Abstract

Semiconductor industry plays a critical role for the global economy. Semiconductor industry provides various necessary technologies such as IoT, AI, modern fabrication technologies and so on to various industries including automotive industry, electronic and communication industry, healthcare industry, construction and building industry, space industry, and so on. However, semiconductor supply chain experiences various supply chain related risks and challenges because of its procedural complexities, global supply chain integrations, government policy and regulations, competitiveness, technological complexities, and so on. Not many studies available which investigated the risk, resilience, and complexities regarding green supply chain adoption by semiconductor industry. In this context, the objective of this study is to examine the risks, resilience, and complexities for managing the green supply chain adoption for higher sustainability in the semiconductor industry. Utilizing the TOE framework (Technology-Organization-Environment) and DCV (Dynamic Capability View), we developed a research model to achieve this purpose. Subsequently, this model was validated through structural equation modelling, involving 356 respondents affiliated with the semiconductor industry. This study highlights that technological risk aspects comprising of technological turbulence and risk, compatibility and complexity, organizational dynamic capabilities, and resilience along with appropriate policy and regulations could help successful adoption of green supply chain management in the semiconductor industry.

Introduction

Semiconductors are vital components of modern electronics. They are used in many diverse products, such as phones and computers to cars and health devices. The devices mentioned above, and others use microchips, memory units, and chipsets. The semiconductor supply chain is a complex network that involves companies that design, make, test, pack, and distribute semiconductors ( Li et al., 2011 ; Oliveira et al., 2019 ). It is the interconnected framework of entities responsible for the various stages in the lifecycle of semiconductor products. The supply chain is complicated, requiring the alignment of several different steps, from getting parts and materials to the delivery to the ultimate customer ( Browning et al., 1995 ; Lai et al., 2022 ). A complicated web of companies, organizations, and people make up the semiconductor supply chain. They work on the creation, production, quality control, packaging, and delivery of semiconductors. The semiconductor supply chain usually has several steps involving complex supply chain flow ( Oliveira et al., 2019 ). It is to note that for ensuring green innovation to establish a healthier society, adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) is needed for semiconductor industry. Besides, semiconductor chips manufactured in specialized plants also release carbon content gas polluting the atmosphere ( Awa and Ojiabo, 2016 ). To address these issues, it is essential to use the GSCM process that could help to mitigate such environmental hazards. Supply Chain Management (SCM), which supports the success of many leading companies, is a key element of operations management ( Teece, 2014a ; Stekelorum et al., 2021 ; Vrontis et al., 2022a ). The competitive landscape is not shaped by individual organizations, but by supply chains that have multiple workflows across collaborating partners ( Hwang et al., 2016 ). It is worth mentioning that GSCM practices are important for creating ecofriendly products ( Tseng et al., 2019 ). In the supply chain flow followed in the semiconductor industry, it is needed to resist disruptions of flow of supply of semiconductor chips. This needs the supply chain flow to be more resilient to ensure better performance of manufacturing plants of semiconductor chips which necessitates use of GSCM practices ( Li et al., 2011 ). The strategic SCM is a process that involves multiple interactions among various factors such as strategic sourcing orientation for lasting partnerships, communication between firms, teams across organizations and integration of buyers and suppliers ( Chen & Paulraj, 2004 ). As many businesses source, sell, or compete globally or with global competitors ( Oliveira et al., 2019 ), they use strategic management theories to find ways to cooperate and gain an edge in a global setting. Therefore, many firms and business schools have focused their attention on Global SCM ( Browning et al., 1995 ; Chaudhuri et al., 2022 ; Lai et al., 2022 ). In the semiconductor industry, the global production scenario prevails, characterized by a supply chain network spanning the globe ( Lee et al., 2010 ). Dominated by leading technology-based firms, this industry demands cost efficiency, mass production, and operational flexibility. The semiconductor industry is characterized by its high demand for capital, as it involves sophisticated R&D processes, with few companies that can compete in the market. Management models in this global industry rely heavily on outsourcing and offshoring in SCM processes ( Pan et al., 2015 ). Stekelorum et al. (2021) contend that implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) would enhance the global semiconductor industry’s supply chain network in terms of effectiveness, sustainability, and environmental friendliness. It is important to mention here that the regulatory bodies of all the industries strive to motivate the firms to be environmentally conscious and restrict their activities binding them with some salient regulations to be followed ( Ratusny et al., 2022 ). In the dynamic business environment, semiconductor industry manufacturing firms need to develop their dynamic capabilities to successfully address the volatile situations for survival ( Mousavi et al., 2019 ; Song & Dong, 2024 ).

