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This book explores the challenges of sustainable agri-food supply chains. It presents and discusses nine cases of organizational innovation, covering different phases of food production and facing different challenges, by proposing alternative models to the traditional paradigm of scale and leverage to design supply chain in these industries

PurposeLittle empirical work has been done on the effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and green supply chain management (GSCM) on firm outcomes. The literature on environmental disclosure suggests that it is a useful practice to improve a firm's reputation and its financial performance and also to establish a dialogue with stakeholders improving environmental performance. Recent conceptual contributions in the supply chain management literature state that stakeholder expectations and informational needs increasingly concern firm supply chains. Thus, the authors propose that positive effects of inclusive environmental disclosure practices are enhanced in presence of GSCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachTo test these relationships a combination of primary data on environmental disclosure practices, GSCM practices and environmental performance, and secondary data on financial performance was used. A series of hierarchical regression models were performed to test the disclosure-outcome relationships and the moderation of GSCM practices.FindingsResults provide empirical support for the impact of inclusive environmental disclosure practices on financial performance but no support for the impact on environmental performance. Specifically, the more inclusive the environmental disclosure practices the greater and positive is the impact on financial performance in presence of GSCM practices.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence of the joint effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and GSCM practices on environmental and financial performance. Doing so, it reinforces the recent conceptual foundation that firms should align and leverage on supply chain management for disclosure practice effectiveness.

PurposeSustainable operations are increasingly part of firms' competitive strategies. Research widely investigates the relationship between sustainable operations and competitive advantage, considering financial performance as a dependent variable, and shows controversial results. The purpose of this paper is to operationalize competitive advantage as internal and external intangible benefits, such as human resource (HR) and customer benefits. HR benefits concern the deployment of a workforce pursuing a firm's goals and strategy; customer benefits concern the improvement of a firm's relationship with its customers.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical results are provided in an analysis of data from a survey conducted on a sample of 107 Italian firms in the food industry. A single industry and country are selected to avoid possible differences in regulations and in operations processes. Structural equation modelling is used to test hypotheses relating sustainable operations to HR and customer benefits.FindingsThe authors distinguish between green and social operations practices. Green operations practices directly impact customer benefits but not HR benefits. Social sustainable operations practices do not directly impact customer benefits but instead have a direct impact on HR benefits. Hence, through HR benefits, they have an indirect impact on customer benefits.Practical implicationsThe authors provide results showing to operations managers that both green operations and social operations are crucial to obtaining customer benefits. Social operations do this by enhancing HR benefits. Green operations instead are not positively related to HR benefits.Originality/valueThis research serves as an original contribution to the sustainable operations literature in two ways. First, from a resource-based perspective, the relationship between sustainable operations, HR benefits, and customer benefits is proposed and tested. Such benefits are also shown to be interrelated based on the service profit chain model. Second, green and social operations practices are analysed separately providing a nuanced view of benefits related to sustainable operations.

Purpose– Environmental and social sustainability are becoming key competitive priorities for companies, but the way in which they are integrated in operations strategies remains an open issue. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether established operations strategy configuration models (i.e. price-oriented, market-oriented and capability-oriented models) are modified to include environmental and social priorities and whether different operations strategy configuration models are equally successful in the short and long term.Design/methodology/approach– Analyses were performed using data from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (2009), including companies in the assembly industry in 21 different countries. According to previous studies, cluster analysis of competitive priorities and ANOVA analysis of the business strategy and short- and long-term performance were performed.Findings– The results show that traditional operations strategy configuration models are slightly modified. Market-oriented and capability-oriented operations strategies are complemented by environmental and social sustainability priorities. These operations strategies are adopted by companies with a differentiation and innovation business strategy. Moreover, capability-oriented companies, which are the most committed to environmental and social sustainability, perform better in both the short and long term.Practical implications– This research shows to companies that traditional operations strategies focusing on specific competitive priorities (e.g. low price) are being replaced by more holistic strategies that include sustainability priorities. However, environmental and social priorities contribute to competitive advantage when complementing capability-oriented operations strategies.Originality/value– This paper extends operations strategy configuration models highlighting how environmental and social sustainability priorities can be deployed together with traditional competitive operations priorities.

The adoption and effectiveness of advanced management practices by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is becoming an emerging issue since the literature has recognised that a pure entrepreneurial attitude is no longer enough for the competitive success of these firms. This paper explores this issue by comparing the practice‐performance links for two types of SMEs ‐‐ i.e. subcontractors and small manufacturers ‐‐ through the investigation of the management practices pertaining to the following three functional areas: general management, production management and product innovation management (only for manufacturers). Despite the fact that subcontracting is generally considered less appealing and profitable than manufacturing, empirical evidence shows that subcontractors are more effective in implementing advanced practices of production management whilst most small manufacturers ‐‐ although quite advanced in developing practices of general management ‐‐ experience difficulties in exploiting the potential of good product innovation practice.

