2012: Special Issue on Sustainability
Special Issue on Sustainable Operations: Introduction
Iuri Gavronski
Stephan Vachon
Geraldo Ferrer
ABSTRACT
Sustainable operations is the application of sustainability concepts to the operations management (OM) field. In this Special Issue, we are particularly concerned with the implications of sustainable operations for operations strategy.
In this introduction, we discuss the five articles in this issue and their contribution to our increased understanding of their field.
They help us understand the general question of how companies can become more sustainable while implementing their operations strategy.
Keywords:
Sustainable operations; Operations strategy; Special issue.
Sustainable operations management is the application of sustainability concepts to the operations management (OM) field. In this Special Issue, we are particularly concerned with the implications of sustainable operations for operations strategy.
The Call for Papers for this Special Issue invited submissions on a broad range of topics and using varied methodologies, with an emphasis on practical implications for managers:
There is an increasing interest in Sustainability in recent years. However, operations and supply chain managers still need tools to implement sustainable operations. Therefore we invite manuscripts that have clear implications for practitioners that manage process and product design, operations and supply chain management based on one or more of a variety of rigorous research methodologies and are original. We are looking for high-quality papers that make relevant and significant contribution to the field.
[...]
In this special issue, the guest editors seek to publish empirical, conceptual, and analytical papers. However, papers with analytical models and conceptual papers should include exploratory analysis or cases examples of real life applications.
We would like to thank all those who submitted papers to the Special Issue. We were delighted with the response, and we appreciate the patience of authors, in particular those whose papers could not be included in the Special Issue.
We also want to thank the many scholars who volunteered to review the manuscripts. We understand that reviewing is a time and energy consuming task, particularly in this topic. Finally, we are also grateful with JOSCM editors, Ely L. Paiva and Priscila L.S. Miguel, the assistant Flavia Canella, and all JOSCM editorial team, who were very supportive during the editing process.
The Special Issue includes five articles. Each of them contributes in a different way to our understanding of sustainable operations' theory and practice. Two papers are conceptual, and three are empirical studies. The empirical papers cover a wide range of methods, units of analysis, and theoretical perspectives.
The paper by Gavronski (2012) proposes a framework for sustainable operations consisting of five related dimensions: external context, competitive dimensions, strategic decisions, operations value chain activities, and organizational learning and knowledge. Drawing from the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, the author identifies three main groups of capabilities for sustainable operations: environmental capabilities, social capabilities, and economic capabilities. These capabilities for sustainable operations are then developed along all activities in the Operations Value Chain (OVC), and supported by various tools (resources), such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS), life-cycle analysis (LCA), worker health and safety, among others.
Vachon (2012) explores the linkages between the technology capacity of corporations and environmental performance. Using country-level data as a proxy for corporate data, he combined archival data from varied sources to test his hypotheses. He found that technological capacity is positively related to eco-efficiency, but negatively related to aggregate environmental performance. In other words, at the margin, the more corporations invest in technological capacity, the less pollution per unit produced is generated. However, since total production volume is increased, total pollution is also increased. He reasons that corporations are driving their R&D efforts to improve resource productivity, including eco-efficiency, but this does not reduce total waste in the value chain.
The paper by Nelson, Marsilac, and Rao (2012) provides a comprehensive review of green supply chain management. According to these authors, supply chain design driver shifted from technology to market complexity and competitive pressure in the past, and is currently shifting again due to the Environmental Movement. The delicate balance between environmental, economic, and societal needs with customer requirements poses new challenges to managers involved in supply chain.
Costa (2012) provides evidence from firms in the Oil and Gas industry operating in Brazil. She analyzes these firms' corporate social responsibility codes of conduct (CSR Codes) with qualitative, content analytical methods. Her study grouped the main categories: labor and human rights, environmental issues, and socio-economic issues. Her findings point to the fact that CSR Codes are more aligned with international regulations than with national legal systems, showing the weakness of domestic regulation facing multinational or transnational corporations.
We conclude our Special Issue with a paper by Borella, Bertolazzi, and Barcellos (2012). In this paper, the marketing-operations interface is extended to sustainable operations. They found three clusters of firms. One cluster scores high in both environment and marketing orientation. The second cluster scores low in both dimensions.
Finally, the third cluster scores high only in marketing orientation. Overall, the five papers provide evidence that sustainable operations have an important contribution to the body of knowledge of operations strategy. We hope you enjoy the Special Issue.
REFERENCES
Borella, M. R. C., Bertolazzi, M. A., & Barcellos, P. F. P. (2012). Marketing - Environment Sustainability Alignment: An Exploratory and Propositional Study. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Costa, L. M. (2012). Sustainable Development in Emerging Markets & CSR Codes of Conduct: Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Gavronski, I. (2012). Resources and Capabilities for Sustainable Operations Strategy. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Nelson, D. M., Marsilac, E., & Rao, S. (2012). Antecedents and Evolution of the Green Supply Chain. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Vachon, S. (2012). Technological Capacity and Environmental Performance: A Research Note Using Country Level Data. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),.