Conclusions

The present study has taken a novel attempt to enrich the extant literature by synthesizing the factors which include the risks, resilience, and complexities facilitating and impeding the smooth adaptation of GSCM in the semiconductor industry. This study has highlighted how the semiconductor industry could comply the policies and regulations of the governments while adopting the GSCM. This study has also discussed how the business practices in the semiconductor industry which consumes huge energy and pollutes the environment could use green supply chain practices that could lead to business sustainability and fulfils existing environmental related regulations to achieve sustainability goals. This research work has successfully been able to integrate TOE framework along with DCV to develop a hybrid theoretical framework highlighting how semiconductor industry can ensure better adoption of GSCM to achieve their sustainability goals. The proposed framework acts as a tool and guideline for future researchers who intend to ensure GSCM practices in other types of industries by updating the proposed model commensurate with the context of that study. Thus, the proposed model acts as a baseline for future researchers. This study has successfully been able to identify the factors like risk, resilience, and complexity which affect the adoption of GSCM. This study has also found that improvement of dynamic capabilities of the organizations related to semiconductor industry helps to successfully adopt GSCM. Finally, this study has also demonstrated that government policies and regulations have considerable influence on organizations towards achieving sustainability goals through adoption of GSCM.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Integrated analytical framework for sustainability analysis of supply chain management

4. Results

5. Conclusions

Disclosure statement

References

Abstract

     With the increasing importance of air pollutant emissions to the platform economy and green supply chain management, it is essential to analyse the trend and correlation between particulate matter emissions and supply chain statistics. Typical approaches do not integrate particulate matter prediction with the sustainability analysis, and suffer from common issues such as low classification accuracy and unstable prediction performance. In this study, we propose an integrated analytical framework for sustainability analysis of supply chain management through particulate matter emissions prediction. Specifically, we performance trend and correlation analysis between particulate matter emissions (PM2.5 and PM10) and supply chain statistics in Beijing of China. We combine the boosting algorithm and neural network method to predict particulate matter emissions. Experimental results show that our prediction model achieved high performance. Sustainability analysis shows that the steady growth of the supply chain operations is accompanied by decreasing air pollutant emissions in China.

Introduction

     Today, human society is facing very severe environmental and resource problems. The green and sustainable supply chain are the concrete manifestations of sustainable development strategies that comprehensively consider these two issues in platform economy management. In recent years, continued urbanisation and industrialisation, particularly in developing countries, has led to severe deterioration in air quality and a rapid increase in the degree of contamination (Shi and Yu 2020). Air pollution has substantially affected the living environment of the human population and endangered health (Stieb et al. 2019). The United Nations (UN) issued Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, serving as a blueprint for building a more sustainable future across the globe. There are totally 17 goals in SDGs, addressing issues in economic, environmental, and social areas. These goals are interrelated and expected to be fulfilled by 2030 (2015). PM2.5 emissions have an adverse effect on public health (Yin, Pizzol, and Xu 2017). At present, many countries attach great importance to inhalable total suspended particulates that cannot be blocked by the human upper respiratory tract, especially inhalable aerosol particles with sizes less than 2.5 μm. It is necessary to arouse the stakeholder

Conclusions

     In this paper, an integrated analytical framework targeting sustainability analysis of supply chain management through particulate matter emissions prediction has been proposed. Specifically, we firstly collect and preprocess the particulate matter emission data and supply chain statistics in Beijing of China, then we conduct correlation analysis between air pollutant concentrations and supply chain statistics to uncover the intrinsic associations. Secondly, we combine the boosting ensemble meta-algorithm and neural network method for particulate matter concentration forecasting. The boosting algorithm is used to train a set of individual subnets to improve the efficiency of prediction, and afterwards, the output results of individual subnets are weighted for acquiring the final prediction results. Finally, we perform an analysis on sustainability between air pollutant emissions and supply chain statistics after obtaining the particulate matter prediction results.

     This analytical framework is able to perform sustainability analysis with accuracy and provide reliable insights for the legislation and implementation of green supply chain management. The forecasting of particulate matter emissions conveys basis and justifications for policy-makers to enforce the environmental protection measures associated with air pollution and design efficient policies with the aim of improving the air pollutant management of the supply chain, which will further lead to an improved public health environment, especially in economically developed areas. Because this study mainly targets the prediction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, it cannot comprehensively reveal the geographical distribution of air pollution. There are various factors that affect air quality, and a regression model can be established to predict PM2.5 and PM10 distributions more comprehensively and to determine the key influential factors, which would be important for formulating economic development strategies and implementing environmental protection mechanisms.

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BACKGROUND

3. PERSPECTIVES OF IOT IN LOGISTICS

4. KEY IOT-BASED APPLICATIONS IN LOGISTICS

5. KEY CHALLENGES OF IOT ADOPTION IN LOGISTICS

6. CONCLUSIONS

FUNDING

NOTES

REFERENCES

Abstract

     The Internet of Things (IoT) vision enables multiple of resource-constrained embedded devices, objects, and humans to connect together through the Internet protocol for a ubiquitous data exchange. Logistics is considered to be a key player poised from this vision to achieve the full visibility and transparency through leveraging the pervasive interconnectivity to collect reliable and safe real-time data. In addition, the valuable information extracted and transformed from the IoT data can be exploited to create intelligent services and applications to improve the logistics activities as well as the overall performance of logistics operations. This paper aims at reviewing the state-of-the-art applications of IoT in the logistics sector. Although the adoption of IoT potentially gains huge benefits, there still exist barriers preventing the full adoption of IoT in the logistics. This paper also discusses such challenges that promise to expose a wide range of open research regarding the integration of IoT in the logistics domain.

