Aspirations and environmental performance feedback: a behavioral perspective for green supply chain management

Corporate social responsibility and circular economy integration framework within sustainable supply chain management: Building blocks for industry 5.0

The emergence of Industry 5.0 (I5.0) underscores the importance of integrating sustainability and human‐centricity into organizations. This requires combining corporate social responsibility (CSR) and circular economy (CE) within sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). However, the interplay between CSR, CE, and SSCM remains underexplored, especially in the context of I5.0. Therefore, this article proposes a framework for integrating CSR and CE principles within SSCM, serving as a transition to I5.0. The framework is derived from a comprehensive scoping review and experts' input, with a backdrop of the business legitimacy theory. It comprises several key constructs, including the supply chain structure and promoters, organized around four pillars representing the components of CE and embracing the triple bottom line dimensions. With 12 guidelines, the framework stands as a practical tool for organizations aiming to seamlessly integrate CSR and CE within SSCM, facilitating the transition to I5.0 and promoting a sustainable, socially responsible ethos.

Going green: how do green supply chain management and green training influence firm performance? Evidence from a developing country

Using the natural resource-based view theory, we investigated the relationship between green supply chain management, green training, green organizational culture, and firm performance. Using a survey questionnaire, we obtained data from 650 respondents from the Chinese manufacturing sector. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses in this research. The study's findings indicate that green supply chain management positively influences firm performance. The findings also showed that green training mediates the relationship between green supply chain management and firm performance. Our study's results generally support all direct and indirect impact hypotheses and have several theoretical and practical consequences. Moreover, the findings showed that green organizational culture positively moderates the relationship between green training and firm performance. Furthermore, this study gives vital information to managers and legislators of the manufacturing sector while assessing firm performance. It may assist the senior management in strengthening their internal strategy to optimize their influence on environmental sustainability.

Exploring how organizational performance feedback influences corporate social responsibility (CSR): the moderating role of LGBT inclusion

Purpose

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) captures organizational actions that account for economic, social and environmental performance. CSR is becoming increasingly relevant for organizations because of changing societal norms and attitudes. Prior research on CSR shows that socially responsible actions are beneficial for the firm and the society. However, much less is known about the antecedents of CSR. The authors suggest that CSR is a strategic organizational decision and use organizational performance feedback theory to explain how organizations decide on CSR activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a longitudinal sample of 189 US public firms with 1,050 observations, the authors test how performance decreases below aspirations and performance increases above aspirations influence CSR. The authors also test for the moderation effect of LGBT inclusion on these relationships as a proxy for CSR consistency and stakeholder support.

Findings

The authors find that as organizational performance decreases further below aspirations, CSR increases and LGBT inclusion strengthens this increase. The authors also find that as performance increases above aspirations, organizations become more engaged in CSR, but LGBT inclusion does not moderate this relationship.

Originality/value

Prior research recently started extending the performance feedback theory to CSR, but empirical findings on the relationships between performance feedback and CSR are seemingly inconclusive. Moreover, studies had primarily focused on performance below aspirations and to a much lesser extent on performance above aspirations. This study aims to better integrate organizational performance feedback theory to the CSR discourse.

Actions speak louder than words? The impact of subjective norms in the supply chain on green innovation

Purpose

Adopting the theory of planned behavior, this study attempts to investigate how subjective norms in the supply chain influence a firm's green innovation and how such influences are contingent upon the firm's internal and external factors (i.e. flexibility orientation and environmental dynamism). Two types of subjective norms are examined, i.e. injunctive norms (what supply chain partners say) and descriptive norms (what supply chain partners do).

Design/methodology/approach

Using survey data of 178 Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturers, we employ hierarchical linear regression to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

Our results indicate that both injunctive and descriptive norms are instrumental in stimulating firms to take actions on green innovation. Moreover, the flexibility orientation of a firm can strengthen the effect of descriptive norms. It is also observed that environmental dynamism weakens the efficacy of injunctive norms but strengthens that of descriptive norms on green innovation.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to apply the theory of planned behavior to explain the microfoundations of focal firm's green innovation and distinguish two types of subjective norms in the supply chain. In addition, it extends the theory of planned behavior by revealing internal and external contingent factors (i.e. flexibility orientation and environmental dynamism) of the relationship between subjective norms and firm behaviors.

