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Purpose
This paper aims to examine the common roots of both logistics and sustainability phenomena in supply chains to derive a new potential construct, green logistics competency.


Design/methodology/approach
Theoretical synthesis and conceptualization of new construct.


Findings
Based on Madhavaram and Hunt's (2008) resource hierarchy concept, the key to successfully competing with a sustainable supply chain may lie in whether the resources enabling both sustainability and effective supply chains are interdependent, as opposed to merely co-existent.


Research limitations/implications
Most current theory regarding sustainable supply chains regards environmentally-friendly factors as resources that are additively bundled with supply chain resources. To determine if competitive performance differentials exist between truly green supply chains, and supply chains that merely adopt green practices, measurement must account for both the interdependence of green and supply chain resources, and their common cultural antecedents.


Practical implications
The study indicates that it is not sufficient for firms to have expertise in both sustainability and in supply chain practices; managers in each of those areas must develop the cultural antecedents of both supply chain and sustainability excellence if firms are to achieve meaningful competitive capabilities through sustainable supply chains.


Originality/value
This conceptual study addresses a paucity of theory describing how and why organizations build a genuinely green supply chain, as opposed to simply adapting supply chains to green practices.

ABSTRACTIn this research, we test the curvilinear relationships between service climate perceptions and two employee performance outcomes. Specifically, we propose that while service climate can be beneficial, high levels can actually be detrimental to customer satisfaction and sales performance. Additionally, we propose that a global assessment of employee experience that captures knowledge, skills, and abilities, or KSAs, moderates these curvilinear relationships by providing a means to balance outcome goals. We test our theory using data obtained from 312 employees in a service setting, which we pair with their managers' assessments of their sales performance as well as satisfaction ratings from their customers. Our results reveal two things: (1) an inverted U‐shaped relationship between service climate and sales performance and (2) the level of experience moderates the relationship. These findings suggest that more experienced employees are better able to adjust behaviors to achieve high levels of performance than less experienced employees. Based on these results, we offer theoretical implications and applications for managerial practice.

Purpose
Journals in business logistics, operations management, supply chain management, and business strategy have initiated ongoing calls for Big Data research and its impact on research and practice. Currently, no extant research has defined the concept fully. The purpose of this paper is to develop an industry grounded definition of Big Data by canvassing supply chain managers across six nations. The supply chain setting defines Big Data as inclusive of four dimensions: volume, velocity, variety, and veracity. The study further extracts multiple concepts that are important to the future of supply chain relationship strategy and performance. These outcomes provide a starting point and extend a call for theoretically grounded and paradigm-breaking research on managing business-to-business relationships in the age of Big Data.


Design/methodology/approach
A native categories qualitative method commonly employed in sociology allows each executive respondent to provide rich, specific data. This approach reduces interviewer bias while examining 27 companies across six industrialized and industrializing nations. This is the first study in supply chain management and logistics (SCMLs) to use the native category approach.


Findings
This study defines Big Data by developing four supporting dimensions that inform and ground future SCMLs research; details ten key success factors/issues; and discusses extensive opportunities for future research.


Research limitations/implications
This study provides a central grounding of the term, dimensions, and issues related to Big Data in supply chain research.


Practical implications
Supply chain managers are provided with a peer-specific definition and unified dimensions of Big Data. The authors detail key success factors for strategic consideration. Finally, this study notes differences in relational priorities concerning these success factors across different markets, and points to future complexity in managing supply chain and logistics relationships.


Originality/value
There is currently no central grounding of the term, dimensions, and issues related to Big Data in supply chain research. For the first time, the authors address subjects related to how supply chain partners employ Big Data across the supply chain, uncover Big Data's potential to influence supply chain performance, and detail the obstacles to developing Big Data's potential. In addition, the study introduces the native category qualitative interview approach to SCMLs researchers.

PurposeImplementation of supply chain management techniques requires thorough integration of processes between supply chain partners in all functional areas, including sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution. Yet insufficient attention has been given to the means by which firms achieve high levels of integration. This study aims to examine moderators impacting supply chain integration barriers.Design/methodology/approachSupply chain integration drivers and moderating barriers to supply chain integration were identified by extensive search of the literature, and in‐depth interviews with supply chain managers. A survey was developed to measure levels of supply chain integration drivers, barriers to supply chain integration, and firm performance. The measures were validated using EFA, and the responses analyzed using multiple regression.FindingsThe study finds that firms with a desire to improve, operating in a challenging competitive environment typically experience high levels of performance. Further, barriers to supply chain integration can actually increase the firm's ability to achieve firm performance as the firm is required to make greater efforts to overcome those barriers and develop effective supply chain linkages.Originality/valueThis study answers a call for additional research into factors that enable and inhibit supply chain integration, and offers an empirical analysis of the moderating effect of supply chain integration barriers on the relationship between integration drivers and firm performance.

PurposeSupply chain management (SCM) proficiency is generally associated with superior business performance. Yet, SCM research continues to focus predominantly on the performance of individual firms, rather than on the collective performance of multiple supply chain participants as espoused by the extended enterprise (EE) concept. In response to calls for quantitative studies that examine the collective performance of multiple supply chain participants, this research study compares the combined performance of triads comprising focal firms recognized for their relative SCM proficiency and their upstream (supplier) and downstream (customer) supply chain partners with that of their close industry competitors' triads.Design/methodology/approachThe triadic, longitudinal examination of multiple supply chain participants' collective performance utilized archival financial data of the period 2007–2017 from the Compustat database and the supply chain (SPLC) function of Bloomberg.FindingsFindings of this study indicated that supply chain triads that included focal firms recognized for their relative SCM proficiency experienced significantly lower sales and general administrative expenses and significantly higher productivity, return on assets and profitability over time than their close industry competitors' triads. However, contrary to expectations, the performance advantages identified did not extend to revenue growth.Research limitations/implicationsSupply chain triads cannot fully represent entire supply chains or EEs. However, this study's triadic analysis can be viewed as a practically achievable proxy for further validating the EE concept. Moreover, based on assertions that triadic studies are suitable for SCM research and on empirical studies that consistently show individual firms recognized for their relative SCM proficiency outperform competitors, the authors contend that the study's findings appropriately corroborate the value of the EE concept.Practical implicationsBecause such empirical evidence is so rare, the consistent, collective performance advantages identified in this study should be highly significant to managers.Originality/valueRobust, longitudinal evidence that supply chain triads which include focal firms recognized for relative SCM proficiency collectively outperform their close industry competitors' triads extends generally accepted associations between SCM proficiency and business performance, suggesting that the application of extended resource-based view (ERBV) in supply chain contexts warrants further examination and further substantiates the efficacy of the EE concept.