Introduction

     In reality, logistics is increasingly identified as a core industry sector promoting the strong development of the economy as well as other relevant sectors such as transportation, education. Due to various points of view and considered scopes, there exists a variety of definitions regarding the logistics. For example, the authors in [1] defined logistics as “the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services and related information from their point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements”. Meanwhile, Islam et al. pointed out that “logistics involves an integrated approach with the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and recently added security” [2]. They also sketched out five central components in the logistics managements including transportation, warehousing, inventory control, packaging, and information processing. From a broad view, many researchers such as authors in [3] considered the logistics as a combination of three flows, namely, physical flow, information flow, and financial flow. In this view, the ultimate role of logistics management is to ensure a full synchronization of three flows throughout the involved logistics activities, actors, and stakeholders. Regardless of multiple perspectives, the above concepts emphasize on the importance of information to achieve the ultimate goal of logistics services: right products are delivered to right customers at the right time at the right place and in the right condition [4]. The information will become more significant in the management of modern logistics since the logistics processes became significantly more complex and dynamic due to ever-increasing global competition, shorter product life-cycles, mass customization, and stricter quality requirements of customers.

Conclusions

    The application of IoT concept has brought the transformation of logistics into innovated model, which potentially drives a greater operation efficiency and sustainability thanks to advanced abilities of IoT-enabled technologies. This paper, firstly reviews developments of current logistics that encompasses several paradigms such as smart logistics, green logistics, and physical Internet. Toward obtaining a global efficiency and sustainability, such logistics models are relevant heavily on ICT to optimize the logistics activities efficiency through efficient exploitations of shared information. Particularly, recent IoT technologies that are recognized as an ultimate means for information exchange solution herald new ways of greater efficiency gains. Thus, this promises a potential perspective with respect to the application of IoT in the logistics. This paper also describes the perspective through sketching out an IoT ecosystem that can be applied for the logistics fields. The system encompasses key enabling IoT technologies with data-driven orientation, and key building blocks including smart objects, smart networks, and smart logistics information management system. On the basis of IoT ecosystem, the state-of-the-art development of IoT-based solutions is presented to highlight their applications to the logistics activities such as product condition monitoring, warehousing, freight transportation, and last-mile delivery. However, the practical integration of IoT-logistics pair is still in an infancy stage since there are still many immature in systematic, network, and collaboration perspectives. These barriers are discussed intensively for further open researches regarding new development space IoT-based solutions for the logistics enterprises.

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Literature review: conceptualising BDA and SCO

3. Research methodology

4. Empirical findings

5. Proposed framework

6. Discussion and implications

7. Conclusions

Disclosure statement

Notes on contributors

References

Abstract

     Undoubtedly, due to the increasingly competitive pressures and the stride of varying demands, volatility and disturbance have become the standard in today’s global markets. The spread of Covid-19 is a prime example of that. Supply chain managers are urged to rethink their competitive strategies to make use of Big Data Analytics (BDA), due to the increasing uncertainty in both demand and supply side, the competition among the supply chain partners and the need to identify ways to offer personalised products and services. With many supply chain executives recognising the need of ‘improving with data’, supply chain businesses need to equip themselves with sophisticated BDA methods/techniques to create valuable insights from big data, thus, enhancing the decision-making process and optimising the efficiency of Supply Chain Operations (SCO). This paper proposes the building blocks of a theoretical framework for understanding the impact of BDA on SCO. The framework is based on a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on BDA and SCO, underpinned by Task-Technology-Fit theory and Institutional Theory. The paper contributes to the literature by building a platform for future work on investigating factors driving and inhibiting BDA impact on SCO.

Introduction

     Over the past decade, the manufacturing sector has been in the midst of a fourth wave of technological advancement (Rüßmann et al. 2015). During this, a plethora of manufacturing and supply chain businesses have transformed their operations into intelligent/smart manufacturing. This is by adopting a variety of innovative technologies such as autonomous robots, simulations, horizontal and vertical systems integration, internet of things [IoT], cybersecurity, cloud services, additive manufacturing, and most importantly, big data analytics (Wamba et al. 2020). Several noticeable researchers and practitioners have recognised the significance and applicability of Industry 4.0 (I_4.0) for operations, logistics and production management at large (Sivarajah et al. 2017; Rahman et al. 2022). However, relatively little is known about the impact of BDA on SCO – particularly focussing on the five dimensions of SCO: demand planning, production and manufacturing, logistics, procurement, and inventory. Among the extant research studies published, a few shed light on the link between IoT and SCO (e.g. Ben-Daya, Hassini, and Bahroun 2019) and the impact of additive manufacturing on SCO, processes and performances (e.g. Li, Tang, et al. 2017).

Conclusions

     Arguably, SCO and BDA can enable the dynamic capabilities of firms, allowing decision makers to enhance the corporate or company abilities or to better sense emerging opportunities and threats. This paper presents the past trends and current state of BDA research published specifically in the context of SCOs and its respective dimensions. We proposed a conceptual framework based on two research questions: Investigating the benefits of implementing BDA methods/techniques to achieve better decision-making for SCO? and Investigating the benefits of implementing BDA methods/techniques in achieving optimisation of SCOs? The continuing interest and the use of BDA specifies that in future research studies academics, researchers and practitioners may focus on the factors driving and inhibiting BDA to further propose robust solutions to the service related problems. The intention in conducting this detailed investigation was to provide a useful and yet usable source of information for future researchers. The discussion also highlighted several research limitations and future directions for BDA applications within the SCO research area to catalyse the research development of the topic.

