Search

Social enterprises are acquiring an increasingly relevant role as focal organizations for managing supply chains to address social problems. We argue that the presence of misaligned institutional logics between these focal organizations and their supply chain stakeholders generates tensions. Building on institutional theory and paradox theory, we analyzed seven dyadic relationships between a single focal social enterprise with a goal of migrant integration and its supply chain stakeholders. We propose relationship management mechanisms related to relationship governance, power and trust to manage such tensions. We observe the application of different relationship management mechanisms relative to different types of tensions. Finally, we relate different relationship management mechanisms to specific tension management approaches referred to as complementarity, acceptance and accommodation, and offer propositions based on our findings.

Purpose Sustainable operations management is characterized by environmental, social and operational goals. The implementation of routines to protect and direct the effective use of human capital is proposed to potentially improve all three dimensions. However, functional managers with overlapping responsibilities at the plant-level might implement human capital routines based on their individual functional schemas. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether functional managers have conflicting perceptions of human capital routines, due to narrow perceptions benefiting their own functional domain, and thus generate trade-offs. Design/methodology/approach A combination of matched survey and archival data from 198 manufacturing plants is used to explore the degree to which functional managers have conflicting perceptions of human capital routines and the effects of these perceptions on sustainability outcomes. Findings The results indicate that on average functional managers have conflicting perceptions that generate trade-offs between sustainability dimensions. However, when functional managers had a shared perception better outcomes on all sustainability dimensions are shown. Thus, human capital routines can be a powerful tool for sustainability only if senior management can promote a shared schema across functional managers. Originality/value Differently than most previous studies assuming shared sustainability goals within an organization, this study considers a multiplicity of functional actors with potentially varying perceptions about sustainability goals and links these to organizational routine implementation and outcomes. Additionally, the dynamic and subjective nature of organizational routines, such as human capital routines, is proposed to explain contradictory impacts in a multi-objective setting such as sustainable operations management.

This paper aims to examine the role of national culture in the relationship between sustainability practices (social and environmental practices) and sustainability performance (social and environmental performance). While previous literature has focused on the influence of national culture on the decision-making and ethical behaviors of managers, the role of national culture on the effectiveness of sustainability practices has been rather neglected. Our study addresses this gap by highlighting the relevance of national culture as a contextual element when implementing sustainability practices in different countries. Based on a multi-level regression analysis using data from 484 firms in nine countries (China, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Slovenia, and Sweden), we found that the impact of social practices on social performance is accentuated in countries characterized by high uncertainty avoidance and high masculinity. The impact of environmental practices on environmental performance, however, is not affected by national culture.

Recurring controversies involving supply chain-related sustainability incidents suggest that firms with a global presence struggle to improve environmental, social and economic outcomes in global supply chains. Sustainable supply chain management has been suggested for improving sustainability outcomes in supply chains, yet global supply chains pose unique challenges. This paper aims to provide a synthesis of the key elements of sustainable supply chain management in global supply chains. To achieve this goal, we conduct a rigorous systematic literature review of articles focused on sustainable supply chain management in global supply chains and apply structured content analysis to * mentioned articles spanning 15 years of research published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals. The research contributes by identifying configurations and governance mechanisms as key elements characterizing sustainable supply chain management in global supply chains and synthesizing their relationship with sustainability outcomes. Overall configurations characterized by a greater connection between the focal firm and multi-tier suppliers, managed directly or through third parties, are increasing trends suggested to better serve sustainability development and offer several areas for future research. The research also contributes to practice by providing managers of focal firms with global supply chains directions for improving sustainable outcomes in their supply chains.

Purpose Little empirical work has been done on the effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and green supply chain management (GSCM) on firm outcomes. The literature on environmental disclosure suggests that it is a useful practice to improve a firm’s reputation and its financial performance and also to establish a dialogue with stakeholders improving environmental performance. Recent conceptual contributions in the supply chain management literature state that stakeholder expectations and informational needs increasingly concern firm supply chains. Thus, the authors propose that positive effects of inclusive environmental disclosure practices are enhanced in presence of GSCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach To test these relationships a combination of primary data on environmental disclosure practices, GSCM practices and environmental performance, and secondary data on financial performance was used. A series of hierarchical regression models were performed to test the disclosure-outcome relationships and the moderation of GSCM practices. Findings Results provide empirical support for the impact of inclusive environmental disclosure practices on financial performance but no support for the impact on environmental performance. Specifically, the more inclusive the environmental disclosure practices the greater and positive is the impact on financial performance in presence of GSCM practices. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence of the joint effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and GSCM practices on environmental and financial performance. Doing so, it reinforces the recent conceptual foundation that firms should align and leverage on supply chain management for disclosure practice effectiveness.

