Sustainability intervention mechanisms for managing road freight transport externalities: A systematic literature review

With road freight transport continuing to dominate global freight transport operations, there is increasing pressure on the freight transport industry and its stakeholders to address concerns over its sustainability. This paper adopts a systematic review to examine the academic literature on road freight transport sustainability between 2001 and 2018. Using content and thematic analysis, the paper identifies and categorises sustainability intervention mechanisms providing useful insights on key research applications areas and continental distribution of sustainable road freight transport (SRFT) research. In addition to the six-overarching sustainability intervention mechanism themes identified: decoupling, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), modality, operations, policy, and other, future research can explore the effectiveness of different interventions mechanisms identified in this study to improve sustainable practices across different continents

Hydrogen vehicles in urban logistics : a total cost of ownership analysis and some policy implications

Freight transport accounts for 8-15% of total traffic flow in urban areas within the European Union. The majority of these deliveries are undertaken by diesel-powered vehicles with extremely disproportionate levels of CO2, NOx and particulate matter emissions. Accordingly, a variety of strategic option shave been advanced as key solutions for addressing fossil fuel demand and emissions in urban freight transport. This paper progresses the discourse on hydrogen vehicles as viable strategic options for addressing sustainability concerns in urban logistics by undertaking a comprehensive total cost of ownership analysis. Outcomes from this study not only support the economic competitiveness of hydrogen vehicles, but also analyse implications of several future policy and market scenarios

Exploring managerial perceptions on sustainability and the use of ICT for sustainable road freight transport.

This thesis advances on the road freight transport literature to explore Information and Communications Technology (ICT) use for sustainability performance in road freight transportation. It examines managerial perceptions of sustainability and ICT use practices in the Nigerian petroleum downstream industry, adopting a multi-theory perspective to explain the use of ICT as an intervention mechanism for meeting triple bottom line (3BL) sustainability objectives. Qualitative strategies are employed to design and implement the research inquiry, in line with the moderate constructionist philosophy that identifies with shared community knowledge. A multiple case study design is used to collect data from 13 polar cases using a triangulated approach that included 32 semi-structured interviews, observations and archival documents. Content and thematic analysis of the data was supported by NVivo11 software to establish results. Research findings affirm the predominant constructs of sustainability within the literature; however, they also highlight divergence in the concentration of performance across the different sustainability dimensions. Emphasising the role of contextual perceptions, the findings also establish integration of the resource based theory (RBV) and the relational corporate social responsibility (RCSR) theories as an adequate theoretical framework for explaining management’s use of ICT to aid 3BL sustainability performance in road freight transportation. Besides the conduct of a systematic literature review, the research findings contribute to the academic discourse on sustainability hierarchies by empirically demonstrating links between business contexts, managerial perceptions and sustainability focus. Additionally, they address theory gaps in the literature, contributing to the application of strategic management theories road freight transport research. From a practice perspective, the findings establish training and awareness gaps and this supports the development of the Downstream Road Freight Transport Sustainability Assessment Tool (DRoFTSAT); a self-assessment tool to aid managers in the planning, implementation and evaluation of ICT uses for sustainability

ICT adoption in road freight transport in Nigeria - A case study of the petroleum downstream sector

This paper advances the ICT adoption discourse to explore ICT mechanism use, adaptation and contextual influences on management strategies in Africa. A polar-type multiple case studies approach is used to guide empirical data collection across 10 individual cases. 21 interviews were conducted with top executives and these were corroborated with over 30. h of non-participant observations and archival documentation from these cases. Using a tripartite coding frame, thematic and content analyses were performed to identify patterns and themes in the collected data. Findings of this study evidence ICT use at firm level with significant links to local contextual factors. Additionally, whilst affirming relationships between size and adoption, the findings also suggest an inverted parallel between both variables. The paper contributes by empirically highlighting the influence of contextual factors on ICT use in road freight transportation as well as highlighting the potential for ICT developers and OEMs to acquire innovative input from local adaptation practices within the industry

Doing more with more: women on the board and firm employment

While corporations play a pivotal social role by creating employment opportunities, managers typically boost profitability during economic downturns by downsizing. Using a panel of US-listed firms from 2007-2016, we explore the impact of female representation on the board of directors (BOD) on firm-level employment. We find that firm-level employment increases while the likelihood of downsizing decreases with BOD female representation. In corroboration, the level of under-staffing, and hence its associated problems, reduces with BOD female representation. The impact of female directors on employment is stronger in the absence of tokenism, more evident during downturns and shaped by female director typology. Importantly, we find that, while over-staffing problems might emerge, overall employee productivity improves with female representation, suggesting that female directors do not sacrifice shareholder value in pursuit of employee interests. Overall, our results suggest that female directors are crucial in promoting employment in society