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This manuscript develops a reverse logistics monitoring system for controlling reverse flows of materials through marketing channels in emerging economies. Institutional theory is incorporated to show that both positive and negative impacts on environmental sustainability can be predicted. A partner control framework and scales are then developed for use by managers and researchers in furthering their understanding of the effective management of global reverse logistic networks

The purpose of this paper is to provide scholarly and practical benefits by detailing the past and suggesting a future research agenda for supply chain (SC) collaboration. A literature review is utilized to examine what has been investigated prior, and what remains to be analyzed, in order to assist today’s managers and researchers. The research expands the understanding of SC collaboration from a focal firm perspective while providing boundaries for future investigation and at the same time detailing the current state of collaboration to practitioners.

The current research utilizes a systematic review of the literature to shape a proposed research agenda on the topic of SC collaboration.

The paper provides insights into gaps in the literature as it pertains to SC collaboration. Specifically, the paper suggests investigating SC collaboration as it relates to perceived and real performance, understanding what know-how and commitment a focal firm must make to SC collaboration, and how to successfully navigate collaboration termination.

This manuscript makes four specific contributions to the literature. First, it provides the first holistic graphic depiction of the central constructs employed in extant SC collaboration research. Next it examines three specific factor areas influencing collaboration. Overlooked issues are then revealed as suggestions for future research in SC collaboration. Finally, the method employed to conduct the systematic literature review can be used as a blueprint for future researchers in performing a similar exercise.

The current research seeks to provide a research agenda which meets the needs of today’s business managers.

The paper provides a suggested research agenda for SC collaboration.

Researchers have examined the influence of the factors on reducing return rates in retailing over the years. However, the returns experience is often an overlooked way to drive customer engagement and repeat sales in the now ubiquitous omnichannel setting. The focus on returns prevention in existing research overshadows management’s need to understand better the comprehensive mechanics linking the customer in-store return experience with their repurchase actions. Recognizing the need to bridge different stages of the returns management process, this research aims to explore the facilitators and barriers of in-store return activities.

Analysis of customer corporate data from 5,339 returns at the retail level provides insights from the customer return experience. Expanding our theoretical understanding, a deductive research approach then examines how those factors impact customer repurchase intentions both online and at brick-and-mortar stores. Stage two of the study employs a scenario-based role-playing experiment with consumer respondents to test hypotheses derived from signaling theory and justice theory.

Results find that returns policy and loyalty program capabilities are essential in creating a positive customer in-store experience. Moreover, a return experience enhanced by frontline employee service can retain existing shoppers and drive additional store traffic, further stimulating retailer sales.

These findings refine our understanding of returns management in evolving omnichannel retailing and offer practical insights for retailers to manage customer relationships through in-store returns.

Social and environmental actors have been added to the stakeholder balancing act required of organizations in today’s competitive marketplace. To address this, the firms may create orientations to convey their strategic priorities. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different levels of environmental orientation (EO) and social orientation (SO) influence firm outcomes. This paper leverages logic from the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect to predict that firms must strategically align their resources with performance goals to optimize these resources.

The paper outlines a step-by-step guide that combines latent moderated structural equation modeling with response surface analysis to estimate curvilinear relationships. The approach leverages the benefits of both techniques to produce precise results and more nuanced – and meaningful – implications.

The procedure is effective in uncovering a curvilinear relationship between the indicator variables. Specifically, firms optimize environmental performance when EO is higher than SO. The opposite is the case for the outcome of social value and manager trust. Economic performance is highest when both indicators are simultaneously high.

This study tests the relationships between social and EOs and performance. As such, the exploratory data in this study are US-centric and self-assessment in design. These limitations open the door to confirmatory studies using objective outcome data and cross-cultural comparisons. Such studies should embrace more variables and examine potential moderating influences. Most importantly, future research should work to expand and verify the development of the eco-SO construct presented here, as the dynamics of these relationships have been overlooked in most social responsibility and sustainability research. Future studies should adopt this construct into extant models and also consider the dynamics and inter-organizational fit for partner firms with competing orientations.

For managers, the results show that conveying an environmental or social outcome has unique benefits to the firm. Further, there is an incentive to try and do both simultaneously. However, there is a critical point where the effects taper off, which can guide managers as they implement social and/or environmental strategies.

The research questions ask if a company can simultaneously deliver: economic value to shareholders, environmental value to the planet and social value to consumers while maintaining the trust of its managers. The results generally support that to fully serve one group, a firm must underserve another.

The study introduces SO as a valid construct to mirror EO and then models their interaction in three-dimensional space to present an optimal firm strategy.

The research on supply chains concerning disaster and crisis situations is in its infancy, but rapidly expanding on the backs of top researchers in the field. As with most young research streams there is very little theoretical grounding in extant studies. The purpose of this research is to integrate four prominent existing theoretical perspectives to provide a concise yet holistic framework for grounding future research.