Supply chain research and practice has moved beyond green or environmental issues to include social issues. But much of the focus still remains on attempts of large companies to reduce social harm along their supply chains rather than creating social good. At the same time, research investigating the role of NGOs in supply chains or humanitarian logistics often emphasizes temporary initiatives and overlooks long†term viability. This conceptual paper seeks to expand the playing field by looking at how social enterprises manage their supply chains to generate social benefit while maintaining or improving their financial viability in the long term. Our contribution is to consider those socially motivated organizations that lie on the continuum between purely social and purely commercial enterprises. We consider how these organizations manage their supply chains for social impact and define this area as social impact supply chain management (SISCM). In this work, we view these organizations and managerial issues through the lens of institutional complexity, that is, the presence of multiple and possibly conflicting institutional logics in the focal organization. We propose that, for these organizations, supply chain strategy, stakeholder identification and engagement, and relationship management might differentiate SISCM from traditional supply chain management. And as a result, we offer future research directions that might add clarity to effective SISCM.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of complexity on the triple bottom line by applying information-processing theory. Specifically, the paper assesses the impact of internal manufacturing complexity on environmental, social, and financial performance. Furthermore, the paper assesses the moderating role of connectivity and shared schema in reducing the potential negative impact of complexity on performance.Design/methodology/approachMulti-country survey data collected through the Global Manufacturing Research Group were utilized to test the hypotheses. The authors used structural equation modeling to test the measurement and initial structural model. Furthermore, to test the proposed moderating hypotheses, the authors applied the latent moderated structural equations approach.FindingsThe results indicate that while complexity has a negative impact on environmental and social performance, it does not significantly affect financial performance. Furthermore, this negative impact can be reduced, to some extent, through connectivity; however, shared schema does not significantly impact on the complexity-performance relationship.Originality/valueThis study presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of complexity on sustainability. Furthermore, it provides managerial applications as it proposes specific tools to deal with the potential negative influences of complexity.

This paper studies the relationship between the opportunity realization of established firms and the organization of their top management teams (TMTs). We first consider six key organizational elements of TMTs and show how they combine in TMT organizational configurations. Then, we analyse how these configurations relate to the opportunity realization, also distinguishing between innovation and organizational change opportunities. Using a sample of 237 Italian firms collected through a survey of CEOs, we identify three well defined TMT organizational configurations: CEO-centric TMT, integrated TMT, and incentive-based TMT. The results from econometric models show that firms with an integrated TMT or an incentive-based TMT are generally better able to realize opportunities. Both the integrated TMT and the incentive-based TMT seem to have a positive impact on the realization of innovation opportunities, whereas the CEO-centric TMT positively relates only to organizational change opportunities. Our results contribute to the body of knowledge on how organizational design influences entrepreneurial behaviours/outcomes of established firms.

Increasingly complex supply chains and heightened disruption risks are bringing risk management to the forefront of managerial and research efforts. We examine how country disruption risks are related to the adoption of combined risk management and external supply chain integration practices, and how these combinations in turn are related to operational performance. We frame our propositions using information processing theory and complementarity theory. We combine primary data from the 6th International Manufacturing Strategy Survey on 21 countries, and secondary data on country level disruption risks to study these links. Our results indicate that companies in riskier countries, characterized by high operational contingencies risk, natural hazard and terrorism and political instability, use combined arcs of external supply chain integration and risk management practices. Such a combined approach is also related to higher operational performance. The findings suggest to managers that companies adopting risk management practices in combination with external integration achieve best operational results. We extend the arcs of integration concept to include also risk management practices thus showing that holistic risk management approaches along supply chains are positively related to operational performance. The combination of primary and secondary data, as well as the focus on exogenous risks distinguishes our approach from previous, mostly conceptual, studies on risks.

