Decision support framework for integrating triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in agriculture supply chain

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Singh ◽  
Samir K. Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Decision Support Framework ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sustainability Practices

Purpose This paper aims to address the conceptual and practical challenges in integrating triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in the agriculture supply chain (ASC). It identifies the key enablers for each of the three dimensions of TBL sustainability, analyses their causal relationships as well as cross-dimensional interactions under each TBL dimension. Further, it develops a decision support framework (DSF) for the assessment of TBL sustainability practices and policies in ASC and validates it through a case study. Design/methodology/approach An interpretive structure modelling (ISM) methodology is deployed to establish the interrelationships among all TBL enablers and to identify the enablers with high driving power on sustainable ASC. Brainstorming by a group of experts was used to identify the relevant enables. Finally, a DSF was developed as a resultant of ISM. Findings The paper provides a set of enablers with high driving power that can significantly influence the sustainability practices and policies in ASC. The social enablers directly help to enhance the effect of economic enablers and collectively these enhance the effect of environmental enablers. If agriculture firms and supply chains design innovative policies and develop practices based on these enablers, they can achieve sustainable ASC. Consequently, the living standards of the people directly or indirectly associated with the agriculture firm or supply chain can be improved without compromising on economic performance. Research limitations/implications The paper consolidates the fragmented knowledge of sustainable supply chain management in the agriculture sector and suggests a DSF to policymakers, managers and practitioners for assessing TBL sustainability practices and policies. The DSF has wide applicability in other sectors of production and operations management as these sectors also face the challenge of achieving TBL sustainability across their supply chain. Practical implications The DSF, developed in the paper, is a useful tool for practitioners to frame and analyse sustainability initiatives and policies for ASC. A firm or supply chain may achieve TBL sustainability if it succeeds in uplifting the social status of its stakeholders. Social implications It is a first step towards addressing the practical challenge of integrating sustainability in the agriculture sector of emerging economies and provides a path to improve the livelihood of people in the agriculture sector. Stakeholder engagement with a focus on collaboration and awareness may lead to the desired social and environmental consequences. Potential adverse social effects also need to be considered. Originality/value This paper focusses on the so far rather neglected but essential aspect of integrating TBL sustainability in the agriculture sector of emerging economies. The hierarchal representation and classification of the TBL sustainability enablers of sustainability is a unique effort in the field of ASC. Development of DSF is one of the first attempts to create a mapping between various enablers of TBL sustainability. The novelty of the study lies in the sector-specific, holistic evaluation of TBL sustainability policy measures that may lead to improvements in practice.

Airbnb – exploring triple bottom line impacts on community

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney W. Caldicott ◽  
Tania von der Heidt ◽  
Pascal Scherrer ◽  
Sabine Muschter ◽  
Antonia Canosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Time Planning

Purpose This paper aims to purposely place community and its stakeholders at the forefront of an investigation of positive and negative social, economic and environmental impacts of the sharing economy in the specific context of Airbnb by drawing upon the triple bottom line (TBL) framework of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative enquiry through a “scoping approach” with the search of relevant electronic databases identified a range of conceptual and empirical studies in the period from 2008 to 2018 informing a profile focussed on the triple bottom line impacts. Findings The criteria limited search yielded 23 focal articles, which investigated or discussed Airbnb impacts on local communities. Analysis of these articles informed a three-pillar tabulation of positive and negative impacts, which are presented against four key stakeholder groupings. Research limitations/implications The study is exploratory, and further research, especially confirmatory research, is recommended. Practical implications The study’s value extends to praxis. Guided by findings, real-time planning and policy-making are already underway within the authors’ community. Additionally, an extension project, as requested by the community, is now investigating direct traditional accommodation provider impacts. Social implications Understanding of the social issues concerning Airbnb and indeed, the wider sharing economy, is broadened through identified need for further social impact research. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to apply a “scoping approach” to holistically illuminate the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb at the micro-level in each of the three domains of sustainability. The research methodology is shown to be effective, with positive community impact, and will easily adapt to other destinations grappling with policy decisions.

Sustainability and company attractiveness

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien Presley ◽  
Theresa Presley ◽  
Michael Blum
Keyword(s):  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
The Body ◽  
Job Choice ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Potential Employer ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
A Company

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine whether a company’s sustainability practices affect job seekers’ perceptions of the attractiveness of the company as a potential employer. Design/methodology/approach A survey completed by 259 university students assessed the respondents’ attitudes toward sustainability. Participants were then presented a series of scenarios describing the sustainable practices of hypothetical companies using the triple bottom line factors of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) and were asked how attractive they found the company to be and the likelihood that they would accept a job offer from the company. Findings The findings indicate that sustainability as a single concept and each sustainability factor individually influenced the attractiveness of a company to potential employees. Research limitations/implications The results of the study add to the body of job choice research, specifically as related to sustainability practices of companies. It furthers the body of work related to signaling theory and job attractiveness. Practical implications The results of this study indicate that sustainability performance is an important factor in determining the attractiveness of a company to potential applicants. Social implications The research highlights the importance of sustainability to potential job applicants. Companies should be aware that positive sustainability performance can make it more attractive to these applicants. The results reported from this research provides additional motivation for companies to pursue efforts in sustainability. Originality/value The research builds upon existing research in the fields of sustainability and job choice. While previous research has looked at many factors regarding applicants and job choice including, no other research was found which explicitly considered the triple bottom line factors of sustainability.