1- Introduction

2- Theory and hypotheses

3- Methodology

4- Results

5- Discussion and conclusion

References

Abstract

Managing supplier relationships in an environmentally responsible way may prevent risk of adverse publicity and reputational damage to the buying firm. Drawing on the stakeholder approach and the environmental management capability framework, the purpose of this paper is to gain further knowledge regarding the impact of strategies oriented to green supply chain management on a firm’s corporate reputation. We test a set of hypotheses in a panel data of European manufacturing companies for a period of ten years. Our findings provide strong support for the premise that supplier selection, monitoring and partnership termination based on environmental criteria positively influence corporate reputation. Additionally, evidence suggests that the implementation of those strategies in an integral way as well as progressing towards the adoption of green supply chain management benefit a firm’s reputation. This study has implications for theory and practice.

Introduction

A strong reputation is a decisive resource to reach and maintain competitive advantage (Bergh, Ketchen, Boyd, & Bergh, 2010; Walker, 2010). This strategic potential is due to its own value-creation capability, and to its intangible nature which are qualities that make it difficult for the competitors to imitate (Martín de Castro, Navas López, & López Sáez, 2006). A firm’s reputation is boosted through positive actions, and a suitable management of its resources and capabilities, rather than by increasing advertising or effective corporate communication (Burke, 2011; Hoejmose, Roehrich, & Grosvold, 2014). Environmental sustainability is one of the greatest current challenges that a firm must face to guarantee its legitimacy and good reputation. Governmental legislation and growing environmental concerns among society imply that companies cannot undervalue environmental issues if they want to maintain their competitive advantage. The environmental management comprises responsible use of energy, water, materials, and hazardous substances; emissions reduction, and waste management of water and materials (Porteous, Rammohan, & Lee, 2015). Reputation is not only built around the focal firm’s activities, but is also influenced by the actions developed in B2B partnerships (Money, Hillenbrand, Day, & Magnan, 2010).

1- Introduction

2- Literature review

3- Research method

4- Data survey

5- Data analysis

6- Discussion and implications

7- Conclusions and future research

References

Abstract

Green supply chain management is attracting increasing attention as a way to decrease the adverse environmental effects of industries worldwide. However, considering the context of an emerging economy like Bangladesh, green supply chain management is still in its inception and has not been widely embraced in the textile industry, and therefore barriers hindering its adoption in emerging economy context demand a comprehensive investigation. This research reviews the viewpoints and hurdles in adopting green supply chain management practices in the context of the Bangladeshi textile industry. A questionnaire survey of Bangladeshi textile practitioners of operations and supply chain management division, having a sample size of thirty, was undertaken to identify the barriers, and a hierarchical cluster analysis technique was used in the detailed analysis of this data. Opinions were sought from experts on the significance of the resulting clusters, considering the relative importance of the barriers. Fifteen barriers to the adoption of green supply chain management were identified in the review of the literature, with these barriers then analyzed by using the data collected from Bangladeshi textile industry practitioners. The research indicates that the most important barrier is that there is low demand from customers and financial constraint resulting from short term little financial benefit to businesses, with lack of government regulations also a commonly faced barrier in adopting green supply chain initiatives. This study will provide valuables insights to practitioners and relevant policy makers about the barriers prevailing in the emerging economies towards the adoption of green supply chain management practices, which, in turn, can guide to undertake appropriate steps for alleviating those barriers.

Introduction

The global textile industry is a complex industry consisting of agricultural, chemical industry, cotton manufacturing, synthetic fiber, clothing, retail, logistics and waste disposal units (Beton et al., 2014). Processes of the textile industry have long been criticized for being the major contributors of harmful environmental activities including high volume wastage of non-renewable resources, global warming, and the heavy use of pesticides and harsh toxic chemical materials (Alay et al., 2016). These processes and use of several chemicals not only increase environmental concerns, but also create greenhouse gas emission, cause depletion of water and resources, acidification and several health problems (Alay et al., 2016); (Roos, 2015a). As a result, the textile industry feels the pressure to implement environmental-friendly supply chain processes due to increased public awareness and government regulations (Diabat et al., 2014). In such environment-friendly processes, manufacturers generally include those components, which impose least negative impact on human health and environment during production, consumption, conservation, and disposal of the textile products.

