Environmental innovation in chains and networks : assessing determinants and performance implications in Dutch food and beverage firms

Challenged by the increasing scale of environmental degradation and corresponding stakeholders’ pressure, firms are increasingly integrating environmental concerns into their operations and into the relationships with external partners. Mainly through the theoretical lens of the Resource-based view and its spins-offs, this dissertation focuses on environmental innovation and environmental management (EM) that involves supply chain partners as means of promoting sustainable industry growth, using the Dutch food and beverage processors as a subject of the study. In–house environmental innovation and supply chain-oriented EM have a promising potential to induce sustainable growth in the industry because they are increasingly connected not only to improved environmental but also to an improved economic performance. However, the implications of environmental innovation and supply chain-oriented EM for the firm performance are not clear-cut and require further investigation. Prompted by the promising potential of environmental innovation and supply chain-oriented EM, the current research agenda focuses on their determinants: internal organizational capabilities and external factors (such as the roles of public policies, consumer demand, and other stakeholder pressures). Therefore, the present dissertation aims to investigate determinants of environmental innovation and of supply chain-oriented EM and their impact on firm performance. Chapter 2 illustrates in a dynamic perspective how changing institutional pressures and internal organizational factors influence the development of chain-oriented EM. Overall, institutional pressures are proven to be an important determinant. However, pressures on different levels vary considerably with respect to their impact. We found that pressures from supply chain partners and increasingly from long-term public–private environmental covenants significantly influence the implementation of supply chain-oriented EM. Interestingly, regulative institutional pressure from public authorities appeared to have no impact on supply chain-oriented EM. These findings are of particular interest as they suggest that Dutch public policy has chosen to rely on a responsibility culture, initiative, and self-organization, rather than on direct steering. This policy setting seems to work since our data evidence a progress in the implementation of supply chain-oriented EM. Furthermore, the findings show that food processors with more developed EM systems, associated with the presence of continuous improvement capabilities, are more likely to advance their EM by implementing supply chain-oriented EM. In course of time, as firms increasingly consider the implementation of supply chain-oriented EM as appropriate behaviour, institutional pressures become less influential and internal organizational factors become crucial to enable the implementation of supply chain-oriented EM. Chapter 3 offers further insights into organizational capabilities for supply chain-oriented EM. Prior research rarely considered how firms use their existing capabilities and the capabilities developed within their environmental strategy to come up with new and better ways to reduce the environmental impact. We investigate whether the integration of environmental concerns within the firm can provide an additional impetus to the implementation of supply chain-oriented EM, when combined with innovative orientation. In this context, we assess performance implications of capabilities for supply chain-oriented EM. Compared with the past research, we consider supply chain-oriented EM as an organizational capability for the integration of supply chain partners into EM, not as a set of environmental practices. The findings show that the development of supply chain-oriented EM is supported by both capabilities of innovative orientation and environmental integration and is accelerated by their combination. Furthermore, integration capabilities on in-house and supply chain levels appeared to be interconnected. The capability to integrate environmental concerns within the firm induces the integration of environmental concerns in the supply chain relationships. Finally, it is shown that the overarching capability to engage supply chain in EM pays off. This capability is induced by the implementation of interconnected environmental practices that involve supply chain partners (green purchasing, environmental collaboration with customers, and eco-design). Chapter 4 advances the understanding of the impact of supply chain-oriented EM on firm performance by introducing in environmental research the problem of appropriation of benefits created by the partners. Grounded in the Resource based view spin-offs, we claim that supply chain-oriented EM can enhance the performance of the focal firm not only directly, but also indirectly. The indirect relationship implies that supply chain-oriented EM stimulates the focal firm to implement more environmentally sustainable processes that in turn contribute to firm's performance. We found that supply chain-oriented EM involving customers can induce in-house environmental innovation that results in strong performance improvements. Interestingly, supply chain-oriented EM involving suppliers brings about weak performance improvements as a result of appropriation of the advantage realized by suppliers. Therefore, supply chain-oriented EM involving suppliers has a limited value and potential for Dutch food processors. Possibly, supply chain-oriented EM involving suppliers can induce process changes among suppliers, not focal firms. In this context, Chapter 4 illustrates the necessity to integrate the characteristics of supply chain actors into the research on the implications of supply chain-oriented EM. The findings regarding the impact of supply chain-oriented EM on the sustainability of internal operations have a link with firm performance. Supply chain-oriented EM that involves suppliers was shown to induce no significant improvements in environmental sustainability of operations among food processors. Unlike supply chain-oriented EM involving suppliers, supply chain-oriented EM involving customers has an indirect effect on the firm performance via environmental innovation. Firm’s network can be seen as a rich source of knowledge. Having access to knowledge and resources of the partners in supply chains and networks does not imply that a firm can appropriate (i.e. capture) corresponding benefits that could enhance environmental sustainability of in-house operations and performance. The exploitation of external knowledge requires the development of organizational capability to realize the value of new external knowledge, assimilate it and ultimately exploit it – absorptive capacity. Chapter 5 brings absorptive capacity into the discussion regarding the role of external partners in environmental innovation. Environmental innovation can also rely on internal knowledge sources. Development and accumulation of internal knowledge can be supported by the continuous improvement capability vested in the EM system. Therefore, Chapter 5 informs the discussion of the roles of internal and external knowledge for environmental innovation by considering organizational capabilities for knowledge sourcing: absorptive capacity to exploit external knowledge and continuous improvement to develop and accumulate internal environmental knowledge. The findings demonstrate that Dutch food processors develop environmental innovations relying on both external knowledge in their network tapped with the help of absorptive capacity and on internal knowledge built within the EM system with the help of continuous improvement capabilities. These findings challenge the presence of a substitution effect between internal and external knowledge. We expand the research on the determinants of environmental innovation by considering not only different knowledge sources but by providing insights into the knowledge sourcing process. Overall, the dissertation evidences an increasing importance of internal organizational capabilities to enable sustainable industry growth. Internal organizational capabilities appeared to be decisive to induce environmental innovation and supply chain-oriented EM. Also the appropriation of benefits created in cooperation with external partners and exploitation of external knowledge require certain organizational capabilities. In the earlier periods of corporate environmentalism, external pressures were of primary importance to induce the reduction of the environmental impact. Nowadays, the increasing role of organizational capabilities implies that a lot of power is concentrated in the hands of managers. For public policy, these findings suggest a focus on the development of instruments to stimulate the accumulation of organizational capabilities and capacity building.</p

