Stephan Vachon

Green supply chain practices and the selection of environmental technologies

The pressure on manufacturing organizations to adopt benign processes and to develop greener products has increased significantly over the last decade. As such, several manufacturing organizations have turned to their suppliers and customers to find innovative solutions to environmental issues. Using the data from a survey of the Canadian and United States package printing industry, the linkage between green supply chain practices and the selection of environmental technologies is examined. This paper differs from other studies that have linked supply chain management to environmental technologies as it focuses specifically on green interactions between organizations in the supply chain. In particular, the paper explores the possible relation between environmental collaboration and environmental monitoring in the supply chain and the form of environmental investment characterized by three categories: pollution prevention, pollution control, and management systems. The results suggest that environmental collaboration with suppliers is positively associated with greater investment in pollution prevention technologies while such collaboration with customers has no impact on the adoption and the implementation of pollution prevention technologies. In contrast, environmental collaboration with suppliers is associated with fewer investments in management systems. Overall, green supply chain practices with customers have very little impact on environmental investment decisions.

Supply chain management and environmental technologies: the role of integration

As corporations attempt to move toward environmental sustainability, management must extend their efforts to improve environmental practices across their supply chain. To date, the literature characterising environmental management within the supply chain has been slowly building, but remains sparse. Moreover, investment by plants in environmental technologies cannot be made independently of other organisations in the supply chain. The linkage between supply chain characteristics, such as the degree of integration with primary suppliers and major customers, and the resources invested in different environmental technologies is assessed with plant-level survey data. The results indicate that resources were increasingly allocated toward pollution prevention when plants developed extensive strategic-level integration with suppliers, including such aspects as product development and knowledge sharing. However, these effects were not mirrored with customers. Instead, greater supply chain integration with customers was significantly related to pollution control. Collectively, these findings suggested that downstream supply chain members tend to favour prevention while simultaneously shifting the burden for control to upstream members.

An exploratory investigation of the effects of supply chain complexity on delivery performance

As just-in-time delivery has become increasingly commonplace and customer demands continue to tighten, the importance of fast, reliable delivery cannot be overstated. This is particularly true for firms competing internationally, where the complexity of the supply chain must be managed within a global network. To explore the linkage between supply chain complexity and delivery, a two-dimensional framework is proposed that conceptualizes the degree of complexity embedded in a supply chain along two major dimensions: (1) form of technology and (2) nature of information processing. Technology is characterized using a conventional operations strategy framework of structural and infrastructural elements. In contrast, information processing captures both the level of complicatedness and of uncertainty that exists in the supply chain. Collectively, these two dimensions create a two-by-two framework that defines supply chain complexity and provides a strong theoretical basis for linking different aspects of complexity to delivery performance. An exploratory empirical investigation using an international database focused on immediate upstream and downstream echelons of a supply chain at the firm level. Results show strong support for the linkages between delivery performance and both complicatedness of the product/process and uncertainty of the management systems. In contrast, little evidence was found that greater product variety and more complicated supply networks adversely affected performance. Thus, management initiatives to improve delivery performance are best focused on improving informational flows within the supply chain and leveraging new process technologies that offer flexibility to respond to uncertainty.

Aligning competitive priorities in the supply chain: the role of interactions with suppliers

Purpose – Over the last decade, competition in the manufacturing sector has increased as globalization and customer requirements have evolved. Now, organizations are competing not only with their internal capabilities but also on their abilities to leverage capabilities in the supply chain. Recent studies suggest that strategic alignment in the supply chain, assessed by the degree of matching between supply management and market requirements, is critical for the success of organizations in the global marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible linkage between strategic alignment (or lack of) in the supply chain, based on the traditional competitive priorities (i.e. cost, quality, flexibility and delivery), and the type of interactions with suppliers.Design/methodology/approach – Strategic alignment in the supply chain was measured by the difference between customers requirements and the emphasis that the organization puts on these same requirements in dealing with its suppliers. The...

Empirical research on sustainable supply chains: IJPR’s contribution and research avenues

This paper reviews the empirical research pertaining to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) published in the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR). The review allows an assessment of IJPR’s contribution to the empirical SSCM literature and its shortcomings. One of the key shortcomings was the relatively small number of papers that address the social dimension of SSCM. An avenue for potential and fruitful research is proposed building on the notion of network capital. Research questions that can lead to the application of network capital are presented to spark more research on the social dimension of SSCM for prospective contributors to IJPR.

