The success of eco-innovations in sustainable supply chains aiming a low-carbon economy is related to a broad range of human critical success factors. Thus, the goal of this research was to analyse ...how certain human critical success factors are related to specific low-carbon eco-innovation projects in leading companies in Brazil operating in some of the most sustainable supply chains in the country. As a consequence, this study qualitatively analysed three cases of low carbon eco-innovation discussing the necessary human critical success factors (HCSF). The results show that the companies in this study are at different stages of maturity with respect to climate change mitigation practices. It was found that the role of HCSF in the process of developing low-carbon products tends to intensify as corporations respond to advances in climate change mitigation. In organisations adopting a sustainable supply chain perspective (for example, adopting Life Cycle Assessment approach) and with a more evolved response to climate change, the product development process tended to be supported by all of the HCSF in the area of product innovation. In contrast, organisations whose practices for mitigating climate change were in the early stages tended not to show evidence of support from HCSF. This is the first study relating eco-innovation, sustainable supply chain, climate change and cases from leading Brazilian companies.
•This study qualitatively analysed three cases of low-carbon eco-innovation.•Developing low-carbon products tends to intensify as corporate response to climate change mitigation advances.•Human critical factors of success tend to intensify in sustainable supply chains.
This paper examines barriers to the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in the manufacturing sector in the context of both developed and developing economies. A comprehensive literature ...review, followed by discussions with industry experts, identifies 15 barriers, which are analyzed by means of a Grey Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. The ‘lack of a digital strategy alongside resource scarcity’ emerges as the most prominent barrier in both developed and developing economies. The influencing barriers identified suggest that improvements in standards and government regulation could facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing country case, whereas technological infrastructure is needed to promote the adoption of these technologies in developed country case. This study is one of the first to examine the implementation of Industry 4.0 in both developing and developed economies. This article highlights the difficulties in the diffusion of technological innovation resulting from a lack of coordinated national policies on Industry 4.0 in developing countries, which may prevent firms from fully experiencing the Industry 4.0 revolution. The results of this study may help decision makers and practitioners to address the barriers highlighted, paving the way for successful implementation of Industry 4.0 across the manufacturing sector.
•Barriers to implement Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing sector are analyzed.•The analysis is done in the context of developed and developing economies.•Developing countries should focus on the internal capability related barriers.•Developed countries should focus on the technology-related barriers.
This work makes the case for integrating two industrial waves that promise to re-shape current patterns of production and consumption: Industry 4.0 and environmentally-sustainable manufacturing. We ...argue that, although these two trends cannot be considered an industrial revolution, Industry 4.0-associated technologies nevertheless have the unique potential to unlock environmentally-sustainable manufacturing. Productive synergy between Industry 4.0 and environmentally-sustainable manufacturing relies on understanding the role played by eleven critical success factors, which organisations should consider carefully when simultaneously implementing Industry 4.0 and environmentally-sustainable manufacturing. As this is one of the first works to address whether or not Industry 4.0 can synergistically boost environmentally-sustainable manufacturing – with an emphasis on the critical success factors that can pose challenges and opportunities to this process – we also propose an integrative framework containing twelve research propositions. We hope this will stimulate the debate on the intersection of manufacturing waves, in particular the integration of Industry 4.0 and environmentally-sustainable manufacturing.
•We integrate industry 4.0 and environmentally-sustainable manufacturing.•Industry 4.0-associated technologies may unlock green manufacturing.•We shed lights on critical success factors for this integration.•An original framework is proposed.•A research agenda for the future is suggested.
This work empirically tests the concept of the 'whistleblowing triangle,' which is modeled on the three factors encapsulated by the fraud triangle (pressure or financial incentives, opportunity and ...rationalization), in the Indonesian context. Anchored in the proposition of an original research framework on the whistleblowing triangle and derived hypotheses, this work aims to expand the body of knowledge on this topic by providing empirical evidence. The sample used is taken from audit firms affiliated with both the big 4 and non-big 4 companies operating in Indonesia. The results of analysis using the PLS-PM method found a significant relationship between the components of the whistleblowing triangle and the intention of blowing the whistle. We found that financial incentives are the most significant predictor of auditors' intention to blow the whistle in Indonesia. Other components, such as opportunity and rationalization, also play an important role in supporting auditors' intention to blow the whistle. Our findings also suggest that related pressures are the top priority for audit firms in Indonesia to consider in increasing whistleblowing intention. We expand the previous literature on whistleblowing which has been derived from the components of the fraud triangle (Brown et al. in Account Public Interest 16(1):28-56, 2016; Smaili and Arroyo in J Bus Ethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/sl0551-017-3663-7, 2017) by adding empirical evidence.
The goal of this study is to present and test a conceptual framework that describes the technical aspects (TA), human/organizational aspects (HOA) of the adoption of green product development (GPD) ...practices and the effect of these practices on firms' environmental (EP), operational (OP) and market performance (MP). To this end, after reviewing the literature on these themes, a conceptual framework with 5 hypotheses is proposed. These hypotheses were tested on 62 Brazilian companies through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0M3. The main results of this study are as follows: (a) in general, the proposed framework obtained adequate goodness of fit statistics (GoF); (b) technological factors are shown to have an influence on the adoption of GPD practices, and those practices are related to company EP, OP and MP, thus confirming 4 hypotheses of the study; and (c) one of the study's hypotheses is not validated, indicating that the relationship of human/organizational aspects to GPD must be further analyzed. This work extends the literature because: (a) the conceptual framework tested in this study establishes several concepts that have been only partially tested in the previous literature; (b) this work presents evidence about Brazil, where the themes addressed herein have not been yet been thoroughly investigated; and (c) the non-validation of the hypothesis regarding the relationship between human/organizational aspects with respect to the adoption of product-related environmental practices requires attention.
