Search

This paper reviews the literature on perishable food cold-chain management (FCCM) in order to assess its current state, pinpoint its knowledge gaps, and suggest a framework for addressing the issues faced by this industry. This work examines 103 academic articles on the topic of the perishable food supply chain published in various journals between 2001 and 2022. Research publications were selected from two reputed databases—Scopus and Web of Science. The study finds that the current trend in FCCM is toward sustainable FCCM, which offers financial, ecological, and social benefits. However, sustainable FCC practices are more common in wealthy nations but are still lacking in developing countries. High lead times, costs, waste, order returns, complaints, and dissatisfied consumers are the results of a fragmented market and the associated proliferation of chain intermediates. The authors have also developed a conceptual framework based on the findings that illustrates the interconnected nature of the food cold-chain facilities, collaboration among food cold-chain (FCC) stakeholders, concern among FCC stakeholders, economic enhancement, fulfilment of FCC stakeholders’ responsibilities, and overall functioning of the FCC. This study may be helpful to FCC professionals, food regulators, government authorities, and researchers because it gives a concise picture of the state of research in the field.

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced a sudden shift from work in an office setting to work from home. The flexibility and job autonomy achieved through telecommuting ought to facilitate positive outcomes among employees. Apart from a few contradicting studies, telecommuting literature predominantly revolves around the positive aspects of working from home. However, the number of employees voluntarily leaving their jobs has increased since “the great resignation” in March 2021. Therefore, building upon the conservation of resource theory and the job demands and resources framework, the current study tests the influence of specific job resources, job autonomy (JA), and perceived organizational support (POS) on employees’ intention to stay (IS) directly and indirectly through a unique serial mediation pathway of psychological capital (PsyCap) and work–life balance (WLB). The results affirmed that JA and POS have a positive association with employees’ IS. Moreover, PsyCap and WLB were also found serially mediating the direct association between JA, POS, and employees’ IS. The current study’s findings offer valuable insights for HR managers on the relevance of specific job resources and the role of psychological capital in controlling attrition rates. The findings of this study could be helpful for HR managers to design measures to reduce attrition rates and foster work–life balance and positive outcomes among employees. This study is among the first to instrument the indirect role (serial mediation) of PsyCap between job resources, WLB, and employees’ IS, thus significantly contributing to the literature.