Exploring the technical and behavioral dimensions of green supply chain management: a roadmap toward environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability issues have become an increasing concern for enterprises and organizations due to new tendencies in climate change. Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices are growing worldwide in this context. Based on socio-technical systems and institutional theory, the present study develops a conceptual model highlighting a mediating effect between two distinct categories of GSCM dimensions, i.e., technical practices and behavioral practices, along with the moderating effect of institutional pressure on organizational performance. Data were collected from 260 Pakistani manufacturers, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to analyze the hypotheses. The classification of technical and behavioral GSCM practices and findings of this research contributes to the literature on GSCM. Empirical results reveal that behavioral practices of GSCM (top management support, supplier, and customer involvement) mediate the relationship between technical GSCM practices (eco-design, green manufacturing, and reverse logistics) and organizational performance (economic, environmental, and social). The results also demonstrate that institutional pressure positively moderates the relationship between technical practices and organizational performance. These findings suggest that organizations in developing countries must focus on the behavioral dimensions of GSCM first for the successful implementation of technical dimensions of GSCM to gain effective environmental, economic, and social performance.

Explicating the microfoundation of SME pro-environmental operations: the role of top managers

Purpose

By recognizing the decisive role of top managers (TMs) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study attempts to explicate the microfoundation of pro-environmental operations of SMEs by examining the influence of institutional pressure on managerial cognition and subsequent SME pro-environmental operations. This study highlights the personal ethics of TMs, so as to examine the moderating effect of TMs' place attachment on SMEs' pro-environmental operations.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data are collected from a questionnaire survey of 509 SMEs in China. Hierarchical regression results are subject to cross-validation using secondary public data.

Findings

This study demonstrates that coercive and mimetic pressures have inverted U-shaped effects, whilst normative pressure has a U-shaped effect on the threat cognition of TMs. The results also show that TMs' threat cognition (as opposed to opportunity cognition) positively influences SMEs' pro-environmental operations. Moreover, both the emotional (place identity) and functional (place dependence) dimensions of place attachment have positive moderating effects on the relationship between threat cognition and SMEs' pro-environmental operations.

Practical implications

Findings of this study lead to important implications for practitioners such as regulators, policy makers and trade associations. Enabling better understanding of the nature of SMEs' pro-environmental operations, they allow for more targeted development and the provision of optimal institutional tools to promote such operations.

Originality/value

This study allows some important factors that differentiate SMEs from large firms to surface. These factors (i.e. institutional pressures, managerial cognition and place attachment) and the interactions between them form important constituents of the microfoundations of SMEs' pro-environmental operations.

How Does Green Training Boost Employee Green Creativity? A Sequential Mediation Process Model

Despite accumulated evidence from previous studies that green creativity is highly emphasized in various industries, limited research has been conducted in the context of public sectors. Drawing on the dynamic componential model of creativity and innovation in organizations, this paper aims to propose and sequentially test the relationship between green training and employees’ green creativity through green values and green intrinsic motivation. Based on the data collected in Chinese public sectors (N = 464) at two different time points, the results indicate that green training is positively related to green creativity. Moreover, this relationship is sequentially mediated by green values and green intrinsic motivation. The results in our study advance the emergent literature on green human resource management in the public sector for the practical applications of training and creativity in terms of green management.

Circular economy: a conceptual model to measure readiness for manufacturing SMEs

Purpose

Over the last decade, circular economy (CE) has gathered interest from both industrialists and academics alike. Whilst CE research is widespread in such areas as supply chain and larger organisations, there is limited research into how small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can prepare for adopting CE. There is no comprehensive readiness model for SMEs adopting CE. The purpose of this paper is to explore the literature on change readiness and generate knowledge to fill this gap by developing a conceptual model to measure change readiness for SMEs' adopting CE.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a comprehensive literature review of change readiness models and frameworks. The paper reviews publications from Science Direct, Web of Science, Emerald, Scopus and Google Scholar. The readiness for change models and frameworks from the selected publications are evaluated and synthesised to develop a comprehensive conceptual model for change readiness for SMEs adopting a circular economy.

