Apithamsoonthorn Sompong and Suthiwartnarueput Kamonchanok
Outsourcing is recognized as one of the critical factors for efficient execution of pharmaceutical supply chain management (PSCM), and many pharmaceutical companies engage in…
Abstract
Outsourcing is recognized as one of the critical factors for efficient execution of pharmaceutical supply chain management (PSCM), and many pharmaceutical companies engage in international outsourcing of services (IOS) to survive in global highly competitive business. Since the key success factors for both domestic & international alliances are partnership characteristics and strategic fit management, but there is no empirical research on this issue in Thai pharmaceutical partnership offshore outsourcing. Therefore, this survey of Thai and foreign companies, both contract providers (CPs) and contract manufacturers (CMs), seeks to indicate significant relationships among both outsourcing strategic fit and partnership types, including outsourcing performance outcome. This research is two-fold. First, the partnership types (Type I, II, & III), the strategic fit types (low fit, moderate fit, and good fit), and their correlations are analyzed. And second, their outsourcing performance (company revenues and growth rates) are presented. The results showed that the most of the Thai pharmaceutical outsourcing manufacturing are classified as the partnership Type II, as well as the moderate strategic fit, and strongly support the relationship between the two models. Both of the companies’ revenue and growth rate could predict the companies’ performances outcome for each of partnership and strategic fit types. However, it is not necessary that the most integrative type of partnership, Type III, will be always the best, because it depends also on the strategic fit between each pair of partners as well.
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Nor Razinah Mohd. Zain, Oumaima Tounchibine and Houda Lechheb
Agriculture is one of the oldest socio-economic activities. It involves growing valuable plants and animals for human existence. Sustainable agriculture should be understood in…
Abstract
Agriculture is one of the oldest socio-economic activities. It involves growing valuable plants and animals for human existence. Sustainable agriculture should be understood in light of the global sustainable development movement, which emphasizes balancing environment, society and economics. With the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent war between Russia and Ukraine, sustainable agriculture can help eliminate food insecurity caused by food shortages and agricultural sector disruptions. Recently, investors, practitioners, academicians, researchers, regulators and financiers are increasingly interested in using Islamic financing products and qualified Shari'ah-compliance contracts to promote sustainable agriculture. Many Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states still rely on agriculture for socioeconomic growth. These countries are major contributors to Islamic financial growth. This study assesses Islamic finance’s role in promoting sustainable agriculture in selected OIC countries. The researchers use qualitative methods and meta-analysis data to determine the constraints and benefits of implementing Islamic financial products for sustainable agriculture. This study suggests that OIC state governments should promote sustainable agriculture. OIC member states have different achievements relating to their sustainable agriculture. Based on socio-economic factors, agriculture policies or plans, leadership and political will, Islamic finance products and Shari'ah-compliance contracts are found underutilized in meeting sustainable agriculture and sector stakeholders’ needs. A solid Islamic financial framework for sustainable agriculture, good governance and improved agriculture policy are needed.
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Sapna A. Narula and K.M. Upadhyay
The purpose of this paper is to present strategic responses of leading Indian pesticide manufacturers to the voice of stakeholders and regulatory authorities regarding environment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present strategic responses of leading Indian pesticide manufacturers to the voice of stakeholders and regulatory authorities regarding environment friendly products and processes. The study has made a unique attempt to analyze the product portfolio of selected Indian vs multinational companies with respect to market attractiveness as well as environmental attractiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparison of corporate, business and operational level strategies of domestic vs multinational companies impacting environment has been made by selecting two companies of each type from the industry on the basis of their turnover. The product portfolios of selected companies have been analyzed on the basis of a matrix constructed for market attractiveness and environmental attractiveness.
Findings
The study finds that both domestic and multinational companies have been making efforts to reorient their product strategy towards a relatively greener portfolio. Also, multinationals are having more environmentally safer products than their domestic counterparts. Indian firms have been catching up by acquiring brands/companies to expand/reorient their product portfolios, whereas multinationals have been adopting merger and acquisition strategies as well as launching new products using indigenous research and development of their parent companies. Related diversification is the preferred strategic move by both the groups, though in different areas.
Practical implications
The study classifies the products of various companies on the basis of market as well as environmental attractiveness and also recommends the strategies to manage a product portfolio. Similar kind of portfolios could be constructed and used for analyzing the product mix of firms in other sectors.
Originality/value
The originality of the study lies in the fact that, although the pesticide industry is very important to study from both an environmental and a strategic perspective, no effort has ever been made to study the environmental strategies of firms and also the comparison of domestic as well as multinational firms. The product portfolio based on market as well as environmental attractiveness devised in the study is novel in nature.
