Barriers to implementing corporate environmental responsibility in Thailand

Adoption of environmental management accounting in Vietnamese enterprises: An empirical analysis of influencing determinants

Along with the process of rapid economic development and integration, Vietnam is facing serious environmental problems, largely caused by manufacturing enterprises. Environmental management accounting (EMA) is a strong management tool to improve an organization's financial and environmental performance, hence supporting businesses for sustainability. This study focused on examining the factors that influence the firms' intention to adopt EMA in Vietnam. The study used the theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model to develop an empirical model and hypotheses. Research data was collected through a survey of 330 businesses in 4 provinces in the North region. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, Anova test, Cronbach' s Alpha analysis, Exploratory factor analysis, and regression. The results showed that there are 6 significant factors driving EMA applying intention including environmental attitude, perceived benefits of EMA, subjective norms, coercion and social pressure, perceived control and barrier, and policy mix condition, in which coercion and social pressure was the strongest influencing factor. From there, the study makes some implication for government and business sectors aimed at encouraging the implementation of EMA in Vietnam.

Do Tournament Incentives Matter for CEOs to Be Environmentally Responsible? Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

Relying on tournament theory and environmental management research, we examine how CEO tournament incentives induce top executives to invest more in green innovation. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2016, we find evidence that CEO tournament incentives are positively associated with green innovation. In addition, we find that a positive relationship between CEO tournament incentives and green innovation is stronger in state-owned enterprises than in non-state-owned enterprises. These results support tournament theory, which proposes that better incentives induce top executives’ efforts to win the tournament incentives, and such efforts are subject to fiercer competition among employees, which improves firms’ social and financial performance. Moreover, our findings have implications for policy makers and regulators who wish to enhance environmental legitimacy by providing tournament incentives to top executives.

Green supply chain management and organizational culture: a bibliometric analysis based on Scopus data (2001-2020)

Purpose

Along with rapid development in the green supply chain fields, questions have been raised about the direct effects of internal and external drivers. Recent evidence suggest that organizational culture is a prerequisite for the understanding of green supply chain management (GSCM). However, there has been limited examination of organizational culture in the green supply chain research area. The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) and organizational culture.

Design/methodology/approach

To do so, a bibliometric analysis is carried out. The search was conducted in the Scopus database by using different keywords. The records found were scanned and refined bringing the total number of documents to 46. A descriptive analysis covering influential authors, leading journals, contributing organizations and most popular words used in titles and keywords, using the Biblioshiny app, followed by a content analysis have been conducted.

Findings

The findings show the following: most of the influential studies were conducted by only a few researchers. The publications within the field started to increase during 2012–2020. It is worth mentioning, that the USA and UK universities have a strong research contribution among all, and there are seven core publishing journals that lead the field such as cleaner of production and sustainability. The content analysis revealed some aspects and shed light on two main topics: organizational culture as a driver or a barrier toward GSCM; and the organizational culture contribution role on the impact of GSCM on performance.

Research limitations/implications

This paper only addresses GSCM with organizational culture based on a small sample of papers. Furthermore, this study needs to be expanded with empirical research on the topic. It would be interesting to assess the effects of national culture within the same research area. More broadly, researchers may also need to explore the various databases instead of focusing only on Scopus database case of this paper, using various keywords.

Practical implications

This study plays an important role for managers and firms, and also this study is contributing in increasing the understanding of the role of cultural factors on implementing the GSCM practices and getting the highest benefits from it.

Originality/value

This paper holds significant contribution for scholars, especially for those who are interested in cultural issues within the management field, and for managers by enlightening a critical element to concentrate on for the betterment of green sustainability within their firms. Considering this, future research suggestions are identified.

Critical Success Factors for Corporate Social Responsibility Adoption in the Construction Industry in Malaysia

In the construction industry, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly valued as a strategic tool for business sustainable development and for addressing ethical issues. However, understanding the concept of CSR in the construction industry, and how to practice it, is limited. This study aims to explore and assess the factors critical to the successful adoption of CSR in the construction industry through the lens of critical success factors (CSFs) theory. Through a literature review, a list of potential factors that may theoretically have a major impact on CSR adoption in the construction industry was compiled as a proxy. Then, the potential factors were refined and validated by employing a Delphi technique. An expert panel of sixteen qualified Malaysian industry practitioners and academia was assembled. Results from three iteration rounds of the Delphi process depicted that successful adoption of CSR in practices depends upon eight CSFs including financial resources, top management support, managerial or internal skills on CSR, national economic growth, employees’ education and training on CSR, participation of key stakeholders in the CSR process, effective CSR communication, and organizational structure. This study contributes to the field by addressing a theme that has been covered less in literature. Knowing the CSFs for CSR adoption in advance could help the construction firms to successfully integrate CSR into business strategies and minimize the risk of failure. Policy-makers could also consider the findings when promoting the CSR agenda or development programs that adhere to the construction industry’s way forward. Although this study is particularly suited for the Malaysian context, nevertheless, the outcomes could shed some light upon the CSR initiative in other countries, since CSR adoption status in the construction industry overall does not significantly differ between countries.