Iuri Gavronski
Stephan Vachon
Geraldo Ferrer
ABSTRACT
Sustainable operations is the application of sustainability concepts to the operations management (OM) field. In this Special Issue, we are particularly concerned with the implications of sustainable operations for operations strategy.
In this introduction, we discuss the five articles in this issue and their contribution to our increased understanding of their field.
They help us understand the general question of how companies can become more sustainable while implementing their operations strategy.
Keywords:
Sustainable operations; Operations strategy; Special issue.
Sustainable operations management is the application of sustainability concepts to the operations management (OM) field. In this Special Issue, we are particularly concerned with the implications of sustainable operations for operations strategy.
The Call for Papers for this Special Issue invited submissions on a broad range of topics and using varied methodologies, with an emphasis on practical implications for managers:
There is an increasing interest in Sustainability in recent years. However, operations and supply chain managers still need tools to implement sustainable operations. Therefore we invite manuscripts that have clear implications for practitioners that manage process and product design, operations and supply chain management based on one or more of a variety of rigorous research methodologies and are original. We are looking for high-quality papers that make relevant and significant contribution to the field.
[...]
In this special issue, the guest editors seek to publish empirical, conceptual, and analytical papers. However, papers with analytical models and conceptual papers should include exploratory analysis or cases examples of real life applications.
We would like to thank all those who submitted papers to the Special Issue. We were delighted with the response, and we appreciate the patience of authors, in particular those whose papers could not be included in the Special Issue.
We also want to thank the many scholars who volunteered to review the manuscripts. We understand that reviewing is a time and energy consuming task, particularly in this topic. Finally, we are also grateful with JOSCM editors, Ely L. Paiva and Priscila L.S. Miguel, the assistant Flavia Canella, and all JOSCM editorial team, who were very supportive during the editing process.
The Special Issue includes five articles. Each of them contributes in a different way to our understanding of sustainable operations' theory and practice. Two papers are conceptual, and three are empirical studies. The empirical papers cover a wide range of methods, units of analysis, and theoretical perspectives.
The paper by Gavronski (2012) proposes a framework for sustainable operations consisting of five related dimensions: external context, competitive dimensions, strategic decisions, operations value chain activities, and organizational learning and knowledge. Drawing from the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, the author identifies three main groups of capabilities for sustainable operations: environmental capabilities, social capabilities, and economic capabilities. These capabilities for sustainable operations are then developed along all activities in the Operations Value Chain (OVC), and supported by various tools (resources), such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS), life-cycle analysis (LCA), worker health and safety, among others.
Vachon (2012) explores the linkages between the technology capacity of corporations and environmental performance. Using country-level data as a proxy for corporate data, he combined archival data from varied sources to test his hypotheses. He found that technological capacity is positively related to eco-efficiency, but negatively related to aggregate environmental performance. In other words, at the margin, the more corporations invest in technological capacity, the less pollution per unit produced is generated. However, since total production volume is increased, total pollution is also increased. He reasons that corporations are driving their R&D efforts to improve resource productivity, including eco-efficiency, but this does not reduce total waste in the value chain.
The paper by Nelson, Marsilac, and Rao (2012) provides a comprehensive review of green supply chain management. According to these authors, supply chain design driver shifted from technology to market complexity and competitive pressure in the past, and is currently shifting again due to the Environmental Movement. The delicate balance between environmental, economic, and societal needs with customer requirements poses new challenges to managers involved in supply chain.
Costa (2012) provides evidence from firms in the Oil and Gas industry operating in Brazil. She analyzes these firms' corporate social responsibility codes of conduct (CSR Codes) with qualitative, content analytical methods. Her study grouped the main categories: labor and human rights, environmental issues, and socio-economic issues. Her findings point to the fact that CSR Codes are more aligned with international regulations than with national legal systems, showing the weakness of domestic regulation facing multinational or transnational corporations.
We conclude our Special Issue with a paper by Borella, Bertolazzi, and Barcellos (2012). In this paper, the marketing-operations interface is extended to sustainable operations. They found three clusters of firms. One cluster scores high in both environment and marketing orientation. The second cluster scores low in both dimensions.
Finally, the third cluster scores high only in marketing orientation. Overall, the five papers provide evidence that sustainable operations have an important contribution to the body of knowledge of operations strategy. We hope you enjoy the Special Issue.
REFERENCES
Borella, M. R. C., Bertolazzi, M. A., & Barcellos, P. F. P. (2012). Marketing - Environment Sustainability Alignment: An Exploratory and Propositional Study. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Costa, L. M. (2012). Sustainable Development in Emerging Markets & CSR Codes of Conduct: Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Gavronski, I. (2012). Resources and Capabilities for Sustainable Operations Strategy. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Nelson, D. M., Marsilac, E., & Rao, S. (2012). Antecedents and Evolution of the Green Supply Chain. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),
Vachon, S. (2012). Technological Capacity and Environmental Performance: A Research Note Using Country Level Data. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5 (Special Issue),.
Published:
2012-07-18