Introduction

Rising environmental issues and resource depletion concerns have made regulators move to stricter regulations. Simultaneously, the public’s environmental consciousness has increased. Given these changes, manufacturers have been compelled to start environmental initiatives to improve their environmental performance (EP). In addition, recent regulations, such as the restrictions on the use of hazardous substances, require firms to extend their environmental initiatives to their customers and suppliers. As a result, green supply chain management (GSCM), which integrates environmental issues into supply chain management (SCM), has been increasingly implemented by organizations (Zhu et al., 2010). The GSCM aims to reduce the environmental impact of products and services through their life cycle (Zhu et al., 2005; Hendricks and Singhal, 2005; Navarro-García et al., 2016). Adding the “green” element to SCM involves moving the impact of supply chain processes to eco-friendly processes. Therefore, the development of environmentally friendly processes, products and services requires joint efforts by all partners in the supply chain to avoid sub-optimization at the partner level (Green et al., 2012). Organizations have begun to implement GSCM practices in response to customer demand for products and services that are environmentally sound and that are produced through environmentally sustainable processes and in response to environmental laws (Testa and Iraldo, 2010). There are different environmental SCM practices that are adopted by organizations to minimize environmental impacts (Hasan, 2013). Mirhedayatian et al. (2014) indicated that GSCM practices aim toward improving EP, given that GSCM practices make chances to decrease emissions and waste, therefore, the GSCM evaluation is important for any company’s EP. In line with international environmental regulations, the Jordanian government has adopted many environmental laws that support the notion of “greening.” These include regulations for the protection of air quality, soil protection, protection against pollution of the environment in emergency situations, management of solid waste and others (Omar et al., 2016). Jordan nationally determines to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent until 2030. However, Jordan, conditionally and subject to availability of international support and financial aid to means of implementation, obliged to reduce its GHGs emissions by additional, at least, 12.5 percent by 2030 (INDC, 2017). The Jordanian government obliges companies in both the service and manufacturing sectors to take these laws into account (Shehadeh et al., 2016; MOENV, 2017). In addition, Jordan has committed to several agreements in the field of environmental protection, including United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, Minamata Convention on Mercury, Paris Agreement and others. This enables Jordanian companies enhancing their EP and meeting environmental standards that are imposed on their exports, especially, industrial exports that contribute to about 85 percent of the total exports of Jordan ( JCI, 2018). In this context, Jordanian manufacturing companies lost many regional markets in the past several years due to the “Arab Spring” and, as a result, started focusing on exporting to East Asia, Europe and North America. Countries in these regions have strict environmental regulations and standards, such as US Energy Star program, ISO 14001, Green guard Certification Program, Clean Energy Standard, Carbon Trust Standard, EU Eco-label system and CE mark. Without meeting these standards, Jordanian companies will be unable to export their products to these markets. Balancing between economic performance and EP has become increasingly significant for organizations to meet competitive, regulatory and community pressures. Therefore, motivating firms to adopt GSCM practices starts through exploring the improvements these practices can bring about, not only for the environmental image but also on other firms’ performance dimensions (Younis et al., 2016).

Technological advancement and rapid demand changes, lead to shorter life period and booming waste of electronic products. Recycling and reusing activities of electronic products has attracted much attention on the optimization of green supply chain (SC). This study employs system dynamics (SD) model to explore the effect of single strategy and combined scenarios on mitigating inventory amplification, i.e., bullwhip effect (BE) in three-echelon SC. Novel scenario simulation is designed to stimulate recovery activities of electronic waste, decrease solid material depletion and promote clean production. Main thread is as follows: establishing SD model in line with practical operation mechanism, testing the robustness of model, emulating the effect of single strategy and combined scenarios on mitigating BE and finally proposing optimal strategies on the optimization of green SC. Results show that positive recovery activities is an optimal solution in green SC among single strategies; simulated scenarios alleviate the BE largely especially the combination of higher recovery ratio and information transparency reinforcement. Initially, the emulated-mapping of this field helps graphically illustrate the potential optimizeddirections and stimulate individual recovery behaviors in green SC.

Introduction

Green SC background

The successful integration of economic, environmental and social sustainability goals in green SC, has pushed green SC to be the forethought of leading supply chain and operation management. Implementing green SC becomes a strategic task of industrial development worldwide (Turrisi et al., 2013). Facing governmental regulations and green trade barriers, if enterprises want to win sustainable competitive advantage, a long-term choice is to take social-economic-environmental responsibility and provide green products (Pan et al., 2015). Issued by China’s SEPA (State Environmental Protection Administration) in 2007, environmental pollution regulation of electronic products refers to information technology products, communication products, office equipment, such as computer, printer, photocopier, telephone. Electronic waste refers to disused electronic products, electronic appliances, electronic equipment and its used parts and components, including daily-disused computer, phone etc. While rapid upgrading of electronic products has brought a substantial growth of electronic waste. According to a statistical report on electronic waste by European Union (EU) in 2011, electronic waste was surging at a rate of 16%e28% per 5 years, 3 times faster than total solid waste. Electronic waste grows fastest among all the solid waste. The cyclic utilization of electronic waste has aroused the attention in the field of green SC worldwide. China, as the manufacture and consumption superpower, is confronted with inappropriate disposal and serious pollution of electronic waste. Derived from Academy of Social Sciences, electronic products in Beijing has approached a fastigium, with electronic waste rising to 15.83 million tons million tons (Abhishek and Jinhui, 2017). In views of the incapability of natural degradation of electronic products, overdue recovery processing particularly immediate landfill or combustion, surely incurs severe contamination (Carlsson and Fuller, 2000). In China, electronic waste is mainly disposed by three ways, namely refurbishment to secondary market, simple disassembly as parts manufacturing and dumping. This * Corresponding author. disordered reverse logistic system of China brings a great waste of resources and heavy environmental pollution. Otherwise, electronic waste could be used as industrial product materials to generate social-economic-environmental value through adopting progressive technology.