How accounting and accountants may contribute in sustainability?

Purpose

– The main purpose of this paper is to illustrate the role of accounting and accounting professionals in sustainability by conducting an in-depth literature review.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is a review-based article that does not contain empirical research. A comprehensive literature research was conducted by using online databases of selected scientific publishers and using keywords such as accounting, accounting professionals, sustainability, sustainability reporting and sustainability accounting. In addition to that, web pages of the accounting regulatory bodies and four big audit companies were also investigated.

Findings

– Based upon the literature survey, it can be said that there is a lack of defining the relationship between the sustainability concept and accounting and also potential solutions to overcome the problems which create challenges for accounting and accounting professionals.

Research limitations/implications

– The only limitation of the study can be explained as it being a literature survey.

Practical implications

– It is expected that the results of the paper will appear in several applications among accounting professionals, the firm that they work in, the association of professional accountants, education institutions and all the stakeholders of accounting, especially in countries with the relatively early stage of sustainability practices. The paper may give insight into aforementioned stakeholders of accounting in reformation of accounting toward sustainability.

Originality/value

– The main contribution of this paper is to fulfill the gap in the accounting and sustainability literature by suggesting “certified sustainability accountant” credential that is equipped with core knowledge of environmental engineering as a specialized profession to handle the technical accounting problems that are related to sustainability.

Supply chain management, supply performance and total quality management

Purpose

– This study aims to assess the level of supply chain management practices (SCMP), total quality management practices (TQMP) and firm's supply performance (FSP) in the automotive industry in Thailand and investigate the differences across organizational characteristics on SCMP, TQMP and FSP.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on an extensive literature review, the measurement instruments for SCMP, TQMP and FSP were developed and validated by experts, pilot test and various statistical techniques. Descriptive statistics were employed to examine the existences of SCMP, TQMP and FSP in the sample companies. MANOVA was applied to test the differences across company ownership, company size, tier in the supply chain and ISO/TS 16949 on SCMP, TQMP and FSP.

Findings

– The author found that the measurements of SCMP, TQMP and FSP are reliable and valid. The automotive companies in Thailand apply TQMP much more extensively than SCMP. Their SCMP still emphasize efficient flows of information and materials at operational level to minimize transaction cost. Overall, Japanese companies, large companies, first-tier suppliers and the companies with ISO/TS 16949 have more intensively applied SCMP and TQMP and achieved a higher level of FSP.

Research limitations/implications

– The distribution of paper-based questionnaires was a convenience sample. Although data from a sample of 211 companies were collected, only 19 percent of them provided more than one response. Future research should apply different random sampling methods and investigate the reasons for and ways to improve the low multiple-response rate.

Practical implications

– The findings are beneficial to the managers who want to improve SCMP, TQMP and FSP through organization management.

Originality/value

– This study is one of the first to assess the existence of SCMP and FSP and to study the differences across organizational characteristics on SCMP and FSP in the automotive industry in developing countries. The existence and differences across organizational characteristics on TQMP were also confirmed.

Ergonomics in the development and implementation of organisational strategy for sustainability

This is the first phase of an ergonomics study of sustainability in a rail organisation, particularly environmental sustainability. The main emphasis has been on the use of a qualitative approach to carry out in-depth consultation with those in influential and policy setting roles in the organisation, collecting and analysing perceptions on sustainability policy and related business processes. The study identified factors affecting implementation of policy on sustainability and these have been developed to produce a list of requirements for implementing the policy. The findings are valuable in understanding the range of attitudes, aspirations and perceived constraints, from the perspective of those in senior roles in the company, and development of a sustainability strategy for a rail infrastructure owner. There is need for wider consultation, both within the organisation and externally, to validate and refine the understanding of barriers to the implementation of the policy. The role of ergonomics in supporting the work on sustainability is discussed.

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY

The study collects in-depth views from senior managers on the challenges of implementing a policy on sustainability in a rail organisation. Outputs include a list of factors affecting implementation of policy and requirements for better implementation of policy in this area. Potential contributions of ergonomics to sustainability in organisational contexts are discussed.