Michael J. Maloni

Sustainability Practices in Food Supply Chains: How is Wine Different?

Environmental stewardship has received much attention in the wine industry, but firms must also address social sustainability to be considered a ‘sustainable’ company. In this research, we compare qualitative and quantitative evidence of sustainability practice adoption of wine and other food producers. To this end, we first performed interviews with 14 winery and 18 food processing operations managers or owners in the northwestern United States. We then used the interviews to develop a questionnaire and surveyed all wine and food producers in the same region, receiving responses from 56 wineries and 61 food processors. The results indicate differences in sustainability practices and performance impacts across the two sectors. Specifically, we find that winery managers place more emphasis on certain environmental practices, which in turn improve product quality. Additionally, wineries with higher adoption rates of social sustainability practices find that these efforts pay off in better wine quality and better overall market perceptions.

Improving bid pricing for humanitarian logistics

Purpose – Humanitarian logistics plays a critical role in the aid response to hunger and disasters worldwide. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) uses a competitive bidding process to procure P.L. 480 Title II food aid, a

Assessing logistics maturation through author concentration

2 billion business annually. This paper describes a mixed‐integer program (MIP) decision tool that mimics the USDA bid approach in order to improve ocean carrier and food supplier bid pricing strategy.Design/methodology/approach – First, the USDA bid process is detailed and the MIP decision tool is described. Then how the tool is run against historical data to approximate future USDA bid awards is explained, allowing the authors to subsequently advise food supplier and ocean carrier clients of expected price competition and pricing flexibility before they submit bids.Findings – The MIP decision tool has demonstrated its effectiveness in supporting

A Methodology for Building Faculty Support for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education

8 million in food aid bids. Bidding implications for food aid carriers and suppliers are provided as well as suggestions for additional ...

Author Affiliation in Supply Chain Management and Logistics Journals: 2008-2010

Purpose – While most researchers would generally agree that the field of logistics has been maturing over recent decades, this maturation has not yet been empirically established. The purpose of this paper is to assess the maturity of research in the field by measuring author concentration in logistics journals over a sixteen‐year period.Design/methodology/approach – Research propositions of logistics author concentration are first developed from the extant literature. The propositions are then tested by assessing author concentration across 1,796 articles from five scholarly, peer‐reviewed logistics journals from 1992‐2007. The results are compared to similar studies of other academic business disciplines, including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. We also apply regression analysis to the time series data to verify changing author concentration trends.Findings – The results indicate that logistics publications generally have higher author concentration than other business disciplines, sugg...

Motivational influences on supply manager environmental sustainability behavior

Evidence from extant literature indicates that faculty support is a critical driver for implementing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), particularly for schools pursuing an advanced, cross-disciplinary level of sustainability integration. However, there is limited existing research offering insight into how to build faculty support for sustainability programs. Addressing this gap, the authors present an exploratory methodology using a survey and structural model to measure differential faculty support for sustainability. The methodology also increases awareness of the underlying drivers of and barriers to expanding the reach of sustainability across business faculty, ultimately allowing PRME institutions to address their distinct needs. The authors describe application of the methodology at a recent PRME signatory institution, including actions taken as a result of intriguing findings that identified difficulties in gaining broad faculty acceptance of PRME.

Linking ocean container carrier capabilities to shipper–carrier relationships: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to extend a series of studies dating back to 1967 that evaluates faculty publication productivity in refereed supply chain management and logistics journals.Design/methodology/approach – Publication output and rankings of academic institutions are based on publication data from six supply chain management and logistics journals from 2008 through 2010. The results are compared to prior studies to identify trends and changes in the rankings. The authors also assess author collaboration influences as well as authorship diversity. Finally, the authors examine further changes to the core set of journals considered for future iterations of this study.Findings – The results indicate that supply chain management and logistics authorship continues to be dynamic. Several schools entered the top 25 ranking for the first time and others substantially improved their rankings. While higher‐ranked schools engage in more collaboration within their own institutions, they practice les...

Antecedents to effective sales and operations planning

Purpose Although supply chain managers serve a central role when implementing corporate environmental sustainability objectives, existing literature does not demonstrate high levels of supply manager support for such initiatives. This paper aims to investigate the potential of individual behavioral influences to explain supply manager orientation toward environmental responsibility. Methodology/approach This paper constructs a research model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore how personal environmental motivations influence supply manager environmental behavior in the workplace. This paper also incorporates hyperbolic discounting as a cognitive bias moderator in the model. The research hypotheses were tested with regression of survey data of practicing supply managers in the USA. Findings Support was found for the direct TPB hypotheses, revealing the importance of an individual’s personal attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on interpreting and applying the organization’s environmental sustainability objectives. Although the interactive effect of hyperbolic discounting as a cognitive bias was not supported, a direct effect was found. Practical implications The findings can help organizations improve supply manager support for sustainability initiatives. Originality/value Prior supply chain sustainability research has examined drivers and barriers at political, legal, economical and overall firm levels. This study expands this research base by investigating individual-level barriers and drivers related to personal responsibility for environmental sustainability. As a second contribution, integration of cognitive biases in the TPB has been understudied in existing literature.

Exploring the effects of workforce level on supply chain job satisfaction and industry commitment

ABSTRACT As outsourcing and offshoring continue to expand, the ocean container industry serves a critical and still increasing role in supporting global trade. Yet, perceived commoditization and intense price competition among ocean container carriers limit opportunities for competitive advantage and formation of long-term shipper–carrier relationships. This environment ultimately yields an unhealthy industry that threatens the stability of global supply chains. Extant literature provides limited insight into how carriers can build strong relationships with shippers to overcome the short-term, transactional-orientation of the industry. Examining a case study of a major ocean container carrier, we apply structural equation modeling to shipper survey data to explore how carrier operational, service, and pricing capabilities influence the strength of the long-term shipper–carrier relationship. Furthermore, we identify unique clusters of shipper needs, helping the carrier understand when and how to promote a particular portfolio of capabilities to customers.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: An Application in the Food Industry

Purpose – Sales and Operations Planning (S & OP) serves as the essential cross-functional process for organizations to match supply in the form of production, inventory, and procurement with customer demand. Given recent studies revealing that S & OP is ineffective for most firms, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical antecedents of effective S & OP. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on agency theory and stewardship theory, the authors develop and test a conceptual model that includes organizational integration, organizational priorities, standardized processes, and organizational engagement. The authors apply partial least squares structural equation modeling of survey data from S & OP practitioners to test the model. Findings – The results confirm the relationships among S & OP antecedents. Organizational integration positively influences a standardized S & OP process, and both the S & OP process and prioritization lead to stronger organizational S & OP engagement. Ultimately, org...