Elcio M. Tachizawa, María J. Alvarez-Gil and María J. Montes-Sancho
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of smart city initiatives and big data on supply chain management (SCM). More specifically, the connections between smart…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of smart city initiatives and big data on supply chain management (SCM). More specifically, the connections between smart cities, big data and supply network characteristics (supply network structure and governance mechanisms) are investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative framework is proposed, grounded on a literature review on smart cities, big data and supply networks. Then, the relationships between these constructs are analyzed, using the proposed integrative framework.
Findings
Smart cities have different implications to network structure (complexity, density and centralization) and governance mechanisms (formal vs informal). Moreover, this work highlights and discusses the future research directions relating to smart cities and SCM.
Research limitations/implications
The relationships between smart cities, big data and supply networks cannot be described simply by using a linear, cause-and-effect framework. Accordingly, an integrative framework that can be used in future empirical studies to analyze smart cities and big data implications on SCM has been proposed.
Practical implications
Smart cities and big data alone have limited capacity of improving SCM processes, but combined they can support improvement initiatives. Nevertheless, smart cities and big data can also suppose some novel obstacles to effective SCM.
Originality/value
Several studies have analyzed information technology innovation adoption in supply chains, but, to the best of our knowledge, no study has focused on smart cities.
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María del Mar Alonso-Almeida and María José Álvarez-Gil
This chapter aims to discuss the key issues of green entrepreneurship in tourism (GEiT), paying special attention to the environmental performance of green entrepreneurs and its…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter aims to discuss the key issues of green entrepreneurship in tourism (GEiT), paying special attention to the environmental performance of green entrepreneurs and its relationship with strategy, brand reputation and long-term business growth.
Methodology/approach
Literature review is conducted on conceptual issues and several hotels first-hand experiences that were categorised to provide readers with business-world examples.
Findings
This chapter highlights how small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs are the agents who started green innovation initiatives and how larger corporations tested and validated them. A myriad of small green interventions awaits to be undercovered and implemented. Most of them can bring financial improvements to the entrepreneurs as the required initial investments are not necessarily high.
Research limitations/implications
This chapter is explorative in nature, based on a literature review and interviews-based analysis of consolidated green initiatives, most of them being successful ones.
Practical implications
The forces driving green initiatives are identified and classified. Most important categories of green entrepreneurs are described and emphasis was placed on the managerial and marketing benefits linked to green initiatives and action plans.
Originality/value
This chapter presents models and concepts in an integrated way, facilitating a useful knowledge for prospective entrepreneurs wishing to acquire a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to eco-friendly business.
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Macarena Sacristán Díaz, María José Álvarez Gil and José A. Dominguez Machuca
When acquiring advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), the greatest caution should be taken regarding the performance measurement system to be used: the decision regarding new…
Abstract
Purpose
When acquiring advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), the greatest caution should be taken regarding the performance measurement system to be used: the decision regarding new investments should not be conditioned by the excessive use of financial indicators to the detriment of the strategic objectives that motivated the investments. It is intended to analyze the aeronautical sector, for which the purchase of AMT is qualifying criteria, with two intentions: first, to identify the performance measurement systems that are used, and second, to test their correspondence with the objectives that motivated the investments.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of the 20 plants in the population was conducted via a postal questionnaire plus a structured interview. The unit of analysis has been maintained through the triangulation of data sources.
Findings
The findings suggest that both financial and non‐financial indicators are used, with the latter gaining predominance over the former on some occasions, even though there is no clear correspondence between strategy and the measurement of performance. In the light of the findings, the question of what inspires a company's performance measurement system is still open, especially in those cases where there is no explicit strategy. With regard to practical implications, what seems to be indispensable is an improvement in the determination of the critical variables that should be used to measure performance.
Research limitations/implications
Being valuable for academics and practitioners, this contribution relies, rather, on the possibility of a logical extrapolation to circumstances where the findings might apply, and researchers can judge whether the particular findings would be valid.
Originality/value
Provides new evidence on the adaptation of the make‐up and combination of the type of performance measures currently used by plants in the aeronautical industry, one of the sectors in which technological innovation is of the utmost importance.
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Jorge Pereira-Moliner, Xavier Font, Juan José Tarí, Jose F. Molina-Azorin, Maria D. Lopez-Gamero and Eva M. Pertusa-Ortega
This paper aims to analyse the influence of environmental proactivity on cost and differentiation competitive advantages, and to explore the double relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the influence of environmental proactivity on cost and differentiation competitive advantages, and to explore the double relationship between environmental proactivity and business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The population consists of all three- to five-star hotels in Spain. A sample of 350 hotels was classified according to environmental proactivity and performance levels, employing a two-step cluster analysis. Significant differences between groups were examined.
Findings
The results show two types of environmental behaviour (reactive and proactive), with proactive hotels developing significantly better on both cost and differentiation competitive advantage and achieving significantly higher performance levels. Hotels which achieve above average business performance levels are significantly more environmentally proactive.
Research limitations/implications
The present paper demonstrates that environmental management is related to competitive advantages and business performance. Environmental management systems are more developed in higher category, chain-affiliated and larger hotels. This could be due to having more resources to develop their environmental capability. The environmental proactivity scale employed in this study is presented as a reference measure for hotel managers to benchmark their current practices and implement environmental improvements.
Originality/value
First, measuring environmental proactivity using four managerial systems (operative, information, strategic and technical) is innovative and provides a more detailed approach to measuring environmental proactivity. Second, demonstrating a double association between environmental proactivity and performance provides fresh insights into the relationship between these variables.