Cashew consumption has been increasing globally, but environmental issues through the whole cashew supply chain, from production, processing and transportation, have been raised. Thus, green supply chain redesign has been put forward but implementation of related practices faces many barriers. Using the case of the Africa cashew industry, which produces over half of global raw cashew nuts but only process less than 10% to kernel, this paper systematically identifies these barriers considering stakeholders through the whole cashew supply chain. Based on evaluation of four experts, results by grey Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory reveal that successful green supply chain redesign implementation needs two elementary efforts by kernel distributors. One is increased collaboration with multi-tier suppliers (producer organizations and processors) and the other is to get strategic support from industry bodies, non-governmental organizations and development agencies. Additionally, in the short-term, kernel distributors need to overcome three key operational barriers, lack of internal top-level management commitment, lack of integrated management information and traceability systems, and uncertainty of economic benefits. Furthermore, barriers such as difficulties to assess environmental sustainability performance and lack of consumer demand for green cashew should be addressed in the long-term. This study contributes to identify barriers to the successful implementation of green supply chain redesign from perspectives of both the focal enterprise and the whole supply chain. A robust multi-criteria decision making method further reveals the most important and fundamental barriers which can offer decision support for kernel distributors and policymakers in the cashew industry.

Introduction

Globally, cashew consumption is increasing, and this trend is expected to continue with the growing demand for kernel from large emerging markets such as China and India (Srivatsava, 2014). Associated with this phenomenon is the increased awareness of environmental issues in cashew production and processing (Agyemang et al., 2016; Intersnack, 2016; Kanji, 2004). Africa is estimated to produce not less than half of global raw cashew nuts (RCNs) (FAOSTAT, 2017). However, local processing of RCNs into kernel in West Africa is estimated to be less than 10 percent (ACA, 2015a). As a result, many stakeholders have raised environmental concerns on transportation of RCNs to processing factories outside the region (ACA, 2010). This has caused the need for leading kernel distributors as focal enterprises of the cashew supply chain to consider redesign of cashew supply chains in West Africa. In order for enterprises to engage effectively in environmental change, they need to reexamine the ecological concerns of their supply chain configurations (Labbi et al., 2016; McGuire, 2010). Green supply chain redesign (GSCR) which emphasize on redesigning an existing supply chain can be an effective way to deal with environmental issues and gain competitiveness (Murphy and Poist, 2000; Srivastava, 2007). In general, sustainability has become increasingly important for businesses (Badri Ahmadi et al., 2017; DeSimone and Popoff, 1997; Esfahbodi et al., 2016; Gopal and Thakkar, 2016; Kusi-Sarpong and Sarkis, 2017; Sachs, 2012). Many focal enterprises in supply chains are making efforts to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategies (Beske et al., 2014; Govindan and Cheng, 2011; Srivastava, 2007). The literature reveals that design has a pivotal role to address environmental sustainability in industry (Küçüksayraç, 2015; Miranda Ackerman et al., 2017; Spangenberg, 2013; Zhu and He, 2017) and redesign of a supply chain can yield environmental and economic performance (Zhu and Sarkis, 2004). Leading kernel distributors seek to achieve competitive advantages and address environmental concerns within their resource constraints. However, implementation of such GSCR practices faces many barriers. Therefore, motivated by environmental issues in the West Africa cashew industry, the first objective of this study is to develop the concept of GSCR and then identify barriers.

This paper focuses on optimal retail pricing and procurement decision of a retailer, and wholesale pricing and product’s greening level decision of a manufacturer under two-period supply chain frameworks. In manufacturer-Stackelberg vertical game setting, three procurement scenarios are considered. It is found that the product greening level cannot achieve its optimum level if the retailer and manufacturer remains strict to imply the conventional single period procurement decision. If the retailer decides to buildup strategic inventory then the supply chain members receive higher profits and the manufacturer can invest more in improving product greening level. The consumer also receives product at its highest greening level. If the retailer procures products in a single lot to satisfy demand of two selling consecutive periods, then consumer receives the product at its lowest greening level and the manufacturer receives lowest amount of profits among three procurement scenarios. If the retailer participates with the manufacturer’s green supply chain initiatives then the retailer can receive highest amount of profit, but the greening level of the product reaches at its lowest level. Therefore, the retailer’s participation does not always motivate the manufacturer to produce greener product. Overall, the retailer’s procurement decision is a key factor for the green supply chain initiatives of the manufacturer.