Case report of leprosy in the Russian Federation

A clinical case of leprosy diagnosis in a citizen of the Republic of Chad (lepra-endemic region), а 24 year old male, student is presented. In 2019 the patient received permission to stay in the Russian Federation for educational purposes, entered one of the federal universities, and studied in Moscow, living in a hostel. During these years, he applied to various clinics, complaining of skin rashes and other symptoms characteristic of leprosy, without the effect of the prescribed treatment. In 2023, after contacting the clinic of skin diseases of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), was first sent to the The Federal State Research Center of Dermatovenereology and Cosmetology of the Ministry of Health of Russia with suspicion of leprosy. The results of clinical and laboratory studies including bacterioscopic examination of skin scarifications and pathohistological study of the skin confirmed the diagnosis: A30.5 Leprosy, multibacterial form, lepromatous type, active stage. This case presentation testifies to the lack of alertness regarding leprosy, especially among doctors conducting medical examinations of foreign citizens in order to obtain permission to stay in the Russian Federation, which may cause the spread of dangerous infectious diseases on the territory of the Russian Federation

Prospects for Creation of Cardioprotective and Antiarrhythmic Drugs Based on Opioid Receptor Agonists

It has now been demonstrated that the μ, δ(1), δ(2), and κ(1) opioid receptor (OR) agonists represent the most promising group of opioids for the creation of drugs enhancing cardiac tolerance to the detrimental effects of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Opioids are able to prevent necrosis and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes during I/R and improve cardiac contractility in the reperfusion period. The OR agonists exert an infarct‐reducing effect with prophylactic administration and prevent reperfusion‐induced cardiomyocyte death when ischemic injury of heart has already occurred; that is, opioids can mimic preconditioning and postconditioning phenomena. Furthermore, opioids are also effective in preventing ischemia‐induced arrhythmias