Findings

A readiness conceptual model is developed by incorporating several factors as precursors to readiness, i.e. individual/collective difference, structural, contextual factors and related barriers. Eleven factors make up the individual/collective difference. Three factors make up the structural and contextual factors.

Practical implications

This paper develops a conceptual model that can aid academics and practitioners in better understanding SMEs readiness to adopt CE.

Originality/value

This paper makes a unique contribution by proposing a comprehensive conceptual model of readiness for SMEs adopting CE.

Employee Environmental Capability and Its Relationship with Corporate Culture

Due to rapid industrial developments and the effects of the economic revolution such as high production rates and non-ecofriendly supply systems, environmental pollution has been observed in recent years and environmental issues are increasingly becoming a concern on the planet. For this reason, there is little doubt that business organizations have been forced more and more to implement green business strategies for stakeholders, facing the necessity to improve their employees’ environmental performance. Using 461 US employees in the environmental related industries, we found empirical evidence between employees’ green performance, organizational culture and adaptability capability. Finally, the present study suggests two main corporate elements for green policy makers in eco-friendly organizations that the alignment of firm environmental strategy with strategic human resources (HR) should include (1) an organizational culture that supports employee green practices and (2) employee adaptability competency that enables workers to respond to the evolving environmental challenges as main component of analysis.

Imitation and aspiration dynamics bring different evolutionary outcomes in feedback-evolving games

Feedback-evolving games characterize the interplay between the evolution of strategies and environments. Rich dynamics have been derived for such games under the premise of the replicator equation, which unveils persistent oscillations between cooperation and defection. Besides replicator dynamics, here we have employed aspiration dynamics, in which individuals, instead of comparing payoffs with opposite strategies, assess their payoffs by self-evaluation to update strategies. We start with a brief review of feedback-evolving games with replicator dynamics and then comprehensively discuss such games with aspiration dynamics. Interestingly, the tenacious cycles, as perceived in replicator dynamics, cannot be observed in aspiration dynamics. Our analysis reveals that a parameter θ —which depicts the strength of cooperation in enhancing the environment—plays a pivotal role in comprehending the dynamics. In particular, with the symmetric aspiration level, if replete and depleted states, respectively, experience Prisoner's Dilemma and Trivial games, the rich environment is achievable only when θ  > 1. The case θ  < 1 never allows us to reach the replete state, even with a higher cooperation level. Furthermore, if cooperators aspire less than defectors, then the enhanced state can be achieved with a relatively lower θ value compared with the opposite scenario because too much expectation from cooperation can be less beneficial.

Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

This paper, a pathway, aims to provide research guidance for investigating sustainability in supply chains in a post-COVID-19 environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Published literature, personal research experience, insights from virtual open forums and practitioner interviews inform this study.

Findings

COVID-19 pandemic events and responses are unprecedented to modern operations and supply chains. Scholars and practitioners seek to make sense of how this event will make us revisit basic scholarly notions and ontology. Sustainability implications exist. Short-term environmental sustainability gains occur, while long-term effects are still uncertain and require research. Sustainability and resilience are complements and jointly require investigation.

Research limitations/implications

The COVID-19 crisis is emerging and evolving. It is not clear whether short-term changes and responses will result in a new “normal.” Adjustment to current theories or new theoretical developments may be necessary. This pathway article only starts the conservation – many additional sustainability issues do arise and cannot be covered in one essay.

Practical implications

Organizations have faced a major shock during this crisis. Environmental sustainability practices can help organizations manage in this and future competitive contexts.

Social implications

Broad economic, operational, social and ecological-environmental sustainability implications are included – although the focus is on environmental sustainability. Emergent organizational, consumer, policy and supply chain behaviors are identified.

Originality/value

The authors take an operations and supply chain environmental sustainability perspective to COVID-19 pandemic implications; with sustainable representing the triple bottom-line dimensions of environmental, social and economic sustainability; with a special focus on environmental sustainability. Substantial open questions for investigation are identified. This paper sets the stage for research requiring rethinking of some previous tenets and ontologies.