The study of internal and external consistency of manufacturing choices is a central theme in the literature of manufacturing strategy. However, most empirical studies lack dynamic perspective in facing this problem. This paper explores on an empirical, longitudinal basis the role of strategic priorities and past experience in driving the selection of manufacturing improvement programmes. A completely aligned selection is expected when the choice of the improvement programme is coherent with both the change in manufacturing priorities and the past experience of the programme implementation. Partially aligned and misaligned choices derive from the coherence with only one or none of the two driving factors. Different patterns of selection have been detected that depend both on the programme and on company‐specific factors. Starting from the level of strategic alignment of company's choices, guidelines are provided in order to manage effectively the process of manufacturing strategy formulation.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between interorganizational information system (IOIS) adoption in supplier coordination and operations performance improvements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses on the association between dyadic and multilateral IOISs and improvements in performance priorities associated with stable and dynamic supply networks, using data on 201 manufacturers in 13 countries from the international manufacturing strategy survey (IMSS) database. Regression models were used to test relationships between IOIS adoption and operations performance improvements.FindingsAnalysis indicates that dyadic IOISs appear to be more associated with the performance priorities of stable supply chains (cost, delivery, and quality), while multilateral IOISs appear to be more associated with the performance priorities of dynamic supply chains (flexibility and quality).Research limitations/implicationsSurvey data were collected in the years 2000 and 2001. Some of the conclusions might be reassessed in light of recent developments in information technology. Data were limited to medium/large manufacturers of fabricated metal products, machinery, and equipment.Practical implicationsFindings suggest that the choice of IOISs must follow the company's product portfolio and supply chain configuration. Dynamic networks with innovative products may benefit from multilateral IOISs; stable networks with functional products may benefit from dyadic IOISs.Originality/valueThis appears to be the first study to provide empirical evidence to performance effects of IOISs in light of existing supply chain frameworks.

PurposeWhile the attention of most OM scholars has shifted to supply chain management, there is still a need to understand how supply chain strategies are linked with internal manufacturing strategies. The literature shows some studies in this field, but a deep investigation of the linkages between these two areas is still missing. The purpose of this study is to investigate on an empirical basis the relationship between two supply chain integration dimensions – the integration of information flows and the integration of physical flows – and two manufacturing improvement programmes – lean production and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.Design/methodology/approachEvidence is drawn from a sample of 297 European companies from the third edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Data are analysed using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression.FindingsResults show that the adoption of the lean production model has a strong influence on the integration of both information and physical flows along the supply chain, while no significant influence emerged from the adoption of ERP.Research limitations/implicationsFindings open up new research questions about the missing link between ERP and information integration along the supply chain. Further developments concern the investigation of the impact of consistent adoption of internal and external practices on performance.Practical implicationsThe paper provides managers with clear evidence of the need for consistency between internal and external integration.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to research by providing empirical evidence of the link between manufacturing and supply chain integration practices.

PurposeSeeks to review the results of a paper originally published in 2003 and to evaluate what can be considered still valid and what needs to be revisited.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is a general review and observations about the earlier work.FindingsThe focus of the earlier paper was on integration and collaboration tools, while internet B2B tools can be used also for the opposite purpose. E‐sourcing and e‐procurement tools are aimed at increasing purchasing efficiency, rather than integrating inter‐firm business processes. In general, statistics and predictions such as those discussed focus on the value of exchanges, not on the purpose of internet applications.Originality/valueThe paper provides relevance at the present stage of B2B internet applications.

PurposeThe paper aims to address the question of how and how often companies change their manufacturing strategy in the medium and long run, thus addressing a lack of evidence in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores the movements made by companies among four manufacturing strategy configurations drawn from the literature (market‐based, product‐based, capability‐based and price‐based configuration). Analyses are based on three longitudinal samples from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) database.FindingsResults show that while strategic configurations are rather stable, many companies do indeed change strategy and identifies which patterns of change prevail. Product‐based strategy is the most‐widely spread and most stable strategy. Capability‐based competition is the rising star. The market‐based strategy is struggling and price‐based competition is on its way out.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is the small size of longitudinal samples, leading to tentative propositions for further testing.Practical implicationsNo strategic configuration appears to be the final "maturity" target for manufacturers. Companies select their configurations according to life cycle of the organization and market competition.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to fill a lack of longitudinal evidence of strategic change and flexibility of manufacturing companies.

The interest of both researchers and practitioners around the use of Internet‐based tools to support business processes has been quite high in the last few years. However, despite the initial enthusiastic expectations, it is still not completely clear whether these expectations have been translated into business reality. This paper explores the actual adoption of Internet technologies in supply chain processes by a large sample of European manufacturing firms participating in the IMSS survey. Four e‐business strategies are identified and their relationship with contingent factors and supply chain integration mechanisms is investigated. Results show a close link between the use of Internet tools and the level of integration with customers and suppliers, thus suggesting the need to define e‐business strategies in coherence with the use of traditional integration mechanisms.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on how smart manufacturing (SM) affects work organization at both micro-level – i.e. work design, described in terms of operator job breadth and autonomy, cognitive demand and social interaction – and at macro-level – i.e. organizational structure, described in terms of centralization of decision making and number of hierarchical levels in the plant.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports on a multiple-case study of 19 companies implementing SM.FindingsResults present four main configurations differing in terms of technological complexity, and micro and macro work organization.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper contributes to the academic debate about the interplay between technology and work organization in the context of SM, specifically the authors find that the level of technology complexity relates to different characteristics of micro and macro work organization in the plant.Practical implicationsFindings offer valuable insights for practice, with implications for the design of operator jobs, skills and plant organizational structure, in light of the challenges generated by the implementation of SM technology. Guidelines on how policymakers can foster the implementation of SM technology to enhance social sustainability are proposed.Originality/valueThis study advances a novel focus in studying SM, i.e. work organization implications of this new manufacturing paradigm instead of its mere technological implications.