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Luz María Marín-Vinuesa, Pilar Portillo-Tarragona and Sabina Scarpellini
This study aims to define and measure the capabilities applied by firms to waste-related patents and their relations with the businesses economic performance to support…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to define and measure the capabilities applied by firms to waste-related patents and their relations with the businesses economic performance to support decision-making towards a circular economy (CE).
Design/methodology/approach
A model of cause-and-effect relationships between firms' waste-related patents and the firm' capabilities was defined within the dynamic capabilities' theoretical framework. Empirical results were obtained by applying partial least squares structural equation modelling to a sample of 2,216 Spanish firms that hold 120,406 patents.
Findings
Results revealed the importance of the innovation capabilities of firms related to patenting, such as collaborative innovation, persistence in patenting or the capabilities to collaborate with research institutes, as drivers of level of waste patents to improve the businesses economic performance.
Research limitations/implications
The systemic nature of the CE at the firm level suggests future research focused on the environmental divergence that appears when the innovation on waste fall outside the regular domain of its industry. Another topic to be investigated is related to the full text of patents that could improve the results of this study.
Practical implications
The definition of indicators to measure investments in the CE is complex, but it is necessary to assess progress in the closing of material loops at a micro level and to report the investments in waste-related patents in a circular model to the stakeholders involved in the economic management of the company.
Originality/value
Measuring CE-related patents and the specific capabilities needed for patenting in a circular framework is an understudied topic, and this study opens a specific line of inquiry enhancing the knowledge of CE within the dynamic capabilities' theoretical framework.
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Llorenç Bagur‐Femenias, Josep Llach and María del Mar Alonso‐Almeida
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the decision to adopt environmental practices in small service companies given that most of the studies on environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the decision to adopt environmental practices in small service companies given that most of the studies on environmental practices focus on the industrial sector and on larger companies.
Design/methodology/approach
This work is based on 448 personal surveys involving the managers of small travel agencies, using structural equation modeling to study the links between the dimensions studied.
Findings
The results of this paper suggest that being proactive on environmental issues can bring small service companies a great number of benefits that improve their competitiveness and firm performance.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of the adoption of environmental practices on a single service industry. It therefore provides useful empirical evidence for managerial practice in the industry concerned.
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Sehrish Huma, Danish Ahmed Siddiqui and Waqar Ahmed
The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to investigate the impact of the adoption of green supply chain practices (GSCPs) on various parameters of competitive operational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to investigate the impact of the adoption of green supply chain practices (GSCPs) on various parameters of competitive operational capabilities; second, to investigate the parameters that influence the market performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling analysis was done based on the collected data through a self-administrated questionnaire from managers of 120 manufacturing firms.
Findings
In this study, we suggest that the relationship of GSCPs is positively related to all competitive operational capabilities. Further, we recommend that operational capabilities are directly related to market performance.
Originality/value
This paper investigates the relationship between GSCPs, Operational Competitive Capabilities and market performance, a relatively unexplored area in the developing economy. Moreover, it also adds value to the nascent literature on GSCPs in developing countries.
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Bernabé Escobar Pérez and María del Mar Miras Rodríguez
This paper aims to determine the impact of the economic crisis on the level of social commitment of the Spanish savings banks.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the impact of the economic crisis on the level of social commitment of the Spanish savings banks.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the information provided by Spanish savings banks (SSBs) for 2004‐2009. In particular, it analyses the evolution of the welfare fund, the financial results, and the ratio between the welfare fund and the financial results variables for each of the SBs, to go more thoroughly into how the welfare fund is distributed.
Findings
The evolution of the allocations to the welfare fund shows a significant decline in absolute numbers, as a logical consequence of the significant decrease in the financial results. However, a substantial WF/P ratio growth can be seen in 2008 – 27.81 per cent – and, above all, of 36.08 per cent in 2009. This has allowed a certain mitigation of the decline of the allocations. In addition, a change has taken place in the distribution of the welfare fund, the amount for health and social care being bigger than the amount spent on culture and leisure.
Social implications
This paper aims to highlight the impact that the process of mergers and acquisitions can have on the survival and the social commitment of the SBs.
Originality/value
The paper provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the effect of the economic crisis on the social commitment of the Spanish savings banks.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer the author's view about some of the challenges Iberoamerican scholars face in order to build a successful publication record.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer the author's view about some of the challenges Iberoamerican scholars face in order to build a successful publication record.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an individual review of some of the most common barriers Iberoamerican scholars encounter when trying to publish their work and examine the extent to which they are valid.
Findings
The paper presents some of the difficulties encountered by scholars located outside the main US/Anglo Saxon University environment, but introduces some principles to overcome these barriers.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on different strategies and tactics to overcome these barriers, including aspects like seeking research opportunities, academic crafting, co‐authorships, and targeting papers to specific journals.
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This chapter examines the six smart city dimensions that serve as pillars in smart city projects. These dimensions are crucial in the development and evaluation of smart city…
Abstract
This chapter examines the six smart city dimensions that serve as pillars in smart city projects. These dimensions are crucial in the development and evaluation of smart city initiatives, representing key areas for consideration. This chapter offers a detailed analysis of the smart city ecosystem, focusing on the governance, environment, people, living, mobility, and economy dimensions. It challenges the prevailing media portrayal of the smart city strategy and engages in the current academic debate surrounding these dimensions. This chapter defines, discusses, and explains each dimension, incorporating case studies from cities such as Copenhagen, San Francisco, Lisbon, and Barcelona. It also includes interviews and factual data to highlight the internal implementation and objectives of the smart city within each dimension. This chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of the smart city ecosystem, its implementation, and the potential benefits and challenges associated with each dimension.