Introduction

Consumer demand for green products has achieved growing attention for years. For example, products such as energy star home appliances, phosphate-free detergents, green cars or green fashionable ornaments are gaining rapid popularity among consumer due to the use of less amount of environment-damaging chemicals, energy, or recyclable materials. Therefore, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) becomes an emerging research topic because of rising consumer awareness about manufacturing processes and corresponding carbon footprint, logistics design, way of recycling, business partner selection, raw material selection etc. Some regulatory agencies such as United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) are also serving consumer to recognize home appliances and electronic product that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consume less energy by introducing Energy Star programs. European Environment Agency (EPA) publishes white paper on regular basis to intensify consumer awareness. To make the supply chain greener, global manufacturers are giving consistent effort to integrate innovative and environment friendly technologies while designing the supply chain process. It induces many companies to assimilate technologies for improving resource utilization efficiency and reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment (Sancha et al. 2016). For example, companies such as Apple Inc. helps their suppliers in reducing the amount of energy they use. As a part of clean energy program, in 2015 Apple has installed 485 megawatts of wind and solar projects across six provinces of China so that their suppliers can get rid of the difficulty in accessing clean energy. The government of several nations are also providing continuous subsides to motivate companies to introduce green initiative (Albared et al. 2008). There is large body of literature on GSCM from various perspectives such as supply chain coordination, game theoretic models, dual-channel supply chain, government influences. For example, Ghosh and Shah (2015) explored green supply chain coordination issues under price and greening level sensitive demand.

The dependence of human beings on natural resources is long-standing, and land resource is a crucial part of these natural resources. In recent years, land pollution and resource shortage have severely affected the normal lives of individuals. There is a growing appreciation of the need for studying the green supply chain of land. In this study, the land green supply chain is divided into subsystems of technology (T), energy (E), environment (E), and economy (E), which construct TEEE dynamic model. Based on the model, we simulate the develop trend of technology, energy, environment, and economy in Shandong Province from 2003 to 2020. Moreover, we find out optimal polices to realize economic and environmental objectives of 2020 of Shandong Province, and get the optimization scheme for environmental policy as below: water quota for farmland irrigation is 2780 m2 per hectare, quota for urban water consumption is 33 m3 per capita per year, quota for industrial water consumption is 8 m3 per CNY10000 and unqualified rate of industrial waste water is 1%. If regulating and controlling as per such objectives, total industrial population will be reduced to 99.87 million, total industrial output value will reach CNY 44.68 trillion and environmental pollution degree will get down to 1.153.

Introduction

As an important step toward overall modernization of China, urbanization, together with industrialization, informalization, and agricultural modernization, has been considered as the carrier for building a comprehensively well-off society. The development of urbanization is inseparable from proper utilization of land resources. In recent years, with the development of China’s economy and the increasing population, the frequency of land use and the scope of use have also increased. Since 2011, the urban population surpassed the rural population for the first time; by the end of 2014, the urban population was 749 million, which reached 54.77% of the total population of China, which also caused water shortages, air pollution, traffic congestion, and an insufficient ecological capacity. Currently, the most pressing issue for China is the wastage of resources that has resulted due to low land resource utilization efficiency, unbalanced regional development, and the low level of attraction of surplus rural labor force. Therefore, the need for the green supply chain of land is gaining attention. With the acceleration of urbanization, land use has undergone tremendous changes. The real estate industry has developed rapidly. Land prices have continued to rise, and the growth rate of urban land use has surpassed the urban non-agricultural population growth rate. Reckless land disposal in development and construction and the serious problem of vacant expropriated land have left a large quantity of unused land. Land utilization in rural areas also has many problems that outstrip the national average. Meanwhile, land reform policies have also triggered serious problems such as low urban land utilization efficiency, accrual of land, and loss of agricultural acreage. If we take urbanization as an important symbol of economic development, then the emergence of these major urban diseases will not only make people’s quality of life unimproved, but the development of the urban economy will also be limited by the environment and resources, and even need to be consumed. Partial economic growth needs to be achieved to maintain the current environment. Representatives at sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference have pointed out that urban land utilization can be reduced to compel cities to maintain their population limit to alleviate urban stresses. These findings imply that China is experiencing backward economic development and wastage of resources. The low efficiency of land resource utilization does not only exist in cities but also in rural areas.

Supply chain management seeks efficiency. Inefficiencies cause various types of waste and commensurate costs. Supply chain actors differ resulting in proximity issues. Proximity is introduced here as distances on four dimensions; organizational, geographical, cognitive and technological proximity. Industry 4.0 concepts can improve or even worsen each of the introduced proximity dimensions their influence on green supply chains. We propose a need for investigation at the nexus of Industry 4.0 and greening supply chains; proximity analysis provides a vehicle for this investigation.