An empirical analysis of SMES’ triple bottom line practices

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Edeigba ◽  
Chris Arasanmi
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
Operational Policies ◽  
Sustainability Practices

Purpose This study aims to examine the determinants of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sustainability practices in New Zealand from the triple bottom line (3BL) perspective. Unlike large companies and government agencies whose sustainability practices are driven by regulations and attempts to legitimise business operations, little is known about the drivers of SMEs’ sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey approach was adopted for the data collection. The analysis was mainly descriptive, while the covariates’ effects were measured based on partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings This paper identified that SMEs’ 3BL practices are significantly influenced by local bylaws, voluntary adoption of 3BL operational policies and company size. This paper finds that the SMEs’ industry type is not statistically significant as a determinant of their 3BL practices. This implies that regulation and operational policies increase sustainability practices in the SME sector. Practical implications These findings provide insights to SMEs’ managers on the importance of sustainability policies adoption and bylaws. Government departments and local government councils could adopt the findings in developing regulatory policies that support SMEs’ 3BL. Social implications This study provides support for economically, environmentally and socially sustainable business practices amongst SMEs. Originality/value A dearth of studies on SMEs sustainability practices exists in the extant literature, particularly in New Zealand. The study focusses on SMEs sustainability in the viewpoint of 3BL practices based on an empirical analysis.

Enhancing sustainable supply chain management performance through alliance portfolio diversity: the mediating effect of sustainability collaboration

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelina Nhat Hanh Le ◽  
Tessa Tien Nguyen ◽  
Julian Ming-Sung Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Alliance Portfolio ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain Management

PurposeWhile strategic alliances is a concept increasingly discussed in the field of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), an emerging and more crucial concept regarding alliances—namely, the alliance portfolio—is mostly ignored in the SSCM context. Mainly drawing on the categorisation–elaboration model (CEM), this research develops a three-layer model to explore the effects of three alliance portfolio diversity facets on the three triple-bottom-line SSCM performances through the mediation of sustainability collaboration.Design/methodology/approachThe field data are collected from 321 Vietnamese manufacturers. Scale accuracy is assessed through the confirmatory factor analysis method. Hierarchical linear regressions are applied to test the proposed model and hypotheses.FindingsPartner, governance, and functional alliance portfolio diversities have a U-shaped, inverted U-shaped, and positive linear effect, respectively, on sustainability collaboration. Sustainability collaboration is in turn found to enhance the SSCM performances in terms of economic, environmental, and social.Originality/valueThis research introduced a new theoretical lens, CEM, to the SSCM field. It also provided findings that can help firms to manage their alliance portfolios more dynamically in terms of the nature and diversity level of the portfolio and in a way that adds to the triple bottom line through the mediating effect of sustainability collaboration.

Outsourcing and reverse supply chain performance: a triple bottom line approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Agrawal ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Electronics Industry ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Reverse Supply Chain ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeOutsourcing has become a strategic decision for most of the organizations in the present context of globalization and circular economy. The objective of proposed study is to empirically investigate the relationship between the outsourcing benefits and triple bottom line (TBL)-based performance of reverse supply chain (RSC) comprising of economic, environmental and social factors.Design/methodology/approachIn the present study, the partial least square path approach of structural equation modeling has been applied for testing hypotheses. A questionnaire was developed for collecting the information and responses from the experts of electronics industry, India. Measurement models were tested for ensuring the fitness of data for further applying partial least square path approach of SEM.FindingsThe results provide insightful information on outsourcing and RSC performance. It reveals that outsourcing decisions are important and have great influence on the economic, environmental and social performance of RSC.Research limitations/implicationsThe study will provide useful guidance to the organizations for outsourcing decisions. One of the limitations of the study is that it has considered data collected from the Indian electronics industry. Therefore, results may not be generalized.Originality/valueThe third-party service providers have core competencies, and they are the experts of providing RSC services. It is also apparent from the exploration of past research and theoretical background that there are limited number of studies focusing on the impact of outsourcing decisions in RSC performance specifically from the TBL perspective. Hence, the proposed study is an effort to explore the impact of outsourcing RSC activities on the performance of RSC from a sustainability perspective.