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Kwame Owusu Kwateng, Francis Kamewor Tetteh, Hunaisu Ben Atchulo and Shirley Opoku-Mensah
The purpose of this is to test the relationship between corporate environmental strategies (CES) and firms’ competitiveness (FC) through collaboration.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this is to test the relationship between corporate environmental strategies (CES) and firms’ competitiveness (FC) through collaboration.
Design/methodology/approach
Selected companies from Ghana Club 100 were used as the sample for this study. This study used regression to test the hypothesized paths.
Findings
The results indicated that a unit change in CES results in a 42.7% alteration in FC – all things being equal. Also, as revealed by the study, supply chain collaboration (SCC) is not a significant predictor of FC. However, SCC plays an indirect role in enhancing the relationship between CES and FC. The results showed that CES act as a significant predictor of a company’s collaboration in its supply chain.
Practical implications
The findings will enlighten firms to outline and implement appropriate environmental strategies to sustain their competitive advantage.
Originality/value
This study is very rare in the African context; hence, it adds to the extant literature by providing a contemporary perspective of CES and FC.
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Sapna A. Narula and Anupriya Desore
This paper aims to investigate existing research in green marketing with special reference to consumer behaviour and identify challenges both in practice and research, offering…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate existing research in green marketing with special reference to consumer behaviour and identify challenges both in practice and research, offering valuable insights for both the communities. While reviewing the existing literature in the paper, the authors define the scope of green marketing as a standalone discipline and discuss all aspects of green consumer behaviour and present opportunities for researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
A thorough literature search in leading academic journals related to the scope of this paper was conducted through leading databases. An analysis of literature review comprising 140 relevant articles has been carried out and presented in the paper.
Findings
Green consumer behaviour research is one area which is very well researched but studies are found to be generic in nature. the authors stress that research needs to be advanced in relation to addressing gaps between consumer perceptions and designing green products, identification of green segments, positioning green products and also inclusion of stakeholders in green marketing process. More insights into consumers willingness to pay for green attributes Vis -a Vis conventional attributes need to be worked out.
Originality/value
In spite of plenty of reviews available in green marketing, there is no review which solely covers the consumer behaviour aspects of green marketing. Consumer being the most important stakeholder in green marketing domain deserves special attention from the researchers’ perspective. The review is unique in providing all aspects of green consumer behaviour research.
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– The purpose of this paper is to present a literature survey on, and classification for, green marketing research.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature survey on, and classification for, green marketing research.
Design/methodology/approach
Suitable keywords were used to search peer-reviewed journal articles published in marketing, business and management journals in duration 1990-2014. The articles identified were screened for titles, abstracts, keywords, frameworks, headings and sub-headings that resulted in 161 relevant articles. These articles were classified across thematic categories and their distribution was also presented for year of publication, publication outlets, location of authors, key contributing authors.
Findings
The articles were classified across four thematic categories: eco-orientation, green marketing strategy, green marketing functions and green marketing consequences. It outlined the contribution of the earlier work under each theme, illustrated upon their implications for green marketing practice and research and provided directions for future research.
Research limitations/implications
This literature survey provides a source for understanding current state of research on green marketing and to stimulate further interest of researchers in the domain.
Originality/value
The paper provides a comprehensive review of green marketing literature on green marketing, distinctly adding to the contributions made by earlier literature reviews in the domain. It outlines the classifications of the literature, and key concepts and themes related to green marketing that intend to shape future research directions.
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Steven Greenland, Elizabeth Levin, John F. Dalrymple and Barry O’Mahony
This paper aims to examine impediments to the adoption of sustainable water-efficient technological innovation in agriculture. Farming is the largest water consumer and food…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine impediments to the adoption of sustainable water-efficient technological innovation in agriculture. Farming is the largest water consumer and food production expansion in response to global population growth, combined with increasing droughts from climate change, threatens water and food insecurity for many countries. Yet, climate smart agriculture (CSA) innovation adoption has been slow, and in this regard, governments and the agricultural sector are not fulfilling their social responsibility and sustainability obligations.
Design/methodology/approach
Barriers to water-efficient drip irrigation (DI) adoption in Australia were investigated via 46 depth interviews with agricultural stakeholders and a survey of 148 farmers.
Findings
While DI water efficiency is recognised, this is not the key determinant of farmers’ irrigation method selection. Complex interrelationships between internal and external barriers impede DI adoption are identified. These include costs, satisfaction with alternative irrigation methods, farmer characteristics that determine the suitability of the innovation and the extent it is incremental or radical, plus various multidimensional risks. Government support of alternative, less water-efficient irrigation methods is also a critical barrier.