Balancing environmental, social, and economic performance is today considered a key responsibility that firms have toward society. As a result, academics, practitioners, and political decision makers are increasingly paying attention to environmental management systems improving a full spectrum of environmental performance. In that regard, even if recent literature suggests that environmental management should be deployed through a cross-functional approach, extant literature mostly focuses on independent functional systems. This paper addresses this gap investigating how the deployment of environmental management in the human resource function—adopting green human resource management (GHRM) practices—and the supply chain function—adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices—impact on environmental and financial performance. We draw from a multiple-respondent survey of human resource and supply chain managers in multiple industries in Italy. The study suggests that GHRM and GSCM impact on both environmental and financial performance and shows that GHRM and GSCM exert those impacts in a joint fashion. Indeed, our results show that GSCM plays a mediating role in the relationship between GHRM and performance. Overall, our results provide researchers and managers with relevant insights into the cross-functional deployment of the environmental values and principles across functions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on how smart manufacturing (SM) affects work organization at both micro-level – i.e. work design, described in terms of operator job breadth and autonomy, cognitive demand and social interaction – and at macro-level – i.e. organizational structure, described in terms of centralization of decision making and number of hierarchical levels in the plant. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on a multiple-case study of 19 companies implementing SM. Findings Results present four main configurations differing in terms of technological complexity, and micro and macro work organization. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to the academic debate about the interplay between technology and work organization in the context of SM, specifically the authors find that the level of technology complexity relates to different characteristics of micro and macro work organization in the plant. Practical implications Findings offer valuable insights for practice, with implications for the design of operator jobs, skills and plant organizational structure, in light of the challenges generated by the implementation of SM technology. Guidelines on how policymakers can foster the implementation of SM technology to enhance social sustainability are proposed. Originality/value This study advances a novel focus in studying SM, i.e. work organization implications of this new manufacturing paradigm instead of its mere technological implications.

International audience; This paper contributes to extant research on green human resource management (HRM) relying on the instrumental value of stakeholder theory, which implies that stakeholders impact on company decisions and their development of organizational resources and performance. Following that theory, the study conceives green HRM practices as a set of management processes that companies implement for responding to stakeholder pressures on environmental issues. Accordingly with those premises, we empirically test the distinct role that different green HRM practices (i.e. green hiring, green training and involvement, and green performance management and compensation) play in mediating the relationship between pressures on environmental issues from two specific external stakeholders (i.e. customers and regulatory stakeholders) and environmental performance. Our findings, based on a multi-respondent survey in which the respondents were Human Resource Managers and Supply Chain Managers operating in Italy, confirm the hypothesized mediation model. Our results (as well as their implications) are discussed in light of the recent calls to broaden the scope of HRM research, considering the embeddedness of the company in a socio-political context and exploring the role that actors and factors outside the company play in shaping its green HRM practices.

The objective of this paper is to study the impact of institutional pressures at the country level (i.e., coercive, regulatory, normative) on the adoption of sustainable supplier development practices. Globalization is allowing firms to expand in new markets and to leverage on localization advantages by establishing foreign plants and sourcing internationally. Plants located in different countries might be subject to different institutional pressures shaping their organizational response to sustainability within and outside their domain (e.g., in relation to their suppliers). The paper also aims to examine if firm specific capabilities (e.g., supply chain integration) play an enabling role in the adoption of sustainable supplier development practices. To analyse these relationships we relied on both primary and secondary data, and used hierarchical linear modelling to test our hypotheses. The results show that mimetic pressures have a positive effect on the adoption of sustainable supplier development and that this influence is positively moderated by the firm’s level of supplier integration. Coercive and normative pressures have no effect on the adoption of sustainable supplier development practices. Overall our results suggest that sustainable supplier development is a proactive practice adopted for competitive reasons and enabled by firm specific capabilities.

