain collaboration (SCC) by means of operational excellence approaches has become an important research topic. The Internet of things (IoT), an important means of operational excellence, has also received increased attention. For better collaboration by the IoT, this study proposes a novel methodology to evaluate the measures of IoT adoption in SCC.

Based on the six-domain model and the common classification of collaboration, the measures of the IoT and the criteria of SCC are developed, respectively. A hybrid multi-step methodology that combines neutrosophic set theory, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technology for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) is proposed to complete the evaluation.

The results show that improving information transparency, strengthening the integration of management information systems and improving large data processing abilities are the most important measures of the IoT in improving SCC. Measures such as introducing sensing technology and laser scanning technology rank at the bottom and are relatively unimportant.

The research results provide insights and references for firms to improve SCC by adopting appropriate IoT measures.

Most of existing studies indicate the significance of technology in SCC. But this study shows a different conclusion that technologies rank the bottom, while information transparency is more important. And a suitable explanation is given. It further enriches the theoretical studies in SCC field.

In light of the lack of subjective criteria and scientific rationality in current sustainability performance assessment, the purpose of this paper is conducted to improve the sustainability performance assessment of high-tech firms by developing a hybrid approach that integrates quantitative and qualitative research methods.

This study proposed a hybrid approach that integrates word frequency analysis, cluster analysis, grey theory and the decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Specifically, this study identifies useful criteria using quantitative word frequency analysis as well as qualitative literature research. Then, cluster analysis is used to divide these criteria into different categories. Subsequently, this study applies the grey theory associated with the DEMATEL method to assess the sustainability performance of high-tech firms.

The results reveal that the socio-environment is an important aspect underlying the corporate sustainability performance of high-tech firms. Therefore, high-tech firms should enhance their pollution emission control capabilities and increase investment in energy-conservation and emission-reduction technologies to drive sustainable development. In addition, increasing green product sales revenue and improving the guiding capability of green consumption are core issues that firms must address.

This study assesses the sustainability performance of high-tech firms by applying a hybrid method. This method can be used to construct a framework for scientific sustainability performance assessment and to provide a clear direction for the sustainable development of firms.

As a crucial supply chain financing instrument, trade credit has become increasingly important for firms to enhance financial flows in supply chains. Yet, scant research has examined how firms’ green innovation affects the attainment of trade credit from their suppliers. To bridge this gap, this study aims to draw on signalling theory to investigate the impacts of incremental green innovation (IGI) and radical green innovation (RGI) on trade credit and the contingent roles of supplier concentration and industry dynamism.

Using a data set of 3,302 Chinese listed manufacturing companies from 2007 to 2021, our research adopts fixed-effect regression models to test the proposed hypotheses.

The authors find that both IGI and RGI exert a positive effect on trade credit. Interestingly, supplier concentration weakens the association between RGI and trade credit, whereas it does not significantly influence the association between IGI and trade credit. Moreover, industry dynamism attenuates the relationship between IGI and trade credit, whereas it does not significantly alter the relationship between RGI and trade credit.

The paper extends the supply chain finance literature by applying signalling theory to uncover the effects of IGI and RGI on trade credit and the distinct contingency roles of supplier concentration and industry dynamism. It also provides supply chain managers with important implications regarding how to tailor the strategies of implementing different types of green innovation to acquire more trade credit in different situations.

Despite touting the value of green practices, many firms struggle to respond appropriately to the diverse environmental issues. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the external and internal pressures interplay to influence top management championship, which, in turn, fosters the company’s green culture and the adoption of green practices. It thus helps to explain Chinese firms’ diversity with respect to the adoption of green practices.

A conceptual model is developed that summarizes the interplay of external and internal pressures, top management championship, green culture and the adoption of green practices. Data from 148 Chinese manufacturing firms were collected and a structural equation model was used for statistical analysis.

Government policy that provides incentives to adopt green practices and overseas customers’ green demand has significant positive influences on top management championship, while resources pressure has a significant negative effect. Government command and control policy, domestic customers’ green demand and organizational inertia do not impact top management championship. Furthermore, top management championship is positively correlated to both green culture and green practices, and green culture contributes to implementing green practices.

The findings help us understand which external and internal factors inspire or force top management to adopt green practices, and how they do so. Moreover, managers must also be aware of the bridging role of green culture. The findings will be valuable to policy makers in forming and enforcing “stick” or “carrot” environmental policies.

Leveraging a multi-theoretic approach, the authors’ research builds on insights from the institutional theory, natural resource-based view (NRBV) and upper echelons perspective, so as to increase the authors’ understanding on how firms adopt green practices to respond to environmental sustainability pressures. The institutional theory and the NRBV are leveraged in this study to recognize that firms perceive not only external institutional pressure for environmental management but also the internal pressure from resource constraints and capability to change. Upper echelons perspective is integrated into this study to explain the leadership role that top management serves in the management of the organization’s response to dynamic changes in the institutional environment and cultivate green culture within organization.

Adopting the theory of planned behavior, this study attempts to investigate how subjective norms in the supply chain influence a firm's green innovation and how such influences are contingent upon the firm's internal and external factors (i.e. flexibility orientation and environmental dynamism). Two types of subjective norms are examined, i.e. injunctive norms (what supply chain partners say) and descriptive norms (what supply chain partners do).

Using survey data of 178 Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturers, we employ hierarchical linear regression to test the proposed hypotheses.

Our results indicate that both injunctive and descriptive norms are instrumental in stimulating firms to take actions on green innovation. Moreover, the flexibility orientation of a firm can strengthen the effect of descriptive norms. It is also observed that environmental dynamism weakens the efficacy of injunctive norms but strengthens that of descriptive norms on green innovation.

