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Purpose: This paper aims to determine the effect that human capital and key competitive drivers such as quality, agility, and cost have on firm performance, whether this effect is related to the firm's outsourcing strategy, and whether the firm size is relevant in explaining such relationships. Design: This study uses structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and large organizations using a custom survey based on a review of the literature and completed by 404 firms in the Valle del Cauca agro-industrial region in Colombia. Findings: Human capital strategies are essential for the effective deployment of operational agility, quality, and cost management strategies, which impact firm performance through effective outsourcing strategies. These relationships, however, do not hold the same across firms of different sizes. Specifically, outsourcing practices are lacking amongst SMEs in the studied region. The study is limited to a specific region, with infrastructure and connectivity limitations that hinder or undermine otherwise potentially valuable third-party logistics strategies. Practical implications: This paper contributes to the theory and practice in supply chain competitiveness by extending current knowledge of the impact of human capital and key competitive drivers on firm performance, highlighting regional specificities that could hinder firms' competitiveness, and by presenting a novel, quantitative methodology seldom used for these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is 1) to investigate the effects on the crucial Industry 4.0 technological innovations that interact between the real and virtual worlds and that are applied in the sustainable supply chain process; 2) to contribute to the identification of the opportunities, the challenges and the gaps that will support the new research study developments and 3) to analyze the impact of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators of the sustainable supply chain performance in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach: This research is performed through a bibliographic review in the electronic databases of the Emerald Insight, the Scopus and the Web of Science, considering the main scientific publications on the subject. Findings: The bibliographic search results in 526 articles, followed by two sequential filters for deleting the duplicate articles (resulting in 487 articles) and for selecting the most relevant articles (resulting in 150 articles). Practical implications: This article identifies the opportunities and the challenges focused on the emerging Industry 4.0 theme. The opportunities can contribute to the sustainable performance of the supply chains and their territories. The Industry 4.0 can also generate challenges like the social inequalities related to the position of the man in the labor market by replacing the human workforce with the machines. Therefore, the man-machine relationship in the Industry 4.0 era is analyzed as a gap in the literature. Therefore, as a way to fill this gap, the authors of this article suggest the exploration of the research focused on the Society 5.0. Also known as "super-smart society," this recent theme appeared in Japan in April 2016. According to Fukuda (2020), in addition to the focus on the technological development, the Society 5.0 also aims at the quality of life and the social challenge resolutions. Originality/value: This article contributes to the analysis of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the sustainable supply chain performance. It addresses the impacts of the Industry 4.0 technologies applied to the supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it analyzes the research gaps and limitations found in the literature. The result of this study can add value and stimulate new research studies related to the application of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the supply chain sustainable performance. It can encourage the studies related to the COVID-19 impacts on the sustainable supply chains, and it can promote the research development on the relationship among the man, the machine and the labor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The healthcare institution may support the recycling to improve its supply chain. • The recycling assessment may decrease the waste of the healthcare institution. • The healthcare institution may stimulate the corporate social responsibility. • The waste recycling healthcare educational program may promote the sustainability. • The teamwork may improve the healthcare waste recycling. Abstract Some studies have emphasized the sustainable applications in the emerging countries on the environmental, social, and economic improvement action development. Establishing the Triple Bottom Line initiatives based on the healthcare supply chain becomes a sustainable management strategy. This research is a healthcare supply chain analysis in the emerging countries and it proposes, through the sustainable lenses, a management framework. The study was development in a private healthcare institution in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The main objective is the analysis of the central sterilization service department and the stockroom in the supply chain through the sustainable lenses. The observation period is between December 2016 and June 2017. The research study presents four materials in the results: the cardboard, the paperboard, the plastic, and the nonwoven sterile barrier system. The study shows the theory, the practice, and the policy. The theory presents data on the Brazilian reality related to the waste disposal, the unsanitary activity, and the stimulation for the correct segregation. The practice proposes the recycling activity implementation. The policy aims at emphasizing the corporate social responsibility in the philosophy of the healthcare institution. The conclusion is that the healthcare supply chain management is capable to improve the population's quality life and to offer new sustainable application perspective. The healthcare institution, based on the Triple Bottom Line, must implement the educational program, develop the corporate social responsibility, and interact with the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perception of the cold chicken meat value in its supply chain and how to manage the influence of quality demands in this supply chain. It is based on the views that retails and restaurants have about the main quality aspects required to meet their end customers.Design/methodology/approach This paper surveyed 135 respondents from restaurants, butcheries, supermarkets, and convenience stores located in the Southern Brazilian metropolitan area. Principal component analysis followed by quality function deployment was performed to analyze the data.Findings The principal component analysis results in seven factors: product quality and flexibility of delivery; supply flexibility; responsiveness to market changes and product assortment; measurements of the inventory and competitiveness; product specificity; product availability and specificity cost; and delivery frequency. The comparative study on the steps of the process between restaurants and retailers shows that distribution, cutting and packaging are the key process steps in this chain.Practical implications The results show what process steps must be prioritized to comply with the customers’ quality requirements. Since