75,255 research outputs found
Mandatory sustainability reporting in Germany: does size matter?
This article studies how German firms evaluate a recent national corporate social responsibility (CSR) law based on a European Union directive and the burden they expect regarding their organizational responsibilities due to mandatory sustainability reporting. One hundred and fifty-one firms of different sizes directly or indirectly affected by the law are included in the survey and their responses empirically analyzed using two-tailed t-tests and simple linear regression. Anchoring the discussion in stakeholder theory and the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) literature while considering large-firm idiosyncrasies, the results show differing effects on SMEs and large firms as well as firms which are directly and indirectly affected. Findings show that firm size only matters for the evaluation of the law by directly affected firms, while size does not matter in the case of indirectly affected firms. Possible moderators of this evaluation are grounded in the resource-based theory and formalization of CSR. This article contributes to the understanding of when firm size matters in the case of mandatory sustainability reporting and underlines the role of organizational resources and capabilities as well as the special position of SMEs
Drivers and Impacts of R&D Adoption on Transport and Logistics Services
Actually, technologies and applications in industries are changing via business restructuring, new business models, new knowledge and supply chains. So R&D is not focused primarily on manufacturing industry as it used to be, but on different kinds of industries as logistics and transport (TLS). Nevertheless, the characteristics of the TLS industry determine the introduction of specific R&D solutions accordingly to sectors operations. The objective of this paper is to describe the R&D opportunities in the TLS industry and how managers use them to make their businesses more innovative and efficient. Using the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) model the paper identifies the links between R&D adoption and innovation dynamics. Relating the findings, on the driverâs side there are three points that are worth mentioning: increasing market competition, the relationships of firms interacting with each other and the availability and quality of complementary assets such as employee skills and IT know-how. On the impactsâ side, firms advanced in terms of implementing R&D solutions are more likely to implement organizational changes. Finally, a set of recommendations on how to further improve the continuous innovation in the TLS industry is presented
A taxonomy of supply chain innovations
In this paper, a taxonomy of supply chain and logistics innovations was developed and presented. The taxonomy was based on an extensive literature survey of both theoretical research and case studies. The primary goals are to provide guidelines for choosing the most appropriate innovations for a company, and help companies in positioning themselves in the supply of chain innovations landscape. To this end, the three dimensions of supply chain innovations, namely the goals, supply chain attributes, and innovation attributes were identified and classified. The taxonomy allows for the efficient representation of critical supply chain innovations information, and serves the mentioned goals, which are fundamental to companies in a multitude of industries
SMEs and Certified Management Standards: The Effect of Motives and Timing on Implementation and Commitment
Existing research on certifiable management standards (CMS) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) tends to focus on large companies and is characterised by disagreement about the role of these standards as drivers of CSR. We contribute to the literature by shifting the analytical focus to the behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that subscribe to multiple CSR related standards. We argue that, in respect of motive and commitment, SMEs are not as different from large companies as the literature suggests, as they are guided by similar institutional and economic motives. Results, based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified SMEs in Greece, demonstrate that later adopters are more susceptible to coercive and mimetic motives and are less likely to commit fully to the CMS requirements, while earlier adopters react to normative motives and considerations of internal efficiency gains and tend to carry out CMS requirements with greater diligence
A Proposal for Supply Chain Management Research That Matters: Sixteen High Priority Research Projects for the Future
On May 4th, 2016 in Milton, Ontario, the World Class Supply Chain 2016 Summit was held in partnership between CN Rail and Wilfrid Laurier Universityâs Lazaridis School of Business & Economics to realize an ambitious goal: raise knowledge of contemporary supply chain management (SCM) issues through genuine peer-Ââto-Ââpeer dialogue among practitioners and scholars. A principal element of that knowledge is an answer to the question: to gain valid and reliable insights for attaining SCM excellence, what issues must be researched further? This White Paperâwhich is the second of the summitâs two White Papersâaddresses the question by proposing a research agenda comprising 16 research projects. This research agenda covers the following: The current state of research knowledge on issues that are of the highest priority to todayâs SCM professionals Important gaps in current research knowledge and, consequently, the major questions that should be answered in sixteen future research projects aimed at addressing those gaps Ways in which the research projects can be incorporated into student training and be supported by Canadaâs major research funding agencies
That content comes from using the summitâs deliberations to guide systematic reviews of both the SCM research literature and Canadian institutional mechanisms that are geared towards building knowledge through research. The major conclusions from those reviews can be summarized as follows: While the research literature to date has yielded useful insights to inform the pursuit of SCM excellence, several research questions of immense practical importance remain unanswered or, at best, inadequately answered The body of research required to answer those questions will have to focus on what the summitâs first White Paper presented as four highly impactful levers that SCM executives must expertly handle to attain excellence: collaboration; information; technology; and talent The proposed research agenda can be pursued in ways that achieve the two inter-Âârelated goals of creating new actionable knowledge and building the capacity of todayâs students to become tomorrowâs practitioners and contributors to ongoing knowledge growth in the SCM field
This White Paperâs details underlying these conclusions build on the information presented in the summitâs first White Paper. That is, while the first White Paper (White Paper 1) identified general SCM themes for which the research needs are most urgent, this White Paper goes further along the path of industry-academia knowledge co-creation. It does so by examining and articulating those needs against the backdrop of available research findings, translating the needs into specific research projects that should be pursued, and providing guidelines for how those projects can be carried out
The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019
An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africaâs smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT âagripreneursâ. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains
Does firm size matter? Evidence on the impact of the green innovation strategy on corporate financial performance in the automotive sector
In the past few years, there has been increasing awareness regarding the significance of the Green Innovation Strategy (GIS) in the academic and practical fields. Hence, it becomes important to determine the correlation between the GIS and the Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This study attempted to determine the dynamic correlation between the GIS and the CFP, with regards to the firm size. For this purpose, this study has collected data for 163 international automotive firms, from the CSRHub database, for the period ranging between 2011 and 2017. Furthermore, we also used the dynamic panel data system, i.e., the Generalised Method of Moment (GMM) method, for estimating this relationship. The empirical results indicated that the GIS positively affected the CFP. Interestingly, we also uncovered that the firm size moderated the negative correlation between the GIS and the CFP. The small-sized firms showed higher green innovation investments return than the larger-sized firms, which indicated that these smaller firms were more prone to seek variation and visibility, for accessing better resources. Furthermore, due to the extensive scrutiny of the stakeholders, these small firms could generate higher profits. The implications for managers and the theories in this regard are then discussed
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