Minelle E. Silva, Ana Paula Ferreira Alves, Patricia Dias and Luis Felipe Machado Nascimento
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a company’s orientation enables sustainable practices in its supply chains. Specifically, it focusses on how the strategic orientation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a company’s orientation enables sustainable practices in its supply chains. Specifically, it focusses on how the strategic orientation of a company may stimulate new behaviours in supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
Two in-depth qualitative case studies were conducted. Each company’s orientation to sustainable supply chains was studied using cross-case analysis.
Findings
The organisations in this study have a market-driving (i.e. proactive) orientation instead of market-driven (i.e. responsive) behaviour. Using analysis from the process of change for sustainability and explaining some challenges faced by both organisations, findings indicate that a corporate strategy of sustainability modified the companies’ management processes, even for the company that changed its orientation during the time (i.e. sustainability was not the main strategy at first). Practical examples of actions are provided to illustrate the study’s conclusion that a corporate orientation towards sustainability is an enabling factor in developing sustainable supply chain management (SCM).
Research limitations/implications
Strategic management plays an important role in a company’s orientation towards sustainability – internally and throughout its supply chains. Based on the findings, future research should measure the effect of a company’s orientation on sustainable SCM.
Practical implications
This study contributes to the understanding of companies’ strategic orientations and explores ways to introduce sustainability into supply chains.
Originality/value
The paper examines an underexplored debate regarding to how strategic orientations are related to sustainable SCM, focussing on both market-driving (i.e. proactive) and market-driven (i.e. responsive) orientations.
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Laís Viera Trevisan, Luis Felipe Machado do Nascimento, Walter Leal Filho and Eugênio Ávila Pedrozo
The purpose of this study is to present an innovative and transformative online approach to sustainable development in management education.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to present an innovative and transformative online approach to sustainable development in management education.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study and action research were carried out in a Brazilian business school during an academic semester. Specifically, in the context of a discipline entitled “Socio-environmental Management in Companies”, several pedagogical strategies were designed and implemented to ensure undergraduate students’ learning. This study involved the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources, which were analysed using descriptive statistics, thematic and content analysis techniques.
Findings
By assessing the strategies, tools and resources used during the course, the findings of this study show that the discipline supported the students' transformative learning towards sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
This study has both theoretical and practical implications by describing and evaluating an innovative and engaging pedagogical approach to sustainable development in management education.
Originality/value
The approach developed through this research provides educators and higher education institutions with innovative strategies for transformative learning towards sustainability in management education. Moreover, the approach can be adapted and implemented in other fields of knowledge.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Silvia Novaes Zilber, Daniel Friel and Luis Felipe Machado do Nascimento
The purpose of this paper is to be a teaching case about organic wine in Argentina, in a sustainable perspective, showing the advantages that this country has related to others in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to be a teaching case about organic wine in Argentina, in a sustainable perspective, showing the advantages that this country has related to others in terms of organic and biodynamic production of wine. It shows also the potential of this kind of production, and its limitations, using for that the case of Bodega Colomé, owned by Donald Hess, a global wine producer.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses case study methodology; this is an adequate approach, as Argentina has some specific characteristics (geography, labor and other conditions) that makes it unique. The information about Bodega Colomé was obtained from secondary data such as academic articles, specialized magazine articles, web sites about wine production, and an interview conducted with the General Manager of Bodega Colomé, Caspar Eugster, in July, 2009.
Findings
Organic and biodynamic wine production are discussed as an alternative to the traditional production in developing countries, specifically in Argentina, where a series of factors – geographic characteristics (altitude), lands and technology used in a sustainability logic, labor conditions, tradition, history, brand and nature characteristics – allow a competitive advantage to develop. Donald Hess, president of Bodega Colomé, bets in the direction of investment maintenance in organic wines, given the favorable conditions cited, adding brand value, but this kind of production is impossible for less expensive wines as producing wines organically is labor intensive.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this case is its uniqueness and its findings cannot be applied to the universe of companies in Argentina, the country studied; but it encourages future research and more investigation about the subject. The main implication of this case is the possibility of generating some discussion about the theme: do the wine producers of developing countries, such as Argentina, Chile and Brazil produce organic wine (added into the company's sustainability actions) for export, or should they dedicate themselves to the production of traditional wines for internal market?
Practical implications
This case study is relevant for groups of students or professionals interested in discussing the strategies of wine production and marketing. The case may also be used by policy formulators of the winegrowing industry.
Originality/value
The organic and biodynamic production of wine is a recent subject and there are few studies about this theme. Mainly, the role of Latin American players is not very clear and this paper contributes to the discussion about the opportunity of organic and biodynamic wine production as a possible source of competitive advantage to Latin American wine producers in the global market.
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Narender Kumar, Girish Kumar and Rajesh Kr Singh
The study presents various barriers to adopt big data analytics (BDA) for sustainable manufacturing operations (SMOs) post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemics. In this study…
Abstract
Purpose
The study presents various barriers to adopt big data analytics (BDA) for sustainable manufacturing operations (SMOs) post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemics. In this study, 17 barriers are identified through extensive literature review and experts’ opinions for investing in BDA implementation. A questionnaire-based survey is conducted to collect responses from experts. The identified barriers are grouped into three categories with the help of factor analysis. These are organizational barriers, data management barriers and human barriers. For the quantification of barriers, the graph theory matrix approach (GTMA) is applied.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents various barriers to adopt BDA for the SMOs post-COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 17 barriers are identified through extensive literature review and experts’ opinions for investing in BDA implementation. A questionnaire-based survey is conducted to collect responses from experts. The identified barriers are grouped into three categories with the help of factor analysis. These are organizational barriers, data management barriers and human barriers. For the quantification of barriers, the GTMA is applied.
Findings
The study identifies barriers to investment in BDA implementation. It categorizes the barriers based on factor analysis and computes the intensity for each category of a barrier for BDA investment for SMOs. It is observed that the organizational barriers have the highest intensity whereas the human barriers have the smallest intensity.
Practical implications
This study may help organizations to take strategic decisions for investing in BDA applications for achieving one of the sustainable development goals. Organizations should prioritize their efforts first to counter the barriers under the category of organizational barriers followed by barriers in data management and human barriers.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper is that barriers to BDA investment for SMOs in the context of Indian manufacturing organizations have been analyzed. The findings of the study will assist the professionals and practitioners in formulating policies based on the actual nature and intensity of the barriers.