Environmental management accounting practices, management system, and performance: SEM approach

Dynamic coal blending under sustainability concerns: a case study from the Indian steel industry

Purpose

Increasing scarcity of natural resources and the adverse effects of unsustainable practices call for more and more efficient management strategies in the energy industry. The quality of the coke plays a significant role in the quality and durability of the output steel which is produced using the energy from the coal. This paper aims to investigate the dynamic coal blending problem under overall cost and coke quality constraints in the steel industry within a periodic cycle of operations.

Design/methodology/approach

Considering the variability of the natural properties over a periodic cycle, this study proposes a multi-period mixed-integer non-linear programming formulation to optimize the total blending costs while taking various coke quality constraints into account. Besides, this study applies factorial design to investigate about the significant effect of coal proportions as well as improvement into the overall cost of blending.

Findings

In this case study, utilizing real data from a coal blending facility in India, through a factorial design, the authors obtain optimal desirable levels of coal proportions and their criticality levels towards the total cost of blending (TCB) or objective function. This analysis reflects the role of the coke quality constraints in the objective function value while characterizing the price of sustainability for the case study among other critical insights.

Originality/value

Objective function (or TCB) includes basic coal cost, movement cost and environmental costs during the coal and coke processing at a coke-oven and blast furnace of steel industry. The price of sustainability provides managerial insights on that sacrifices the industry has to make in order to become more “sustainable”.

The impact of organizational culture and total quality management on the relationship between green practices and sustainability performance

Purpose

This study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of organizational culture (OC) and total quality management practices (TQMPs) on the relationship between green practices (GPs) and sustainability performance (SP) by using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposed a conceptual research model of the relationships and formulated six hypotheses. This study used a structured questionnaire based on previous studies to collect relationship data to test these hypotheses, and 441 full-time managers from various US businesses responded. The complete and valid survey responses were then tested against the hypotheses using IBM SPSS Statistics and SEM-AMOS.

Findings

Results supported the relationships proposed in the research model. They indicated that a strong supporting OC and TQMPs might improve positive SP and GPs. Additionally, the more managers are aware of their companies' GPs, the more likely they will feel positive about the organization's SP.

Research limitations/implications

A larger sample size to ensure statistically minimum representation in several major industries would better validate the findings and help identify significant differences in industry-specific OCs, TQMPs, GPs and SPs. Similarly, ensuring a varied geographical representation (both within the USA and internationally) would help determine if the findings vary according to the respondent's location. Furthermore, collecting the data during Year 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic may have skewed the results. Thus, once the working environment has been normalized, the survey should be repeated to determine if the findings are valid post-pandemic.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide important strategic guidance for managers who work to balance the implementation of corporate GPs and the triple bottom line dimensions of SP. For practitioners, the results showed that companies could accomplish both profitability and sustainability if they are willing to continuously pay attention to environmental issues and strategically invest in cost-efficient and eco-friendly initiatives.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first to explore how OC and TQMPs, directly and indirectly, affect the relationship between GPs and the triple bottom line dimensions of SP. These results imply that OC and TQMPs have a significant indirect impact on the relationship between GPs and the SP dimensions.

A Systematic Review of Barriers in Adoption of Environmental Management Accounting in Chinese SMEs for Sustainable Performance

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in sustainable development not only for their significant contribution to China's economy but also for their large share of total discharged pollutants. Despite the widely acknowledged importance and benefits of environmental management accounting (EMA), the level of adoption and implementation of EMA practice is still weak within SMEs in many countries, especially in China. The current systematic review aims to identify the barriers affecting the Chinese SMEs for adopting EMA practices along with the critical success factors required for adopting EMA practices by SMEs and their top management for ensuring sustainable corporate environmental performance in China. The study is carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. In total, 73 articles were found to be eligible to be included in the systematic review, which was published on EMA in small- and medium-sized enterprises in China. Our study aims to document barriers to the adoption of EMA among Chinese SMEs. The review concluded that strict legislation and the availability of flexible financing options for SMEs can promote the adoption of EMA by SMEs. The establishment of environmental reporting systems and auditing mechanisms can further increase the utilization of EMA by small and medium firms. Barriers to EMA adoption can be mitigated after careful consideration of the current situation in SMEs. Documentation of significant barriers may help to form supportive policies which ultimately add to the efforts toward climate change mitigation.

Exploring Themes of Sustainable Practices in Manufacturing Industry: Using Thematic Networks Approach

Sustainability is a vital strategy for manufacturing industries to address major environmental issues. Stakeholders’ growing ecological awareness is forcing manufacturers to adopt green human resource management practices (green HRM practices) and environmental management systems (EMS) to improve sustainable performance (SP). This research explores the key themes of green HRM practices, EMS, and OCBE, and how these themes affect the environment and explain SP among ISO14001-certified manufacturing firms. This research used a qualitative methodology following an interpretivist approach. It employed the thematic networks technique, using qualitative data to achieve the objectives. The qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews conducted with HR managers and then analyzed using NVivo 12. Thematic network analysis explores basic and organizing themes within qualitative data. Four central (parent) themes, i.e., green HRM practices, OCBE, EMS, and SP, emerged. First, green HRM was sub-divided into three sub-themes: (i) green recruitment and selection, (ii) green training and development, and (iii) green assessment and rewards. Consequently, OCBE was then sub-divided into three themes: (i) eco-helping behavior, (ii) eco-initiatives behavior, and (iii) eco-civic engagement behavior emerged. Likewise, EMS was sub-divided into three themes: (i) ISO14001, (ii) EMS key benefits, and (iii) EMS key motives. Lastly, SP was further divided into three sub-themes: (i) economic, (ii) social, and (iii) environmental. This research also discusses important implications for managers and organizations.