the most important process steps are different for different customers, companies may elect what steps require more attention to satisfy the most profitable customer types.Originality/value Several studies are found in the literature that present a theoretical discussion on the quality demands of perishable products. The management of factors related to the process steps can help members of the supply chain in their decision-making processes. The contribution of this research is to identify, by an applied study, how the demanded quality aspects should be considered by the poultry industry to satisfy customers in different market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to improve upon the highly dispersed sales and operations planning (S&OP) research by integrating the findings of existing studies to identify and measure the size of the effect of S&OP on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology adopted was a systematic literature review of 271 abstracts and 55 papers. Three databases were selected for the search – Emerald, EBSCO, and ScienceDirect. Findings – Although empirical evidence of the effects of S&OP in the supply chain is described, relatively few of the 55 papers reviewed estimate the effect of S&OP on firm performance. The research findings indicate a lack of unifying frameworks for the measurement of S&OP and constructs related to firm performance. The review offers partial evidence of the effect of S&OP on firm performance, suggesting the need for additional scientifically sound survey or case study research on S&OP. Practical implications – Practitioners will benefit from insights related to the intermediate role of S&OP in mediating the effects of structural changes on firm performance. There is at least partial evidence that cross-functional planning processes can mitigate the negative effect of misaligned organisational structures and contradictory incentives schemes on firm performance. Formal and informal communications between functions, networking and internal integrating roles can boost performance. Furthermore, internal alignment seems to facilitate supply chain integration with both suppliers and customers, particularly when inter-organisational information systems favour supply chain integration. Originality/value – This paper contributes to providing a better understanding of the role of S&OP as a determinant of firm performance in the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the two case studies presented in this work, this article aims to evaluate identification technology used in the Brazilian cattle market. Although Brazil possesses large companies in this sector (one of which is the largest exporter of meat in the world) some of them have yet to implement information technology (IT) for cattle identification purposes. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an IT that identifies cattle using electronic ear tags. This particular form of technology is especially accurate and dependable as it can be used to trace a product from the origin of conception to the consumer. This paper utilizes a qualitative approach - two case studies - which were created with the application of a questionnaire (open and closed questions). Using RFID for internal control purposes only, each of the sample companies has limited use of the technology. Instead, these companies use barcode systems to trace and identify cattle and to send important information to their supply chain partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food supply chains face challenges of sustainable supply chain management, such as waste management and environmental issues. Vertical integration or system integration is a corporate strategy for chicken production managed by the focal company. This research study discusses the role of the focal company for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a Brazilian food poultry supply chain. The research consisted of a single case study with the following steps: literature review, identification of the gaps, concepts synthesis, and case study. The findings indicated theoretical and empirical guidelines for SDGs. The literature review indicated the relevance of exploring some approaches to achieve sustainable supply chain management: corporate social responsibility, green supply chain management, industrial ecology, stakeholder theory, circular economy (reduce, reuse, and recycle with economic prosperity), and sustainability science. The focal company plays a strategic role in the vertical integration operation of the Brazilian poultry supply chain. The case study findings indicate the role of the focal company toward the actors, including the feed mill supplier, live poultry transport, poultry processor, rendering plant, and distributor. However, much remains to be accomplished to answer the question "how to be sustainable?", especially in environmental and social issues involving all actors in the poultry supply chain. The Brazilian environmental legislation still needs to be revised to be aligned with SDGs because the legislation will not guarantee sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. The critical issues and challenges are radical changes in business models, measurement of supply chain impacts, collaboration and network picturing, corporate social responsibility versus supply chain responsibility, stakeholder engagement, frameworks to implement SDGs, education about SDGs and public participation, and food supply chain integrated system forums. • The agri-food focal company has a strategic role in sustainable development. • Brazilian poultry supply chains should manage the waste and environmental issues. • Collaboration and engagement are corporate strategizing to achieve sustainability. • The supply chains need guidelines to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. • The Brazilian sustainable poultry supply chains use vertical integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to discuss the business model themes supported by the innovation regarding the sustainable transition difficulties to promote the hospital supply chains. A model for future applications and empirical analyzes in the health service area is proposed. In the current hospital scenario, the systems are characterized by the individualistic attention of the closed business models, hampering the promotion of the business models, the innovation, and the sustainable transitions as the sustainable supply chain (SSC) enablers. The survey evaluates the private hospital chain in Brazil. The model was evaluated by seven specialists indicated by the main private Brazilian hospitals that are accredited by Joint Commission International and Public Ministry. The discussion presented seeks to advance the observation and the understanding of the relationships among the business models, the innovation, the sustainable transitions, and the sustainable supply chains in the health socioeconomic context through the lens of the service provider, without exhausting these themes separately. The main results are the issues related to the difficulties of sustainable transition to promote the SSC in the hospital context, showing the elements into which the hospitals are inserted and helping to close the gap in the literature on the subject. Sustainable transitions, along with the SSC, present themselves as rich and challenging themes, but are beneficial for conducting dialogues between approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]