Green supply chain management

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Cosimato ◽  
Orlando Troisi

Purpose – Globalization has led worldwide organizations to balance their economic and environmental performances in order to achieve a concrete sustainable development. In an environmental centered world, logistics is called to put into action advanced programs based on technological and organizational improvement, in order to gain or maintain a concrete competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how logistics organizations try to face the recent ecological challenges and the role that the emergent green technologies play in making them finally “green” and competitive. Design/methodology/approach – Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices have been investigated to better understand their influence on economic performance and corporate competitiveness. After providing a background discussion on Green Logistics and GSCM, the authors have also identified specific research questions that are worthy of investigation, also thorough the DHL case study. The case study analysis has been conducted according to a specific conceptual model (Rao and Holt, 2005), which allows a deeper understanding of literature review results. Findings – The present paper offers some insights on innovation influence on supply chain management (SCM) greenness, a process oriented to a sustainable and environmental-friendly approach to management of supply chain. According to DHL case study evidence, in logistics innovation, often based on emerging green technologies, is strictly related to the development of a much more sustainable and environment-friendly approach to SCM, based on reduction of core activities’ ecological impact, cost saving, quality, reliability, performance and energy efficiency. In this context, the respect of environmental regulations is fundamental to achieve not only a reduction of ecological damage, but also to overall economic profit. Research limitations/implications – There is a concrete need of further research to better understand the potential link between GSCM, green innovation and logistic organizations competitiveness. In fact, this research area still represents a source of interesting challenges for practitioners, academicians and researchers. Concluding, the research findings cannot be generalized to all logistic organizations, even if DHL is on of the most important and globalized logistic companies. Future researches should empirically test the achieved results also through comparative studies based on a large sample. Originality/value – The suggestion of literature review and the result of case study analysis represent a first attempt to better understand the real and potential influence of GSCM on corporate image and competitiveness. In fact, the present investigation has pointed out that logistic organization can achieve environmental goals and acquire a better positioning than their competitors also cooperating with stakeholders. Therefore, it is necessary that organizations contribute to make them able to participate in corporate activities and develop a concrete environmental-friendly orientation, based on the respect of market’s requests and environmental regulations in order to get their corporate reputation strong than ever.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Mostafa Mahmoud Yassin ◽  
Mohamed Ahmed Hassan ◽  
Hebatallah Mohamed Elmesmary

Purpose There are several important strategic projects in the field of renewable energy in Egypt. Benban project is considered as one of the largest solar generation facilities in the world, which aims to increase clean energy produced, provide electricity needs for citizens and help to increase the volume of Egypt's electricity exports. The purpose of this paper is to explore the most important drivers and barriers that affect the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in the field of solar energy production. Design/methodology/approach It is an exploratory research that conducts a case study about solar energy companies operating in Benban, south Egypt. It adopts a mixed approach; qualitative and quantitative research strategy to test the relationship between dependent and independent variables through a survey. Findings This research concluded that normative drivers involving stakeholder pressure are of the greatest drivers of GSCM practice, while external barriers including lack of government regulations and government support, poor supplier commitment, customers’ unawareness of sustainable green products, lack of markets receiving and manufacturing recycled materials, lack of renewal or technological innovation in markets and lack of human resources or expertise in market are among the biggest barriers to GSCM implementation. Research limitations/implications The researchers collected 30 responses during the field survey, which is a nonrandom sample that does not allow generalization. In addition, samples are only from companies in the solar energy sector only. Originality/value As there is a need for research that addresses sustainability practices and solutions in developing countries, especially in Egypt, this paper theoretically contributes to literature by proposing a conceptual framework that identifies the drivers and barriers of GSCM from the existing literature, then investigates and measures their impact on the implementation of GSCM on an Egyptian case study. As regards the practical contribution, this research is a trial to experimentally test the importance of top management’s role in motivating and training employees to improve the brand image of their company and making them aware of the benefits of the successful GSCM implementation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardeep Chahal ◽  
Ramesh Dangwal ◽  
Swati Raina

Purpose – The purpose of the study is twofold. First, to examine the domain of green marketing construct in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in emerging economies (i.e. India) across electrical industries and, second, to assess its impact on the SMEs performance. Design/methodology/approach – All the owners of electrical industries (SMEs) operating in Jammu District, that is, 152, were contacted using census method. Findings – The study identifies and confirms five factors, namely, greening the process, green supply chain management, green strategic policy initiative, proactive energy conservation and green innovation of green marketing as important dimensions of green marketing orientation (GMO) scale. All the dimensions of the GMO scale have positive and significant impacts on performance of the firms. In addition, there exists stronger impact of green marketing dimensions on the customer business to business (B2B) satisfaction and employee retention. Research limitations/implications – The research has certain unavoidable limitations. First, the study is based on only one sector, that is, electrical industries operating in developing industrial region of India and hence future research is suggested to comprehend green marketing in other green-savvy manufacturing sectors like pharmaceutical sector and service sector like hotels and hospitals. Further, the study has focussed on the development of GMO scale and future studies need to extend research to include variables like green satisfaction, green trust and green loyalty to understand their mediating role in green marketing and performance relationship. Furthermore, the moderating role of variables such as nature and age of the SMEs can also be studied in future research. Practical implications – GMO allows managers to understand how their firms facilitate green environment and they affect the business outcomes. Furthermore, GMO takes into consideration all important aspects (greening the process, green supply chain management, green strategic policy initiatives, proactive energy conservation and green promotion) which provide better explanatory power and identification of priority areas for managerial attention. GMO can be used by managers to determine which strategies and practices will have the most positive influence on employees’ outcome. Originality/value – This paper can help managers in identifying the perspectives of GMO in electrical sector for the developing countries. Unlike the three dimensions confirmed by studies, this study established five dimensions of green marketing, namely, greening the process green supply chain management, green strategic policy initiatives, proactive energy conservation and green promotion.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Sylvain Charlebois ◽  
Paul Uys

