A balance model of theoretical sustainability – framework and propositions

Eriksson, David

doi:10.1108/cg-01-2015-0006

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be defined as companies' voluntary integration of social and environmental concerns in their business processes and in their relationships with other companies and stakeholders (Galbreath, 2009;Lopez and Fornes, 2015). As companies adopt social and environmental practices, they can achieve economic benefits by reducing costs, increasing productivity and profits, and enhancing corporate image and reputation (Eriksson and Svensson, 2016). However, for supply chains to be successful in terms of CSR, companies, including all suppliers and manufacturers in the chain, need to increase their own awareness and act in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing social responsibility in Chinese agriculture supply chains through the “a company + farmers” model

Zhan

Tan

2017

EBR

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Purpose Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has received a large amount of attention in research and in practice. As a response to the growing awareness of and concern about social and environmental issues, an increasing number of companies are integrating their supply chains and building an alliance of “a company + farmers”. The overall research question of this study is derived from the literature, and this paper aims to identify factors that influence the integration of the agriculture supply chain and to explore the relationship between these factors and quality performance. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on questionnaire survey data collected from 462 Chinese farmers under the organization pattern of “a company + farmers”. A structural equation model is applied in the empirical analysis of the relations among trust, relationship commitments of different types (normative and instrumental), supply chain integration and quality performance. Findings An understanding of the various influences on supply chain integration and quality performance is important in relation to CSR in Chinese agriculture. The results show that supply chain integration has positive effects on quality performance. Moreover, farmers’ normative relationship commitment to the company is positively related to supply chain integration. However, farmers’ instrumental relationship commitment to the company does not significantly affect the degree of integration between farmers and companies. Furthermore, trust has positive influences on the two types of relationship commitment and on supply chain integration. Research limitations/implications The findings provide a theoretical basis and practice guidelines for agricultural enterprises to manage CSR under the pattern of “a company + farmers”. The results help enterprises to acquire detailed information about the entire process of agricultural production, improve the quality and safety of primary agricultural products and enhance the competitiveness of Chinese agricultural products in the market. Originality/value The e-book shows that enterprises working within Chinese agriculture supply chains have a long tradition of working with CSR and supports cooperation between the European Union and China on food and agriculture.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing social responsibility in Chinese agriculture supply chains through the “a company + farmers” model

Zhan

Tan

2017

EBR

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“…This description of the field led us to conclude that the field is, to a significant degree, context-dependent. As such, a problem might arise from assuming there is one theoretical foundation that needs to be used; instead, dealing with the dynamics of absorbing new research areas – such as environmental changes (Shi et al , 2012), new business models (Eriksson and Svensson, 2016a) and new technologies (Canals and Heukamp, 2020) – becomes important. A company’s performance is, thus, affected by both external and internal factors (Wernerfelt, 1984; Porter, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using critical realism and abduction to navigate theory and data in operations and supply chain management research

Eriksson

Engström

2021

SCM

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Purpose Operations and supply chain management (OSCM) is a theoretically and philosophically fragmented field. Researchers must consider how they use theory and explain empirical phenomena. This paper aims to use critical realism to introduce more coherence into this fragmented field. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on existing critical realism and abduction literature and this study uses a research process from two PhD projects to investigate critical realism’s role in OSCM research. This paper uses a narrative approach to collect data over a long timeframe, capturing data not commonly used in OSCM research. Findings Research that struggles to bridge the gap between theory and data benefits from critical realism, which provides a philosophy and associated methods to identify a suitable theory and guide researchers when they encounter obstacles. While clear steps often outline established methods, researchers are sometimes unable to identify when their research process has reached an obstacle. This paper argues that such obstacles can be treated as “crossroads” offering new research opportunities when correctly evaluated and addressed. Research limitations/implications Importantly, researchers should be able to reflect upon their own research processes, enabling a better understanding of these processes and the discovery of new research directions. Researchers can use critical realism, abduction and systematic combining to bridge the divide between theory and data in OSCM. Originality/value This paper contributes to the field’s discussion regarding the roles of critical realism and abduction, synthesizing multiple academic sources, highlighting critical realism’s importance and providing a novel means of addressing difficulties in navigating an eclectic research area. This paper offers a philosophical alternate to the field, which is often instead considered from a positivistic standpoint. The paper is valuable to researchers in the OSCM field, who can use the research to improve their selection of data and theories, as well as their understanding of their own research processes.

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“…- ------------------------------------Insert Figure 1 about here - -----------------------------------2.1 Role of leanness in supply chain sustainability Corporate sustainability is a complex and multidimensional concept involving an organisation's internal and external environments, both of which are inextricably linked (Dos Santos et al, 2014;Eriksson, and Svensson, 2016;Sajjad et al, 2018;Bastas and Liyanage, 2019;de Haan-Hoek et al, 2020). While there are a number of definitions and conceptual explanations to describe corporate sustainability, most sustainability proponents tend to focus on three interconnected dimensions of sustainability -environmental, economic, and social, -also known as the triple-bottom-line (Elkington, 1998 (Bellisario and Pavlov, 2018;Huo et al, 2019;Kusi-Sarpong et al, 2019).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of leanness on supply chain sustainability: examining the role of sustainability control systems

Rupasinghe

Wijethilake

2021

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Purpose An alignment between financial and operational measures is an essential element to capture the lean productivity improvements enabling supply chain sustainability. With the aim of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in addressing corporate sustainability challenges, this study aims to examine the impact of leanness on supply chain sustainability, and the moderating role of sustainability control systems (SCS) on the relationship between leanness and supply chain sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on lean manufacturing and the levers of control framework, survey data was collected from 106 manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka. Moderated multiple regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The study finds that lean manufacturing practices, such as just-in-time deliveries, quality management, environmental management and employee involvement show a significant positive impact on supply chain sustainability. As proposed, the interactive use of SCS shows a significant, positive moderating impact on the relationship between employee involvement and social supply chain sustainability. The diagnostic use of SCS negatively moderates the relationships between just-in-time deliveries and economic supply chain sustainability, and environmental management and economic supply chain sustainability. However, both interactive and diagnostic uses of SCS do not show any significant moderating impact between lean manufacturing and environmental supply chain sustainability. Research limitations/implications The following limitations should be taken into account in interpreting the results and implications of this study. Firstly, the study refers to supply chain sustainability as environmental, social and economic sustainability. As these concepts represent broader perspectives of sustainability, and no consensus on how to measure has yet been agreed, future studies may focus on other variables that might capture different perspectives of supply chain sustainability. Secondy, future researchers may further extend the role of SCS (including all four control systems – belief, boundary, interactive and diagnostic) in examining the impact of leanness on supply chain sustainability. Thirdly, this study has considered a sample of manufacturing SMEs in the Western province in Sri Lanka. The results should be carefully generalised to other manufacturing organisations in Sri Lanka and beyond. Finally, future studies may also investigate the impact of leanness on supply chain sustainability by using alternative methodologies, such as multiple case studies. Originality/value SMEs are more likely to focus on diagnostic control systems with the aim of promoting economic supply chain sustainability. However, the findings reveal that manufacturing SMEs in the developing country context lack strong SCS to enable supply chain sustainability.

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A balance model of theoretical sustainability – framework and propositions

Cited by 22 publications

References 77 publications

Managing social responsibility in Chinese agriculture supply chains through the “a company + farmers” model

Managing social responsibility in Chinese agriculture supply chains through the “a company + farmers” model

Using critical realism and abduction to navigate theory and data in operations and supply chain management research

The impact of leanness on supply chain sustainability: examining the role of sustainability control systems

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