Purpose – This paper aims to report the results of an empirical study examining the operational, environmental and social sustainability performance impact of supply chain integration (SCI) width and depth in the form of coordinative and collaborative SCI. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was sent to operations managers located in India. The data collection effort was part of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Following the approaches by Frohlich and Westbrook (2001) and Schoenherr and Swink (2012), cluster analysis and analysis of covariance methods were conducted. Findings – This study supports previous studies proposing that wider SCI including customers and suppliers positively impact on performance. The authors also shed light on previous contradictory results, illustrating that different level of SCI depth (i.e. coordinative and collaborative practices) lead to different operational and sustainability performance outcomes. Thus, challenging the view of the general SCI-performance improvement hypothesis. Originality/value – Although research on SCI has advanced over the past years, there is still controversy about the SCI–performance relationship. Through considering SCI depth in terms of coordinative and collaborative practices, the authors provide a more nuanced view on its potential performance benefits. Therefore, this paper will be beneficial for supply chain managers considering SCI and future supply chain management research.

This paper studies the influence of an organization’s time perspective on triple bottom line deployment through sustainable innovativeness. Although academics increasingly consider sustainable innovation to be an essential element in deploying the triple bottom line, the degree of an organization’s sustainable innovativeness remains limited. Using ten inductive case studies based on the triangulation of data from multiple-respondent interviews and secondary data, this study shows that an organization’s time perspective plays a crucial role in explaining the organization’s degree of sustainable innovativeness and improvement of triple bottom line outcomes. Specifically, organizations with a longer planning horizon, higher tolerance of uncertainty, and greater ability to learn from the past develop a higher and increasing degree of sustainable innovativeness, allowing trade-offs between triple bottom line dimensions to be mitigated.

Purpose – Environmental and social sustainability are becoming key competitive priorities for companies, but the way in which they are integrated in operations strategies remains an open issue. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether established operations strategy configuration models (i.e. price-oriented, market-oriented and capability-oriented models) are modified to include environmental and social priorities and whether different operations strategy configuration models are equally successful in the short and long term. Design/methodology/approach – Analyses were performed using data from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (2009), including companies in the assembly industry in 21 different countries. According to previous studies, cluster analysis of competitive priorities and ANOVA analysis of the business strategy and short- and long-term performance were performed. Findings – The results show that traditional operations strategy configuration models are slightly modified. Market-oriented and capability-oriented operations strategies are complemented by environmental and social sustainability priorities. These operations strategies are adopted by companies with a differentiation and innovation business strategy. Moreover, capability-oriented companies, which are the most committed to environmental and social sustainability, perform better in both the short and long term. Practical implications – This research shows to companies that traditional operations strategies focusing on specific competitive priorities (e.g. low price) are being replaced by more holistic strategies that include sustainability priorities. However, environmental and social priorities contribute to competitive advantage when complementing capability-oriented operations strategies. Originality/value – This paper extends operations strategy configuration models highlighting how environmental and social sustainability priorities can be deployed together with traditional competitive operations priorities.

Information technology (IT) purchasing is covering an increasing part of companies’ expenditure. Scholars mainly investigated IT purchasing in terms of make or buy drivers from an IT perspective. Similarly, companies have been focusing on make or buy decisions and specifications definition in relation to technological characteristics. This often resulted in failures related to the goods/services purchased due to e.g. lack of negotiation skills, contracting, and suppliers’ relationship management. Accordingly, IT purchasing might require new structures and processes management. The purpose of the paper is to investigate what are the possible configurations for IT purchasing, and how these configurations are characterized in terms of purchasing process (i.e., strategic purchasing, sourcing and supply) and organization (i.e., roles involved, level of centralization, and span of control). Furthermore, the paper asks how IT relevance and purchasing maturity might affect these configurations. Through 12 case studies of leading international companies, four main configurations of the organization and the purchasing process for IT purchasing were identified, namely neutral (no specific approach is in place), IT oriented (the IT department takes the lead over the purchasing department), purchasing oriented (the purchasing department manages the whole IT sourcing process) and IT strategic (IT and purchasing departments jointly manage the IT purchasing process). The choice of the configuration is driven by IT strategic importance (low for neutral and purchasing oriented) and purchasing maturity of the company (low for neutral and IT oriented).

Under increased pressure for supply chain transparency, suppliers across supply chains show different behaviors in terms of disclosing (or retaining) information about their individual environmenta...