ВЛИЯНИЕ ШИХТОВЫХ МАТЕРИАЛОВ НА ИЗМЕЛЬЧЕНИЕ СТРУКТУРЫ АЛЮМИНИЯ ДИСПЕРСНЫМИ КОМПОЗИЦИЯМИ

Experiments on the modification of nanodispersed compositions based on carbides, nitrides and carbidonitrides of refractory metals such as titanium, vanadium, and silicon have been carried out to refine the structure of aluminum, which is the basis of high-strength alloys for aviation and space technology. The material for the study was aluminum grade AS, A97 and D16. The casting temperature and the rate of drawing of the ingots from the crystallizer were varied. Both solid and liquid batch based on pure aluminum were used. The hydrogen content of the original and modified aluminum was determined. A sharp grinding of grain in modified aluminum nanopowders was established using solid charge. The obtaining of a fine-gr'ained structure and low porosity of aluminum castings on a solid charge promoted an increase in the strength limit by 20% at a high relative elongation in comparison with the unmodified state. The purpose of this work is to determine the effect of solid and liquid charge, modification of nanodispersed compositions on the grain structure and properties of aluminum and its alloys.С целью измельчения структуры алюминия, являющегося основой высокопрочных сплавов для авиационной и космической техники, проведены эксперименты по модифицированию нанодисперсными композициями на основе карбидов, нитридов и карбонитридов: титана, ванадия, кремния. Материалом для исследования служил технический алюминий марок AS, А97 и сплав Д16. Варьировали температуру литья и скорость вытягивания слитков из кристаллизатора. Использовали как твердую, так и жидкую шихту на основе чистого алюминия. Определяли содержание водорода в исходном и модифицированном алюминии. Установлено резкое измельчение зерна в модифицированном нанопорошками алюминии с применением твердой шихты. Получение мелкозернистой структуры и низкой пористости алюминиевых отливок на твердой шихте способствовало повышению предела прочности на 20% при высоком относительном удлинении по сравнению с немодифицированным состоянием. Цель работы — установить влияние твердой и жидкой шихты, модифицирования нанодисперсными композициями на зеренную структуру и свойства алюминия и его сплавов

The mediating role of environmental innovation in the relationship between environmental management and firm performance in a multi-stakeholder environment

Nowadays, firms are increasingly challenged to bridge potentially conflicting economic interests of primary commercial stakeholders and sustainability demands from secondary non-commercial stakeholder groups. While a number of firms view investments in environmental management as disconnected from their value-creating activities, others have reported achieved cost efficiency and differentiation advantages. Prior research suggests that environmental innovation might be the missing link between environmental management and firm performance. However, the mediating effect of environmental innovation in the relationship between environmental management and a firm's performance had not been empirically tested so far. Our paper provides a contribution by conducting an empirical investigation into this possible mediating effect. Although the presumed mediating role of environmental innovation suggests that it is influenced by internal environmental management, environmental innovation literature is especially concerned with the role of external stakeholders in environmental innovation. This study investigates the role of the engagement of stakeholders such as supply chain partners, industry, and public authorities in environmental impact reduction. We hypothesise that environmental innovation positively mediates the relationship between environmental management and firm performance, and that the engagement of stakeholders has a positive impact on environmental innovation. The research model was tested with a variance-based structural equation model using data from 90 Dutch food and beverage firms. The results confirm the positive mediating effect of environmental process innovation on the relationship between environmental management and cost efficiency advantage. Environmental product innovation contributes to a differentiation advantage but it is not significantly influenced by environmental management. So we could not support a positive mediating effect of environmental product innovation on the relationship between environmental management and differentiation advantage. Instead, environmental collaboration with supply chain partners has a strong positive impact on environmental product innovation. It also positively influences environmental process innovation but this influence is much weaker than the influence of internal environmental management. Our findings can assist managers in their decision making regarding the implementation of environmental innovations and environmental collaboration with external parties. The study is also relevant to policy makers as a tool to assess the appropriateness of their polic

Extending environmental management beyond the firm boundaries: An empirical study of Dutch food and beverage firms

Consumer demand for environmental sustainability and for affordable prices calls for cooperation and information exchange in food chains to reduce joint environmental impact, known as externally-oriented environmental management (E-EM). E-EM is increasingly regarded as a management tool to simultaneously improve environmental, operational, and business performance. Understanding the factors that influence managers to develop E-EM helps to design environmentally and economically sustainable food chains. The prior research regarding these factors is not exhaustive and demanded a multi-period approach. This study expands the understanding of the factors that influence managers to develop E-EM with a multi-period empirical research. We address the effects of external institutional pressures (regulative, normative, and culturally-cognitive) and the level of in-company environmental management (I-EM) on E-EM, which involves information exchange in the chain, cooperation with suppliers and customers. The analysis relies on survey data of 255 and 96 Dutch food and beverage (F&B) processors from 2002 and 2010 respectively. The findings indicate that respondents have considerably improved I-EM over time. I-EM requires in-company pzrocedures ranging from environmental strategy formulation to the managerial review of achieved results to assure continuous improvement of environmental performance. F&B processors that had already achieved a high level of I-EM are more likely to develop E-EM. Also growing normative and culturally-cognitive pressures from supply chain partners and increasingly from long-term public–private environmental covenants significantly influenced E-EM implementation. However, regulative pressure from public authorities had no impact. It appeared that E-EM is influenced mostly by institutional pressures when the firms are less experienced with I-EM