<p>With consumer consciousness growing in the area of sustainable food supply, food<br />distribution is looking for methods to embrace, adapt and improve its environmental<br />performance, while still remaining economically competitive. Until recent innovative<br />solutions were developed, coffee pods have been considered as an ecologically unsound<br />approach to single-serve beverages. Some have argued that reverse logistics (recycling) is a<br />better option than green supply chain management (composting). With a particular focus on<br />coffee pods a case study on Club Coffee, which focuses on green supply chain management,<br />is presented for the design of a capacitated distribution network for a two-layer supply chain<br />involved in the distribution of coffee pods in Canada. Our investigation shows that Club<br />Coffee’s relationship is not only critical to fostering the green supply chain ideology, but it is<br />also unique in the business. Findings are presented and limitations and future research are<br />proposed.</p>


Author(s):  
Abednico Lopang Montshiwa

Purpose This study aims to present a competitive advantages framework suited for disaster prone regions in the era of climate change, present supply chain cooperation (SCC) as an integral part of GrSCM within the automobile industry and evaluate the competitive advantages framework merits based on SCC as a new implementation tool. Design/methodology/approach In an effort to address limited green supply chain management implementation strategies in disaster prone regions, the paper presents SCC as an economic, social and political implementation tool. To explore this; the study introduces SCC in a three-phase competitive advantages model adopted from the Barney 1995 model (with slight differences). Smart PLS 3.0 software package was adopted to carry out multi-variable data analysis. The study’s assumption is a capital economic system and bases its argument of analysis on stockholder theoretical lenses. Findings Big company size does not significantly affect SCC, suggesting that companies of all size can organize and enhance their network to be cooperative. Companies with cooperative supply chain network tend to have competitive advantages. SCC is also a viable way to manage business risks, be there internal or external. Research limitations/implications One of the study’s limitation is the stockholder theory it adopts, which shoulders its assumptions on a capital economic model of operation. Indeed, the study covered China, which is seen to be a communist-based economy. Another study’s limitation is that it narrows its data collection to disaster prone areas as documented by Guha-Sapir et al. (2012). Consequently, the findings of this study might be only applicable to areas that experience significant level of disruptions usually caused by disaster incidents. Originality/value The study is also the first of its kind to propose a model for automobile manufacturing in disaster prone regions. This is done by introducing SCC as an economic, social and political factor, while risk ranking is introduced as an environmental factor to constitute the external changes that Barney 1995 introduced.


Author(s):  
Junjun Liu ◽  
Yunting Feng ◽  
Qinghua Zhu ◽  
Joseph Sarkis

Purpose Green supply chain management (GSCM) and the circular economy (CE) overlap but also differ. The purpose of this paper is to clarify linkages between these two concepts. It identifies mutual theory applications used to study GSCM and CE. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review is conducted to identify theories from GSCM and CE studies. A critical analysis explores the theories that can provide mutual applications between GSCM and CE fields. Propositions are developed. Findings In all, 12 theories are applied in both GSCM and CE studies. Several theories are only applied in GSCM studies, but can help to advance CE study. These theories include complexity, transaction cost economics, agency, and information theories. Each of the eight theories only applied to CE can potentially advance GSCM study. Research limitations/implications The findings contribute to further theory development for both GSCM and CE study. A methodological review can advance theoretical development and cross-pollination in both fields. Originality/value This work is the first study to explicitly explore linkages of GSCM and CE from a theoretical perspective.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1110-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijit Majumdar ◽  
Sanjib Sinha

PurposeSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Indian clothing industry have become one of the most important cogs of global fashion supply chain. However, the implementation of green practices is still in the nascent stage. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the important barriers of green supply chain management in Indian clothing SMEs.Design/methodology/approachA total of 36 barriers related to green supply chain management (GSCM) practices were identified through exhaustive literature review. Then ten important barriers were shortlisted through questionnaire survey among supply chain practitioners using five-point Likert scale. Finally, interpretive structural modeling technique was used to decipher the contextual relationships among these barriers.FindingsComplexity of green process and system design and lack of support from regulatory authorities were found to be the barriers having the maximum driving power. Lack of consumer support and high investment and low economic benefits were also found to be important barriers in the way of green practices implementation in clothing SMEs. In contrast, lack of reward systems for suppliers, uncertainty of green outcome, lack of green materials, process and technology and lack of flexibility to switch over to green system were the dependent barriers.Originality/valueThe important barriers of GSCM practices in Indian clothing SMEs have been identified and analyzed. The finding will be helpful in making the Indian clothing SMEs environmentally sustainable by eliminating the important barriers.


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