The development of the disaster recovery pyramid is completed following an extensive review of the resource, risk and crisis/disaster recovery, and preparedness literature. Additionally, literature from the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm, communication theory, competing values theory, and relationship management theory are canvassed. Business professional and academics are also interviewed to validate the pyramid.

The proposed framework is a call for future studies in the supply chain management and logistics disaster, and crisis management arena. The findings suggest that much of the work in supply chain disaster and crisis preparedness and recovery can be theoretically supported in combination of four mature theoretical perspectives: the RBV of the firm, communication theory, competing values theory, and relationship management theory.

This is the first attempt to theoretically support the areas of supply chain disaster and crisis preparedness and recovery. The motivation of this paper is to both develop a framework and support a drive for growing multiple research streams in the area. Avenues of future research and theoretical grounding are suggested in a graphic representation.

The conceptualization of integration is built on intra- and inter-organizational relationship to manage the entire supply chain. Despite the growing number of research studies, there is a lack of consensus in current literature to define and conceptualize supply chain integration (SCI) and its drivers. The purpose of this paper is to provide comprehensive views on SCI, thereby contributing to existing literature by providing taxonomy to drivers and sources, dimensions and outcome of SCI.

The systematic approach to literature review has been adopted to carry out this research. The study cites 154 articles, out of which 110 articles have been thoroughly reviewed, covering drivers and sources of SCI, SCI dimensions and SCI outcome.

For the conceptualization of SCI dimensions, two major themes have been identified: first, internal integration, customer integration and supplier integration; second, information sharing, process coordination and strategic alliance. The authors also found that desire to improve and environmental factors prompt organizations to integrate with their partners to realize the desired outcome. Additionally, the paper identifies that integration plays a significant role in enhancing performance; nevertheless, maturity of integration may have a direct relationship with performance, and the same has been suggested as propositions for further study.

This paper has taken the systematic perspective to review existing studies and projected propositions, which is entirely based on collective views that may require empirical support.

The paper is a unique contribution that reviews the research articles on SCI systematically. The paper also provides a distinct perspective and food for thought to practitioners, as the proposed framework may serve as a reference point to assess current SCI practices in the organizations.

The current research considers the possibility that when firms are faced with a challenging supply chain task or opportunity for supply chain operational improvement, they choose varying degrees of technology and/or collaboration as the primary vehicle(s) with which to forge a solution. This choice is suggested herein to depend largely on technological readiness, i.e. the extent to which the firm embraces available technological solutions. Furthermore, the learning capability of the firm moderates the inverse relationship between interfirm collaboration and technological readiness, such that firms having strong organizational learning capabilities are less likely to choose a collaboration‐intensive solution than those with weak learning capabilities. This paper aims to address these issues.

A sample of retail supply chain managers drawn from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals membership database is surveyed related to their firms' levels of interfirm collaboration, organizational learning capabilities, and technological readiness. Two multiple moderated regression variants are used to test the hypotheses.

Results of this research support the hypothesized logic, and implications for practice are presented in light of a revealed inverse relationship between technological readiness and interfirm collaboration that is exacerbated when the firm has a strong learning orientation.

This paper is among the first known to examine potential internal/external tradeoffs between collaboration and technology as problem‐solving vehicles. Both managers and researchers should find it interesting that collaboration is neither wholly desirable nor necessary (and therefore the associated risks mitigated) in technologically ready and/or high learning capability environments.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on radio frequency identification (RFID) acceptance and examine three understudied drivers: a company's satisfaction with existing logistics technologies, its logistics technology readiness (technology optimism and technology innovativeness), and relationship hostage position. The proposed conceptual model also investigates the impacts of RFID acceptance and these three antecedents on the company's logistics performance.

Survey data were collected from the members of three professional associations in the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships.

According to the analysis results, a company's satisfaction with existing technology has negative impact on RFID acceptance, and technology readiness has positive impact on RFID acceptance. However, the relationship between a company's hostage position and RFID acceptance was found to be only partially significant. Also, the positive relationship between a company's RFID acceptance and its logistics performance is confirmed in this study. Furthermore, while a company's satisfaction with existing technology and technology innovativeness were found to be positively related to logistics performance, its technology optimism and hostage position were not significant related to its logistics performance.

This research confirms that a company's RFID acceptance is positively related to logistics performance. Therefore, even if a company is satisfied with its existing technologies, careful evaluation is warranted to determine if RFID as a new technology is needed to maintain the company's logistics performance in a dynamic environment. Also, this research suggests that supply chain members should be extremely cautious about the power usage toward its partners, because the authors' results show that forcing other partners to take cooperative actions may not yield the desired results.

This is first study examining RFID technology through a behavioral perspective. A new construct, RFID acceptance, was proposed, and related measurement scale was developed and tested along with its antecedents and outcomes.