•Relationships between green product development and firms' performance are explored.•Results from a survey conducted with Brazilian companies are presented.•We confirm that green product practices influence firms' performance.•We confirm that green product is influenced by technical aspects.•The link between human aspects and green products deserves more research.
The implementation of green supply chain management practices, such as green purchasing and cooperation with customers, presents several challenges, often due to a lack of green training. In order to ...analyze the relationship between green training and green supply chains, a survey of Brazilian firms with ISO 14001 certification was conducted. The main characteristics of green training in the sample were also explored. The results indicated that green training is positively correlated with the adoption of green supply chain practices in green purchasing and cooperation with customers, confirming the study's main hypothesis. The research results also indicated that green training tends to help firms improve their green supply chain management to cooperate with customers and implement green purchasing. This work extends the current literature by showing that employees' green training content and requirements for greening suppliers should be further aligned. This alignment should also involve cleaner production priorities built up through customer cooperation. As a consequence, firms will reach internal environmental targets and achieve external environmental improvements (such as through having greener suppliers). Finally, we also discovered the main characteristics of green training that can galvanize green supply chain management, including the following: green training topics that are appropriate and current for company activities, green training contents created through a systematic analysis of training gaps and needs; and employees who receive green training and have the opportunity to apply green knowledge in everyday activities.
•This work analyzed the relationship between GSCM (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green training.•We presented empirical evidence from Brazilian firms.•This research showed that green training is positively related to GSCM.•We highlighted the necessary alignment of green initiatives, customers, suppliers and anchor firms in a supply chain.
Whistleblowers who need to decide whether or not they should report wrongdoing usually experience several anxieties and pressures before making a final decision. As whistleblowers continue to attract ...the attention of a wide range of stakeholders, more research is necessary to understand the effects of the perceived seriousness of threats (PST) and perceived seriousness of wrongdoing (PSW), as well as the effect of the rationalization process on the intention to blow the whistle. We make the original proposal that the rationalization process can affect how PST and PSW trigger whistleblowing intentions. We tested our model using employees of tax offices operating in an emerging economy. We suggest several research findings, which can be summarized as follows: (i) PST reduces individuals’ intention to blow the whistle. That is, the greater the threat perceived by whistleblowers, the higher the likelihood they will choose to remain silent; (ii) we find evidence of a positive relationship between PSW and whistleblowing intention, whereby PSW increases individuals’ intention to blow the whistle. That is, the more serious the wrongdoing perceived by potential whistleblowers, the more likely they are to choose to blow the whistle; and (iii) we find evidence of the important role of rationalization in moderating the relationships between PST, PSW, and whistleblowing intention. The implications of these findings for business ethics scholars, managers, and end-users interested in whistleblowing are also presented.
The area of disaster management has become increasingly prominent in a context of frequent political, religious change and conflict, and within it, the field of knowledge on humanitarian logistics ...and supply chain management (HLSCM) has attracted attention from a variety of stakeholders, such as scholars, practitioners and policy makers. Consequently, humanitarian logistics and supply chain research has seen a significant increase in the quantity of works emerging, particularly journal articles. In this context, we aim to systematize the selected contemporary literature on humanitarian logistics and supply chain management. After identifying the relevant literature on Scopus and Web of Science, we chart a systematization of this body of knowledge by applying a system of codes and classifications to it. Based on research gaps found, we propose an original research agenda for further developing the humanitarian logistics and supply chain management field, as suggested avenues for future research.
This work makes the case for the integration of the circular economy (CE) and large-scale data (LD), also known as big data. The paper is one of the first to integrate conceptual and practical trends ...regarding: (a) the ReSOLVE based models of the circular economy; (b) key stakeholders roles in pursuing a more sustainable society; and (c) the volume, velocity, variety, and veracity (4V's) of large-scale data (LD) management. This study's contributions include: (1) introducing a new integrative framework to enhance the understanding of the CE-LD nexus; (2) a relational matrix which illustrates the complexity of large-scale data and stakeholders management; and (3) a research agenda, with clear research propositions and future research direction. The proposed CE-LD integrative framework provides socio-technical insights for academics, practitioners, managers, and policy decision-makers.
•This paper integrates the disparate fields of the circular economy (CE) and large-scale data (LD).•Discusses how large-data can support the circular economy's business models.•An integrative framework for CE-LD is proposed.•A research agenda for the circular economy and large-data integration is proposed.•Implications for challenges and opportunities of sustainable production in a digital world.
This article originally advances the field of organizational whistleblowing by empirically investigating the suitability of the four elements of the fraud diamond as a means to understand the ...intention to disclose wrongdoing through virtual channels. This article also makes a contribution on the theme of whistleblowing as it relates to customers, an under-studied, however, relevant stakeholder in this field. The main findings of the article are as follows: (a) the four elements of the fraud diamond as they relate to whistleblowing—a combination of pressure, financial incentive, opportunity and rationalization, and capability—can explain the intentions behind customer reports of wrongdoing; (b) online social media channels are customers’ preferred means of whistleblowing; (c) the elements of opportunity and capability are strongly correlated with the use of social media as a method of disclosing wrongdoing; and (d) virtual channels can be useful for whistleblowers in order to avoid potential retaliation. Unique managerial and academic implications of these research findings are also discussed, extending the layers of knowledge on whistleblowing in organizations.
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