Originality/value
A conceptual framework for understanding barriers to sustainability oriented innovation adoption is presented. Its insights should be applicable to researchers and practitioners concerned with understanding and improving the adoption of socially responsible and sustainable innovation in a wide range of contexts. Recommendations for overcoming such adoption barriers are discussed in relation to the research focus of water-efficient agriculture and encouraging uptake of DI.
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Rameshwar Dubey, Angappa Gunasekaran and Thanos Papadopoulos
Green or sustainable supply chain management (GSCM/SSCM) has in recent years attracted much attention from academia and practitioners in all part of the world. In recent years…
Abstract
Purpose
Green or sustainable supply chain management (GSCM/SSCM) has in recent years attracted much attention from academia and practitioners in all part of the world. In recent years, all humanity has experienced severe climate change which is widely attributed to human activity. Harmful emissions have made a major contribution to recent climate change which presents major challenges and threats to the entire human race in form of global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami and floods. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual GSCM/SSCM framework contributing to knowledge-based view theory and systems theory (ST) and provide an exhaustive list of further research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper the authors have used a systematic literature review to identify building blocks of the conceptual framework, which is the principal contribution of the present paper.
Findings
In this paper the authors have proposed a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain network and at the end the authors have outlined further research directions.
Research limitations/implications
The current paper is an attempt to develop a conceptual framework which is grounded in knowledge-based theory. The study helps to extent the prior works which lacks theory focused approach.
Originality/value
The present work has immense theoretical value and can be useful to the policy makers or practitioners engaged in GSCM practices.
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Mariana Souza Rocha, Luiz Célio Souza Rocha, Marcia Barreto da Silva Feijó, Paula Luiza Limongi dos Santos Marotta and Samanta Cardozo Mourão
The mucilage of the Linum usitatissimum L. seed (Linseed) is one of the natural mucilages that presents a great potential to provide a food hydrocolloid with potential…
Abstract
Purpose
The mucilage of the Linum usitatissimum L. seed (Linseed) is one of the natural mucilages that presents a great potential to provide a food hydrocolloid with potential applications in both food and pharmaceutical industries. To increase the yield and quality of linseed oil during its production process, it is necessary to previously extract its polysaccharides. Because of this, flax mucilage production can be made viable as a byproduct of oil extraction process, which is already a product of high commercial value consolidated in the market. Thus, the purpose of this work is to optimize the mucilage extraction process of L. usitatissimum L. using the normal-boundary intersection (NBI) multiobjective optimization method.
Design/methodology/approach
Currently, the variables of the process of polysaccharide extraction from different sources are optimized using the response surface methodology. However, when the optimal points of the responses are conflicting it is necessary to study the best conditions to achieve a balance between these conflicting objectives (trade-offs) and to explore the available options it is necessary to formulate an optimization problem with multiple objectives. The multiobjective optimization method used in this work was the NBI developed to find uniformly distributed and continuous Pareto optimal solutions for a nonlinear multiobjective problem.
Findings
The optimum extraction point to obtain the maximum fiber concentration in the extracted material was pH 3.81, temperature of 46°C, time of 13.46 h. The maximum extraction yield of flaxseed was pH 6.45, temperature of 65°C, time of 14.41 h. This result confirms the trade-off relationship between the objectives. NBI approach was able to find uniformly distributed Pareto optimal solutions, which allows to analyze the behavior of the trade-off relationship. Thus, the decision-maker can set extraction conditions to achieve desired characteristics in mucilage.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper is to confirm the existence of a trade-off relationship between the productivity parameter (yield) and the quality parameter (fiber concentration in the extracted material) during the flaxseed mucilage extraction process. The NBI approach was able to find uniformly distributed Pareto optimal solutions, which allows us to analyze the behavior of the trade-off relationship. This allows the decision-making to the extraction conditions according to the desired characteristics of the final product, thus being able to direct the extraction for the best applicability of the mucilage.
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Evgeny L. Pankratov and Elena A. Bulaeva
The purpose of this paper is to analytically model redistribution of dopant in a heterostructure during annealing of dopant and/or radiation defects (during the modeling, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analytically model redistribution of dopant in a heterostructure during annealing of dopant and/or radiation defects (during the modeling, the authors consider two types of infusing of the dopant: dopant diffusion and ion implantation). The authors consider a heterostructure, which consists of a substrate and an epitaxial layer. After that the authors consider doping of several specific areas to manufacture heterodiodes and heterobipolar transistors framework hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the modeling, the authors introduce an approach to increase density of diodes and bipolar transistors framework hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter, which has been manufactured based on the heterostructure. The approach is based on using inhomogeneity of the heterostructure and optimization of annealing of dopant and/or radiation defects.
Findings
The approach gives us possibility to take into account nonlinearity of considered processes.
Originality/value
The authors introduce an analytical approach to model diffusion and ion types of doping with account concurrent changing of parameters in space and time.