Supply chain management seeks to get the right material, at the right time and place at minimal cost. Based on the type of product to be manufactured or assembled, different process chain types exist: 1) Make-to-Stock (MTS) for standard parts, 2) Assemble-to-Order (ATO) for components, 3) Make-to-Order (MTO) for prefabricated materials and 4) Engineer-to-Order (ETO) for customized products (Dallasega and Rauch, 2017). Different process chain types have different lead-times between order release and the product delivered to the manufacturer. ETO, our focus, requires usually long lead-times throughout the supply chain because components have to be engineered, produced and installed according to a specific customer order. It is often difficult to produce components on-demand and deliver them when needed for manufacture. As a result, this extended lead-time causes two kinds of problems: 1) Late deliveries and in the worst-case expensive production interruptions; or 2) Early deliveries that require a storing of engineered materials on-site increasing inventory costs such as obsolescence, holding costs, or damaging goods. Late and early deliveries create significant non-value adding activities like searching, waiting or excessive handling of components and high buffer levels throughout the supply chain. These kinds of waste create manufacturing cost increases and budget overruns. Supply chain actors may also have different physical and cognitive distances from each other that contribute to these inefficiencies and waste. Within this context we introduce the term proximity defined along four dimensions; organizational, geographical, cognitive and technological proximity (Dallasega et al., 2018). These proximity categories can be used to study the distances amongst suppliers and between suppliers and customers; and may influence environmental and green supply chain issues. • Organizational proximity: refers to levels of difference in organizational processes and routines between supplier-supplier and/or supplier-customer organizational relations. As an example, information systems characteristics may ease or cause organizational friction. As a practical example, the alignment between the supplier’s environmental management system, and the design for environment system of the customer may be poor; causing difficulties in greening of products. • Geographical proximity: an objective and subjective geographical distance between suppliers and the customer can increase coordination, logistics, and storage costs; in addition lead times, delay and rework risks, and risk perception are influenced. Large distances between suppliers and customers makes synchronization for on-demand production and just-in-time (JIT) delivery difficult. Subjective or perceived distances could be increased due to limited infrastructure or climate conditions.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of competitive market environments on the firm’s decision to adopt green supply chain management (GSCM) practices, while checking to see if the firm’s commitment to particular types of GSCM practices improves its performance. Design/methodology/approach – To confirm a positive link between the firm’s GSCM practices to its performance, the authors collected the data from 322 Korean firms via questionnaire surveys and then analyzed these data using the structural equation model. Findings – Among various types of GSCM practices, green purchasing has the greatest impact on both manufacturing and marketing performances. Also, internal environmental management positively influenced both manufacturing and marketing performances, whereas cooperation with customers and reverse logistics had no significant impact on the firm’s manufacturing and marketing performances. Originality/value – To provide a practical advice for firms which are hesitant to embrace green supply chain practices due to skeptical views about their true managerial benefits, this paper discerned more effective GSCM practices from less effective GSCM practices. In so doing, this paper is one of the few studies which pinpointed what types of specific GSCM practices are most effective in enhancing firm performance.

Introduction

Over the last decade, the planet earth has suffered from an unusual cycle of unprecedented heat waves, cold spells, droughts, floods and wildfires. For example, the summer of 2012 was the warmest summer on record, whereas the winter of 2014 was the coldest winter on record for the USA. Similarly, Australia, Japan, Korea, China and Europe experienced the record-setting heat waves in 2013 (Sheppard, 2014). The surface air temperatures on the average so far this decade are about 0.9o C higher than they were in the 1880s ((The) Economist, 2015). Many suspect that this extreme weather pattern is a vital sign of climate changes induced by human activities. Unless reversed, some scientists believe that this pattern can eventually destroy the livelihood of all species on earth by disrupting the biodiversity and causing serious food shortages (Pimm, 2009; Safont et al., 2012). A main culprit for this concerning pattern is the emission of harmful carbon dioxide into air. Actually, the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 399 parts per million in 2014, which was the highest record for 650,000 years of this planet’s history ((The) Economist, 2015; NASA, 2015). This rapid rise of a carbon dioxide level in the air contributed to human activities associated with transportation (especially, use of gasoline-powered vehicles), inventory management, waste disposal, product manufacturing and energy creation (Piecyk and McKinnon, 2010; Sundarakani et al., 2010; Hua et al., 2011). Recognizing the detrimental impact of human activities (especially industrial activities) on environmental degradation, a growing number of today’s customers have begun to appreciate the firm’s commitment to environmental friendliness (greening initiatives) more than ever before. This changed attitude of customers has prompted firms to consider leveraging their environmental friendliness as the major selling point or the customer order-winning criterion. However, the firm’s commitment to greening initiatives often create a dilemma in that the firm’s environmental friendliness rarely comes free and its payoffs are not clearly known. To handle this dilemma, a series of attempts have been made to assess the impact of greening initiatives (e.g. green supply chain practices) on the firm’s performance. The focal point of these attempts is to determine whether greening initiatives are worthy of investment and managerial focus. For example, Klassen and McLaughlin (1996) discovered a strong link between the firm’s greening initiatives and its financial performance, as measured by stock market performance. Similarly, Melnyk et al. (2003) observed that the extent/maturity of the firm’s environmental management system was directly correlated with the firm’s performance, as expressed by perceived cost saving, lead time reduction, product quality improvement, market position strength and corporate reputation enhancement. Later, Montabon et al. (2007) confirmed that the firm’s environmental management practices such as remanufacturing, environment-friendly product design and surveillance of the market for environmental innovation were positively associated with the firm’s performance, as expressed by sales growth and return on investment (ROI). A plethora of other studies including the ones conducted by Florida (1996), Berry and Rondinelli (1998), Claver et al. (2007), Yang et al. (2011), Schrettle et al. (2014) and Tseng et al. (2015) verified a causal relationship between the firm’s environmental management practices and its performance.