This study is among the first to apply the theory of planned behavior to explain the microfoundations of focal firm's green innovation and distinguish two types of subjective norms in the supply chain. In addition, it extends the theory of planned behavior by revealing internal and external contingent factors (i.e. flexibility orientation and environmental dynamism) of the relationship between subjective norms and firm behaviors.

Drawing on the signaling theory and the relational exchange theory, this study investigates how buyer–supplier trust is influenced through the congruence and incongruence between blockchain and norm of solidarity. The moderating role of technology uncertainty is further examined.

Using a survey data of 110 Chinese firms, this study empirically tests not only the combined effect of blockchain and norm of solidarity on trust, but also how this combined effect is moderated by technology uncertainty. The proposed hypotheses are tested using the polynomial regression analysis and the response surface methodology.

The results suggest that trust increases along with an increasing congruence between blockchain and norm or solidarity, but in a diminishing rate (i.e. an inverted U-shaped relationship). Simultaneously, incongruence between blockchain and norm of solidarity can also guarantee sufficient trust (i.e. a U-shaped relationship). Moreover, technology uncertainty overturns the inverted U-shaped relationship between blockchain and norm of solidarity congruence on trust into a U-shaped relationship and nullifies the U-shaped relationship between blockchain and norm of solidarity incongruence on trust.

This study enriches supply chain governance literature by introducing the emerging blockchain governance and examining the blockchain governance's interplay with a conventional relational norm. The study emphasizes that the combined effects of these two are quite complex. Blockchain and norm of solidarity can offset each other’s limitations when both are at low to moderate levels. But simultaneous pursuit of both high blockchain and norm has only limited marginal benefits. Furthermore, the study also highlights the importance of technology uncertainty under which the combined effects between the two governance mechanisms vary. Collectively, the results provide nuanced insights into the design of supply chain governance portfolios in the digital era.

This paper aims to adopt the strategy-structure-performance (SSP) framework to explore how proactive social strategy could motivate firms to collaborate with suppliers on social sustainability initiatives, and how such collaborative efforts could unlock a win-win opportunity for both noneconomic (social performance) and economic (operational performance) performance. Additionally, drawing on the tenets of the social exchange theory, the different moderating effects of distributive justice and procedural justice on the social collaboration-performance relationship are also examined.

This study uses survey data collected from 215 manufacturing companies in China. The proposed hypotheses are tested using multiple linear regression models as well as the PROCESS macro within SPSS.

The results suggest that (1) a proactive social strategy could motivate firms to collaborate with suppliers on joint social activities and (2) social collaboration with suppliers can have a significant positive effect on both social and operational performance. The moderation results suggest that distributive justice has a differential effect on the collaboration-performance link. Particularly, distributive justice strengthens the relationship between social collaboration and operational performance, while it weakens the relationship between social collaboration and social performance. Surprisingly, procedural justice did not have a significant moderating effect on the social collaboration-performance link.

This paper extends the SSP framework to the social sustainability context by not only stressing the importance of proactivity in managing sustainability, but also revealing collaboration as a structural aspect that could achieve superior performance benefits. This study also contributes to sustainable supply chain literature by exploring the moderating roles of justice elements.

Blockchain-based traceability labels is increasingly adopted in supply chain, yet there is little empirical research to examine effectiveness from consumer perspective. Can blockchain technology motivate consumers to purchase sustainable products? Drawing on signaling theory, this paper answers this question by comparing the effect of blockchain-based traceability labels with certification-based labels on consumer purchase intention of sustainable products. We further investigate consumers’ perception of sustainability level as a mediating variable and social enterprise as a boundary condition.

This study uses three online between-subject experiments with a total of 750 participants. The proposed hypotheses are tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) as well as mediation analysis based on PROCESS macro.

The results suggest that (1) blockchain-based traceability labels lead to greater consumer purchase intention of sustainable products than certification-based labels; (2) such a positive effect of blockchain-based traceability labels occurs as consumers perceive a higher sustainability level; (3) however, the effect is attenuated when the company is a social enterprise.

This study contributes to the operations and supply chain management (OSCM) literature by studying the effectiveness of blockchain-based traceability labels from the overlooked yet emerging perspective of consumers. We provide a theoretical explanation and empirical evidence of how blockchain-based traceability labels influence consumer purchase intention during sustainable consumption compared with certification-based labels. We thus additionally contribute to the extant research on the intersection of blockchain and sustainability. Moreover, the incorporation of social enterprise as a moderator enriches the application of signaling theory on the context of sustainability signaling.

Firms are increasingly digitalizing their business processes and expanding them into digital platforms, which are believed to generate digital and relational resources that can facilitate and deliver innovations for firms. Instead of focusing on the extent of digital integration capability (DI), this paper seeks to empirically evaluate whether the DI asymmetry between the buyer and supplier firms influences bilateral information sharing and the buyer’s product innovation. We also examine the moderating effects of firms’ external (environmental dynamism) and internal (innovative climate) environments on these relationships.

Primary and secondary archival data on 180 buyer-supplier Chinese dyadic relationships were collected and analyzed using multiple linear regression models. Additionally, the Process macro was used to shed a nuanced light on the moderation effects of environmental dynamism and innovative climate.

The results show that DI asymmetry negatively impacts buyer firms’ product innovation through decreased information sharing. Environmental dynamism weakens the negative relationship between DI asymmetry and information sharing. Meanwhile, the innovative climate negatively moderates the relationship between information sharing and product innovation.

This study adds knowledge to the literature regarding the dark side of “one-sided digitalization.” By exploring the influences of unbalanced DI in buyer-supplier relationships, this study yields essential theoretical and managerial implications for product innovation success in a digital era.