Returns management in a business–to–business context: its impact on customer satisfaction

Managing the returns process effectively can lead to cost reduction and revenues increase even if it is often considered as a peripheral activity in the supply chain. This paper investigates the relation between returns management and customer satisfaction in a business–to–business (B2B) context. Building on the inter–organisational justice perspective, a model that links the characteristics of the returns management system, the system performance, and customer satisfaction is developed. The proposed conceptual model was tested using data collected through a survey of 192 heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC–R) contractors in Canada. Results indicate that: i) the level of administrative support provided by the suppliers to assist the contractors (i.e., the customers) with the returns process is predominant in generating the customer satisfaction; ii) the performance of returns management system is significantly and positively linked to customer satisfaction. Implications for future research and managers are also discussed.

Supply Chain Sustainability Risk

In recent years several multinational organizations were affected by poor management practices upstream in the supply chain. For example, brands like Joe Fresh, Primark and Bonmarche were all in the hot seat after the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013 (Lu 2013; Wieland and Handfield 2013). Increasingly, the general population (the ultimate consumers of products and services) as well as different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activist groups are calling for a greater contribution from large corporations to address sustainability issues upstream in their supply chains. When large corporations fail to adequately address (i) environmental damages caused by their first- or second-tier suppliers, (ii) poor working conditions in their contract manufacturers, or (iii) child labour in the extraction or harvest of raw material, they are pitched as bad corporate citizens generating a reputational loss. Such a reputational loss translates into a reduction of goodwill from both market and non-market stakeholders. This chapter focuses on the reputational loss emerging from questionable practices—from a sustainability perspective—in the supply network (‘poor management practices’ hereafter). In fact, a study suggests that the potential negative impact from a supplier with poor management practices is on average a loss of 12% in market capitalization (Lefevre et al. 2010). Therefore, it is important for large organizations with reputational capital to establish proper management systems to minimize their exposure to poor management practices in the supply network.

Waste Reduction and Eco-Efficiency

This chapter introduces the concept of waste management as a path to increase eco-efficiency. While there are several forms of waste in organizations, the main focus here is on solid and liquid waste (hereafter solid waste). Waste can be found everywhere in an organization and in every industry. The general population often believe that solid waste is generated mainly by manufacturing operations or logistical activities, but the service industry also produces its fair share of waste. For example, the U.S. economy wasted

Progress and Perspectives for Business Sustainability

162 billion worth of food in 2010. A good part of the food wasted occurred in grocery stores and restaurants. The healthcare and hospitality industries are also well known for their significant amount of solid waste.

Integrated Supply Network and Business Sustainability

Sustainability has become an integral part of the strategy and mission of many organizations, and this translates into business practices and communication. For example, global automaker BMW published its first sustainable value report in 2014 to demonstrate the company’s sustainability strategy and the progress the company had made in integrating sustainability into its corporate processes. A series of surveys highlights the relevance of businesses implementing sustainable practices. In 2002, Ernst and Young conducted a survey of CEOs within the Global 1000 list of companies, and found that ninety-four per cent of respondents agree that a business sustainability strategy could result in financial benefits, but only eleven per cent actually implemented any such strategies in their operations. That is, executives recognize the value of sustainability strategy, but the majority fails to maximize the associated business opportunities (Ernst and Young 2002). A survey conducted by KPMG in 2008 also found that about eighty per cent of companies agreed that an understanding of how to make their businesses more sustainable within the areas of identifying and prioritizing issues, developing strategies and policies, and measuring sustainability performance was a challenge (KPMG 2008). More recently in 2010, Accenture, with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), surveyed 766 CEOs from over 100 countries and 25 industries, and found that most CEOs agreed that ‘sustainability is more important than ever to the future success of their businesses’ (Accenture 2010, p. 16). A recent worldwide survey of 1,946 executives undertaken by McKinsey & Company (2010) showed that more than fifty per cent consider that sustainability is a very important, or extremely important, proportion of their business practices. In particular, environmental sustainability, for example in climate change and waste reduction, has become an urgent issue for many industry sectors. A majority of respondents see sustainability as creating real value. It is agreed by seventy-six per cent of executives that sustainability contributes positively to shareholder value in the long term, while fifty per cent see short-term value creation (McKinsey & Company 2010). Similarly, MIT Sloan Management Review, in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, has conducted a global executive sustainability survey every year for the last few years. The recent 2014 survey included responses from more than 3,795 executive and managers from 113 countries (Kiron et al. 2015). The survey reports suggest that corporate sustainability is moving steadily away from ad hoc or opportunistic efforts towards strategic and transformational initiatives that engage multiple entities. The main goals of sustainability collaborations include corporate benefits such as gathering access to resources and developing new markets. Ninety per cent of executives agree that businesses need to collaborate to address the sustainability challenges they face. Despite consensus on the importance of these collaborations, only forty seven per cent of respondents are actually engaging in sustainability collaborations and partnerships.