No abstract

Ensuring sustainability through green supply chain management practices has become challenging for the textiles and garments industry. Organizations need to examine the factors of the firm’s sustainability performance and how to manage them strategically. Hence, the strategic organizational orientation can be the best approach for implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) practices to improve firm sustainability performance. This study aims to assess the impact of strategic orientation in three dimensions, such as green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO), market orientation (MO), and knowledge management orientation (KMO) on the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and the subsequently sustainable firm performance. Data were gathered from an extensive scale survey of 266 respondents of textile manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. Data were analyzed in the structural equation model (SEM) with partial least squares techniques to justify the proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that GEO and MO have a significant positive effect on GSCM practices, affecting sustainable firm performance. Surprisingly, KMO does not have a positive impact on GSCM practices. Further, this study reveals that GSCM practices partially mediate the relationship between GEO and sustainable firm performance while MO and KMO partially mediate the relationship between GEO and GSCM practices. Overall, findings help textiles firm management comprehensively understand the implementation strategies of GSCM practices in operations and reconfigure accordingly in the competitive business environment while improving firm performances. This study is the first to investigate the effect of strategic orientation on GSCM practices implementation in the textiles industry from the context of an upstream operation with a comprehensive understanding of the factors while reducing environmental impact.

The microbiota of the nasopharyngeal tract (NT) play a role in host immunity against respiratory infectious diseases. However, scant information is available on interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with the nasopharyngeal microbiome. This study characterizes the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on human nasopharyngeal microbiomes and their relevant metabolic functions. Twenty-two (n = 22) nasopharyngeal swab samples (including COVID-19 patients = 8, recovered humans = 7, and healthy people = 7) were collected, and underwent to RNAseq-based metagenomic investigation. Our RNAseq data mapped to 2281 bacterial species (including 1477, 919 and 676 in healthy, COVID-19 and recovered metagenomes, respectively) indicating a distinct microbiome dysbiosis. The COVID-19 and recovered samples included 67% and 77% opportunistic bacterial species, respectively compared to healthy controls. Notably, 79% commensal bacterial species found in healthy controls were not detected in COVID-19 and recovered people. Similar dysbiosis was also found in viral and archaeal fraction of the nasopharyngeal microbiomes. We also detected several altered metabolic pathways and functional genes in the progression and pathophysiology of COVID-19. The nasopharyngeal microbiome dysbiosis and their genomic features determined by our RNAseq analyses shed light on early interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with the nasopharyngeal resident microbiota that might be helpful for developing microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics for this novel pandemic disease.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence eco-friendly apparel purchase behaviors concerning Bangladeshi young consumers in light of the theory of planned behavior. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by a survey among 198 respondents in Bangladesh in terms of consumer attitude, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), environmental concern (EC), environmental knowledge (EK) and purchase intention (PI). Structural equation modeling approach was used to find out the influencing factors. Findings The study reveals that purchase intention is significantly influenced by attitudes, SN, EC and EK of consumers. Consumers perceived behaviors variable is always not an accurate predictor to control actual purchase behavior. SN and EK were found to be highly influential to eco-friendly apparel purchase patterns among young consumers in Bangladesh. Research limitations/implications This study provides key marketing insights for retailers and practitioners on how strategically they can decide for fashion consumers, specifically the young group in Bangladesh. Eco-friendly apparel purchase behaviors will gradually influence the retail business contexts for retailers. The study reveals the need for eco-labeling and marketing strategies of eco-friendly apparel products among young consumers to communicate benefits and green values among wider consumers. Findings were restricted to specific young consumers group in Bangladesh and did not examine purchase behaviors of other consumer segment. Originality/value The study reveals that Bangladeshi young consumers are becoming concerned about purchasing apparel products. It provides valuable insights for entrepreneurs, practitioners and marketers to trace and perceive purchase behavior of the Bangladeshi young consumers while adopting a strategic marketing approach.