This research takes a first step toward a more complete understanding of the effects of lean production on both operational and worker health and safety performance. Previous operations management literature considered only the operational performance implications of lean while previous safety literature considered only the worker health and safety implications of lean. This research considers both perspectives by providing empirical evidence on the impact of lean on operational and health and safety performance. Results from 10 case studies show that the adoption of lean practices and or an overall lean philosophy has a positive impact on operational and health and safety performance. However, there are some nuances in the role of individual practices associated with lean. The plants with the worst operational and health and safety performance in the sample were those that adopted just-in-time practices without human resource and prevention practices. The results show how both the social and tec...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of temporary workers and the adoption of new forms of work organisation (NFWO) in production. This study aims to understand to what extent these two forms of human resources flexibility are synergic or mutually exclusive. In order to answer this main goal, we discuss different levels of temporary workers adoption in relation to different levels of use of NFWO, the level of integration of temporary workers within the overall production organisation and the joint and synergistic use of NFWO and temporary work. Evidence drawn from seven case studies in manufacturing plants in northern Italy is provided. Results highlight that, according to the characteristics of the production process, temporary workers and NFWO are not mutually exclusive, that temporary workers can be integrated with other workers in the shop floor, and that NFWO can also be adopted for temporary workers. In addition, NFWO has been proven to be a key enabler to int...

Originality/value The findings of this chapter contribute to the definition of a relational governance model for global food commodity supply chains. From a research standpoint, the empirical setting allows analyses of antecedents and consequences of different social capital components in the food supply chain. In addition, the case may help executives understand how to leverage supply chain relationships and identify a path to product quality and supply chain sustainability.

As eProcurement is gaining popularity in business practice, researchers as well as practitioners have addressed the need of defining a proper eProcurement implementation strategy. This article aims to build an eProcurement implementation framework, which considers the main variables that have an impact on the eProcurement success and the links among them. The goal is to identify the main decisions that companies should take during the three principal phases of the eProcurement adoption (pre-implementation; implementation and post-implementation). Six case studies at different levels of eProcurement adoption have been used to identify the peculiarities of each phase of the process and to provide contingent guidelines.

This symposium examines supply chain management strategy, practices and structures adopted by focal actors in the network not motivated primarily by profit. The potential focal actors might include: NGOs, social ventures, B-corporations and other organizations for whom profitability matters but it is not the primary goal as well as regulators and other governmental actors, co-ops and other collectives, communities and natural systems where for-profit ventures operate. The main aim of this symposium is to discuss whether these organizations enact unique or presently unknown strategies and practices to achieve their goals or adopt traditional supply chain management approaches. Configuring Supply Networks for International Non-governmental Organizations Presenter: Jury Gualandris; Ivey Business School Presenter: Robert D Klassen; U. of Western Ontario Social Impact Supply Chain Management Presenter: Madeleine Pullman; Portland State U. Presenter: Annachiara Longoni; ESADE Business School Presenter: Davide L...

Mediterranean is considered an ecosystem “under siege”, due to overfishing and combined anthropogenic pressures, a situation expected to worsen with climate change. In this unstable and multifacete...

Purpose Sustainable operations are increasingly part of firms’ competitive strategies. Research widely investigates the relationship between sustainable operations and competitive advantage, considering financial performance as a dependent variable, and shows controversial results. The purpose of this paper is to operationalize competitive advantage as internal and external intangible benefits, such as human resource (HR) and customer benefits. HR benefits concern the deployment of a workforce pursuing a firm’s goals and strategy; customer benefits concern the improvement of a firm’s relationship with its customers. Design/methodology/approach Empirical results are provided in an analysis of data from a survey conducted on a sample of 107 Italian firms in the food industry. A single industry and country are selected to avoid possible differences in regulations and in operations processes. Structural equation modelling is used to test hypotheses relating sustainable operations to HR and customer benefits. Findings The authors distinguish between green and social operations practices. Green operations practices directly impact customer benefits but not HR benefits. Social sustainable operations practices do not directly impact customer benefits but instead have a direct impact on HR benefits. Hence, through HR benefits, they have an indirect impact on customer benefits. Practical implications The authors provide results showing to operations managers that both green operations and social operations are crucial to obtaining customer benefits. Social operations do this by enhancing HR benefits. Green operations instead are not positively related to HR benefits. Originality/value This research serves as an original contribution to the sustainable operations literature in two ways. First, from a resource-based perspective, the relationship between sustainable operations, HR benefits, and customer benefits is proposed and tested. Such benefits are also shown to be interrelated based on the service profit chain model. Second, green and social operations practices are analysed separately providing a nuanced view of benefits related to sustainable operations.

