Ambika Zutshi

Integrated management system: The experiences of three Australian organisations

Purpose – Management systems and standards have become a key part of the organisations lifeline and a prerequisite for survival in the twenty‐first century. Systems for quality environmental and occupational health and safety (OHS) now form the three main pillars of the organisation, the fourth one being financial accounting. In light of the increasing pressure and demands from different stakeholders, it is becoming necessary for organisations to adopt the different systems/standards. However, to achieve the benefits from the implementation and subsequently maintenance of these systems it is only a practical and logical step that the existing management systems/standards be integrated into a single system.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the experiences of three Australian‐based organisations that have successfully undertaken the integration of their management systems/standards. Data for this paper were collected through in‐depth interviews conducted with the managers responsible for qu...

Adoption and maintenance of environmental management systems: Critical success factors

The implementation of various management systems and standards has become an important activity for organisations irrespective of their size, sector or nature of the business. Even with a history of implementing change across the organisation, managers continue to experience resistance and challenges when implementing and maintaining the systems/standards, whether they be in quality, occupational health and safety, environmental or any other area. Based on a major research project recently completed, this paper presents the critical success factors for successful implementation of an environmental management system. The project involved three phases of fieldwork: preliminary interviews, a questionnaire survey and in‐depth interviews. A brief summary of the findings from each of these phases of research is presented. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the critical success factors for the successful implementation and maintenance of EMS.

Environmental Management System Adoption by Australasian Organisations: Part 1: Reasons, Benefits and Impediments

Abstract The decision to adopt environmental management system (EMS) and to develop effective implementation strategies has engrossed managers at all levels and in all types of organisations in recent years. Some organisations have claimed that environmental issues have been determining their bottom-line and business performance in the market place. This paper is first part in the series focussing on the reasons for EMS implementation and the benefits and impediments associated with the process. Measures commonly practised by organisations to overcome/address the impediments are also presented in this paper. The findings of this paper are based on a questionnaire survey mailed to Australasian organisations on their experiences with ISO 14001 implementation and certification.

Agency theory and supply chain management: A structured literature review

Purpose – The paper aims to explain how agency theory can be used to inform our understanding of the dynamics surrounding supply chain behaviours and relationships.Design/methodology/approach – A structured review of the literature using a three‐stage refinement process is used. The articles were sourced through online databases and keyword classifications, such as “agency theory”, “principal‐agent relationships” and “supply chain management”. The search initially identified over 86 articles. After further screening these were reduced to 19 for final assessment and comparison.Findings – Despite agency theorys prevailing descriptive and predictive qualities there is scarcity in its application to the SCM discipline. The authors posit that agency theory provides valuable insights for relationship engineering within supply chains where social, political, legal and behavioural dynamics dominate.Practical implications – It is a critical task for managers to understand and mitigate abnormal behaviours across t...

A study of the environmental management system (EMS) adoption process within Australasian organisations—2. Role of stakeholders

The importance of an Environmental Management System (EMS) for organisations is becoming widely known across all industrial sectors. EMS has brought both challenges and benefits for the organisations and these many-a-times are determined by the role played by the organisational stakeholders. Stakeholder is a broad term and can encompass a number of individual(s) or group(s) directly or indirectly impacted by organisational activities. This paper, second part in the series, focuses on the role of the stakeholders, primarily employees and suppliers during the EMS planning and implementation stages. It is based on the findings of the quantitative part of a large research project exploring the role of employees and suppliers, as organisational stakeholders, during the EMS adoption stages. A response rate of almost 50% was achieved from a questionnaire survey of ISO 14001 certified organisations in Australia and New Zealand. The key relationships existing between the organisations and stakeholder involvement and the benefits and impediments associated with the process have also been presented.

An integrated management systems approach to corporate sustainability

Purpose – This paper seeks to describe an integrated management systems (IMS) approach for the integration of corporate sustainability into business processes.Design/methodology/approach – An extensive review of published literature was conducted. Building on existing research, the paper presents an original framework for structuring the integration of corporate sustainability with existing business infrastructure. The framework is supported by a detailed set of diagnostic questions to help guide the process. Both the framework and the diagnostic questions are based on the “Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act” cycle of continuous improvement.Findings – The paper highlights the need for a systematic means to integrate sustainability into business processes. Building on that point, the paper illustrates how an IMS approach can be used to structure the entire process of managing, measuring, and assessing progress towards corporate sustainability.Practical implications – The paper should be of interest to both practitioners an...

Stakeholder involvement in the EMS adoption process

This paper summarises the findings of the qualitative part of a large study aimed at exploring the extent of involvement of organisational stakeholders (employees and suppliers) during the environmental management system (EMS) adoption process. Interviews with nine senior/middle managers from Australian manufacturing and service organisations revealed the growing awareness of the impact of their products and processes on the ecological and social environments. Moreover, implementation of an EMS or waste management system (WMS) is accepted as a learning curve by both the organisation and its stakeholders, including its employees. Organisations at the same time are also contemplating the need for certifying their existing EMS against international standards such as ISO 14001 based on the cost‐benefits resulting from the certification.

Child labour and supply chain: profitability or (mis)management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a realistic assessment, with an historical perspective, of the current practises and progress made by organisations towards elimination of child labour in global supply chains.Design/methodology/approach – Literature review in the area of use of child labour within the global supply chain was combined with additional information obtained from the company searches of the GRI database, company ranking tables, and other sources.Findings – Child labour is one of a number of areas of concern in global supply chains. Continued exploitation of child labour indicates an imbalanced state and consequently forces can be unleashed through standardization, collaboration and communication amongst all stakeholders to ensure protection of the vulnerable. This paper is part of the broader analysis informing incremental changes to supply chain management to preserve the rights and welfare of children in the present and future generations.Research/limitations/implications – ...

How Australian manufacturing firms perceive and understand the concepts of agility and flexibility in the supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address an important question which centres on investigating how do manufacturing businesses perceive and understand the concepts of agility and flexibility in their supply chains (SCs). Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach was utilised and data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with ten organisations in the Australian manufacturing sector. Data analysis was conducted using analytic techniques based on, for example, pattern matching and cross-case synthesis. Findings – Findings confirmed that there is some ambiguity concerning the understanding of the terms agile and flexible, both within and between organisations. The implications are that there is often little consistency in the way the terms are operationalised and then applied. In this regard, and to inform future research, the paper offers empirically grounded definitions for SC agility and flexibility. Moreover, four propositions are developed and discussed which shed light on the ...

Understanding and Development of Supply Chain Agility and Flexibility: A Structured Literature Review

This paper provides a review of the literature while contributing to academic understanding of the concepts of agility and flexibility within the supply chain. The research identified 83 peer-reviewed articles through a structured review technique, which is based on a three-stage refinement process. Data reduction procedures using codification, sentence strings and a review of keywords, title, abstract and conclusion were used in the search. The papers identified focused on organizational and supply chain agility and flexibility. The acknowledged gaps in understanding and development of agility and flexibility in supply chains were identified and categorized in terms of conceptual, contextual and methodological gaps. Subsequent to the gap analysis, this paper argues that effective relationship integration with key partners is a fundamental mechanism for mitigating the problem of control dissipation, which has hindered academic understanding with respect to development and application of agile and flexible capabilities in supply chains. The findings in this paper will help academics to gain a better understanding and to develop the concepts of supply chain agility and flexibility. In addition, the findings indicate that supply chain stakeholders need to address the issue of relationship integration when undertaking, or participating in agility and flexibility development programmes, so as to maximize supply chain performance. The paper concludes by highlighting implications for managers and researchers, and proposes a number of areas for future investigation.