Developing competitive advantage using the triple bottom line: a conceptual framework

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Schulz ◽  
Rod L. Flanigan
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Companies ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
A Company ◽  
Sustainability Model ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for a sustainability model to be used by industrial companies for establishing a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach Literature is replete with sustainability models for business; however, few of these models are specific to the industrial supply chain market sector. The authors propose a novel approach for comparing/normalizing data from all three components of the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) sustainability model. Findings A shortcoming of the 3BL sustainability model has been that the data cannot be easily normalized and compared across the three categories of the model. The findings of this paper suggest that it may be possible to develop a model that includes both environmental and social responsibility scales, combined with the more traditional financial data, as a tool for competitive advantage using generalizable data. Practical implications As the industrial companies continue to put increasing pressure on both the upstream and downstream suppliers in their supply chain to demonstrate sound sustainability practice, this model could serve to provide a company with competitive advantage. Originality/value This paper proposes a novel approach to assessing environmental, social and financial impact as a tool for competitive advantage.

scholarly journals Exploring the implications of supply risk on sustainability performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1386-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asad Shafiq ◽  
P. Fraser Johnson ◽  
Robert D. Klassen ◽  
Amrou Awaysheh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Supply Risk ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Social Monitoring ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Firms are increasingly being pressured by the public, regulators and customers to ensure that their suppliers behave in a socially and ecologically sound manner. Yet, the complexity and risks embedded in many supply chains makes this challenging, with monitoring practices offering one means to attenuate supply sustainability risk. Drawing on agency theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between sustainability and operations risk, supplier sustainability monitoring practices, supply improvement initiatives and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach This research uses data from a survey and archival sources from a sample of large US firms to empirically examine the relationship between sustainability and operations risk, supplier sustainability monitoring practices, supply improvement initiatives and firm performance. Findings Findings indicate that higher levels of perceived sustainability risk is related to greater monitoring of supplier sustainability practices by focal firms. Perceptions of higher operations risk are indirectly related to greater social monitoring through investment in supply improvement initiatives. Monitoring of supplier sustainability practices is also found to have a positive effect on focal firm performance. Practical implications Findings suggest that managers process operations risks and sustainability risks independently. Greater sustainability risk leads to increased sustainability monitoring, while greater operations risk leads to increased investment in supply improvement initiatives, which in turn leads to increased social monitoring. The research also indicates that behavior-oriented approaches, such as monitoring of supplier environmental and social practices, are an effective approach to improving firm sustainability performance. However, due to resource constraints, a challenge for supply chain managers is where and when to invest in behavior-oriented approaches for suppliers. Originality/value This research advances supply risk literature by exploring the effects of supply sustainability risk on the use of monitoring practices to manage supplier environmental and social behavior. Using a combination of survey and archival data to independently assess the implications of sustainability monitoring practices on firm sustainability performance, this study provides a methodology for evaluating the impact of sustainability monitoring practices on the triple bottom line in supply chain management.

Multi-attribute approach to sustainable supply chain management under uncertainty

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuo-Jui Wu ◽  
Ching-Jong Liao ◽  
MingLang Tseng ◽  
Kevin Kuan-Shun Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain Management ◽  
Incomplete System

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and provide a comprehensive and quantitative method to assess performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study applied interval-valued triangular fuzzy numbers associated with grey relational analysis to improve the insufficient information and overcome the incomplete system under uncertainty. Findings – The findings support the argument that the triple bottom line is insufficient to cover the entire concept of SSCM; in particular, the aspects of operations, stakeholders and resilience have not been addressed in previous studies. Research limitations/implications – The results reveal that the triple bottom line concept is insufficient to illustrate the principles of SSCM and to provide an extensive basis for theory development. The aspects and criteria considered in the study only relate to the studied company and may need to be reviewed when applied to other industries. Practical implications – The methodology and findings of the study demonstrate the core applications of criteria ranking and identify priority areas that utilize less investment but that may maintain the studied company’s current performance. Suggestions for the prioritization of criteria to enhance SSCM performance are provided. Originality/value – The present study provides three valuable contributions. First, it adopts collaboration theory to furnish a theoretical foundation for SSCM. Second, the proposed hybrid method is able to overcome uncertainty and subsequently evaluate SSCM while utilizing incomplete and imprecise information. Third, the evaluation provides significant results for consideration in decision making by the studied company.

A bibliometric analysis of green manufacturing and similar frameworks

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 566-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuldip Singh Sangwan ◽  
Varinder Kumar Mittal
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Green Manufacturing ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Life Cycle Engineering ◽  
Clean Manufacturing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the green manufacturing and similar frameworks in order to trace the origin, definitions, scope, similarities, differences, and publications of these manufacturing frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – A review of 113 research articles is conducted for various terms, namely, green manufacturing (GM); environmentally conscious manufacturing; environmentally responsible manufacturing; environmentally benign manufacturing; sustainable manufacturing; clean manufacturing; cleaner production; sustainable production with reference to triple bottom line, product life cycle engineering, systems approach, resource and energy efficiency, supply chain, pollution prevention and closed loop system/6R. Findings – It can be said with reasonable confidence that all these eight frameworks have been used interchangeably by researchers but it requires some standardization. It has been observed during literature review that to standardize the terminology researchers have to clear emphatically in their research the use of various life cycle engineering approach; clarity on the end-of-life strategies used; clarity in use of various components of triple bottom line perspectives; inclusion of the whole supply chain and integration of environmental improvement strategies with the business strategy. Research limitations/implications – The literature reviewed for the study is the literature available online using Google scholar. Originality/value – This is one of the first known studies to review the GM and similar frameworks for their origin, definition, scope, similarities, and differences.

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