In this paper, we jointly consider the organization of the Top Management Team (hereafter: TMT) and the exploitation of opportunities by firms. Specifically, we study whether different ways to combine six main organizational elements of the TMT (i.e., different TMT configurations) relate to opportunities exploited by the firm. Applying a cluster analysis to a sample of 237 Italian firms, collected through a large-scale survey addressed to CEOs, we found three well-characterized clusters, which deploy different configurations of the selected organizational elements. We label these configurations as CEO centric TMT, integrated TMT, and incentive based TMT. Then, we find these TMT organizational configurations are associated with different levels of opportunity exploitation. In particular, integrated TMT and incentive based TMT perform better in exploiting opportunities in general and opportunities related to changes in processes, products and markets. Moreover, integrated TMT are positively related to opportunities associated with changes in the organization.

More and more organizations are claiming their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The literature has investigated both institutional and stakeholder pressures as antecedents of CS...

This chapter aims to provide guidance on deploying sustainable operations strategies to simultaneously pursue environmental, social and economic performance. Sustainable operations strategy deployment consists of strategy definition and implementation. To understand how companies can define and implement environmental and social programmes that enhance all sustainability dimensions (i.e., triple bottom line), the role of organisational responsibility and worker commitment to sustainability is studied in depth. Organisational responsibility and worker commitment enable definition of environmental and social programmes to improve the triple bottom line; worker commitment is also crucial to implementing sustainable strategies that enhance the effectiveness of sustainability programmes and have a direct impact on sustainability performance.

This paper aims to study whether Human Resource Management and the organizational practices related to New Forms of Work Organization (NFWO) (e.g., teamwork, training, and employee involvement) should be implemented to attain higher environmental and social sustainability performance. This potential connection is analyzed using the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey 2009 database containing data on the assembly industry. Several hierarchical regression models are used to study the direct impact of the considered practices on sustainability performance and their interactions with sustainability action programs. The results show that some of the practices related to NFWO are linked to sustainability performance. In particular, training has a direct positive effect on environmental and social sustainability performance and creates a positive interaction between social sustainability action programs and performance. Additionally, employee involvement and incentives have a direct positive impact on social sustainability performance. Finally, teamwork is a relevant practice for the successful implementation of environmental sustainability action programs. This paper contributes by empirically extending the knowledge on the role of organizational practices and the understanding of environmental and social sustainability achievement at the operational level. Moreover, we highlight the complexity of these relationships within different sustainability dimensions, showing the need for more qualitative studies about this topic.

The first chapter of the book presents triple bottom line and sustainable operations strategies, analysing the academic and practitioners’ literatures. First, an operational definition of triple bottom line is proposed. Then, sustainable operations strategies are described in terms of content: priorities, programmes and performance. Both improvements and possible trade-offs related to sustainable operations strategies are described. This evidence suggests the need to consider human resource management and organisational practices to overcome trade-offs and enable effective sustainable operations strategy definition and implementation.

This chapter considers the alignment of traditional operations programmes (i.e., lean manufacturing) and the triple bottom line. Specifically, lean manufacturing is considered both because of its recognised role in enhancing operational performance and because of the current discussion in the operations management literature about the impact of lean manufacturing on environmental and social performance. Indeed, lean manufacturing is suggested to have both positive and negative effects on social and environmental performance. This book focuses on the roles of organisational responsibility and worker commitment to sustainability in achieving this alignment. Organisational responsibility allows the choice of a new set of integrated, sustainable lean programmes. This new set of programmes, which leverage both sustainability and operations principles, enables the enhancement of the triple bottom line. Additionally, worker commitment has an impact on the choice of incremental environmental and social programmes related to lean manufacturing. Finally, worker commitment is crucial in implementing sustainable lean programmes, enhancing the positive impact of such programmes on the triple bottom line and promoting sustainable orientation and behaviour among workers.

The second chapter of the book aims to show that human resource management and organisational practices (i.e., teamwork, training, worker involvement and incentives) adopted to achieve operational performance only partially improve environmental and social sustainability. Instead, a set of human resource management and organisational practices specifically designed to improve the triple bottom line (i.e., organisational responsibility to sustainability and worker commitment to sustainability) have a positive impact on the triple bottom line—i.e., economic, environmental and social sustainability.

Environmental and social sustainability are becoming sources of competitive advantage for multinational companies. Consequently, they need to understand how to manage their global manufacturing networks to enhance both environmental and social performance. Results from an international survey show that site competence—that is, having competences in operations beyond the production activities—is an antecedent of the adoption of environmental and social sustainability programs and, in turn, of higher performance improvement. Moreover, site competence provides also a direct contribution to performance achievement especially to pursue social sustainability.

Purpose – This chapter examines the impact of technology on sustainable effectiveness by focusing on the dynamic synchronization between the technical and the social subsystems at the Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Hospital (VBRH) and illustrates that technology can trigger and enable sustainable health care organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The case study of VBRH relies on several data sources. They include interviews with key informants (VBRH executives, health care professionals, and technology suppliers), follow-up e-mails and phone conversations, direct observations of actors’ behavior, and notes of processes in action and archival data, such as patient pathway protocols, technical information systems documentation, performance and managerial reports, and administrative guidelines. Findings – VBRH was capable to dynamically synchronize the social subsystem with the continuous innovation of the technical subsystem. This capability enabled sustainable effectiveness in three main areas. First, the correct alignment between technology and professionals’ practices and behaviors improved triple-bottom-line performance by promoting a more conscious use of the environmental, social, and financial resources. Second, technology-based initiatives promoted research-oriented plans of action that nurtured a culture of change and continuous improvement. Third, technology facilitated the extension of the research and operation networks that generated new ideas and initiatives for achieving sustainable effectiveness. Additionally, evidence from VBRH demonstrated that organization design, change management, and learning mechanisms are essential when institutionalizing new technology that requires the disruption of current professional practices and individuals’ behavior. Originality/value – Previous contributions about sustainable effectiveness in health care failed to unveil and frame the complexity of dynamic synchronization between the technical and the social subsystems that is at the core of the sustainability of health care delivery. This chapter provides new insights that pave the way for a deeper-level understanding of the role that technology plays in sustainable effectiveness dynamics and outcomes in health care delivery. The chapter illustrates how different groups of technology contribute to sustainable effectiveness and the mechanisms that make them work.

PurposeThis paper aims at understanding the relationship between the adoption of new forms of work organizations (NFWOs) and measures of country impact, in terms of national culture and economic development.Design/methodology/approachThe adoption of NFWO practices is measured through data from the fourth edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey, while Hofstede's measures are adopted for national culture, and gross national income (GNI) per capita is used as an economic development variable. Multivariate linear regression is applied to investigate relationships, using company size as a control variable. A cluster analysis is utilized to identify groups of countries with similar cultural characteristics and to highlight different patterns of adoption of NFWO practices.FindingsThe authors show that it is possible to explain different patterns in the adoption of NFWO practices when considering company size and cultural variables. GNI is instead only significant for some practices and does not always positively influence the adoption of NFWO. On the other hand, cultural variables are linked to all the practices, but there is no dominant dimension to explain higher or lower NFWO adoption.Research limitations/implicationsResults are limited because only Hofstede's cultural variables are used and manufacturing performance is not considered. Therefore, it is not possible to discriminate between more or less successful NFWO variations.Practical implicationsThis paper provides managers with insights on how to take into account cultural variables when transferring organizational models to different countries.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to previous studies showing the importance of including several contextual variables, country impact in particular, in the study of operations management.

This symposium addresses systemic changes in food supply chains to address imbalances in the availability and consumption of resources, protection of the earth and its natural environment, and to a...

This paper provides two specific contributions to extant research on green Human Resource Management (HRM). First, drawing on stakeholder theory, it explores the role played by two specific externa...

Both human resource management (HRM) and supply chain management (SCM) literatures have theorized and empirically demonstrated that specific practices, aimed at developing the environmental perform...

This research aims at providing some guidance about how to define and implement sustainability operations strategies pursuing environmental, social and economic performance and optimising trade-off...