Purpose – Multinationals are increasingly pressured by stakeholders to commit to environmental sustainability that exceeds their own firm borders. As a result, multinationals have started to commit to environmental supply chain sustainability programs (ESCSPs). However, little is known about whether such commitment is rewarded or punished by financial markets, and if the stock price reaction differs depending on the type of firm that commits to such a program. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct an event study followed by two-equation Heckman modeling, using a sample of 66 multinationals that committed to the ESCSP of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Findings – It was found that generally there is a marginally significant negative stock price reaction to announcement of participation in this ESCSP (i.e. −0.8 percent, p<0.10). However, the authors argue and show that firms in industries that have historically faced more pressure from consumers are less likely to announce their participation. If one corrects for this industry bias, then the negative stock price reaction is even more pronounced (i.e. −3.2 percent, p<0.05). Research limitations/implications – Using objective data, the study provides insights into the shareholder wealth effects of firms that commit to the ESCSP of the CDP. As such, the sample does not cover firms that set up their own ESCSPs. Practical implications – The paper is valuable for practitioners and investors who are interested in finding out if participation in ESCSPs is financially attractive, and for (governmental) policy makers who may want to be assured that there is sufficient incentive for firms to pursue environmental supply chain sustainability. Originality/value – This is the first paper that captures how financial markets react to announcements of ESCSPs.

This paper investigates how different reasons for supply chain glitches influence shareholder wealth. Prior research indicated that supply chain glitches can decrease shareholder wealth by a staggering 10.28%. We argue that the reason for the supply chain glitch is an important moderator for understanding how supply chain glitches affect shareholder wealth. In this paper we re-assess the effect of supply chain glitches on shareholder wealth for a new time period (i.e. 2001-2012) whilst including the moderators from the original study (growth prospects, firm size, debt-equity ratio and timing) and adding the reason for the supply chain glitch as an important new moderator. Our results show that on average supply chain glitches decrease shareholder wealth by 1.94%. Further, our results indicate that supply chain glitches that arise due to regulatory, catastrophic and infrastructural reasons trigger more significant negative reactions in financial markets as compared with glitches that occur from the supply side. We discuss the implications of our findings both for theory building and for business practice, and end with limitations and suggestions for future research.

Purpose Technology uncertainty poses significant challenges to manufacturers, as rapid changes in product and/or process standards and specifications can disrupt the smooth flow of materials in extended supply chains. Practitioners and researchers alike who take a relational perspective widely regard supplier involvement as a potentially effective strategy to cope with technology uncertainty, as focal manufacturers can tap into their upstream supply networks for complementary resources and capabilities. However, the literature lacks a nuanced understanding of the supplier involvement processes. Specifically, the role of resource dependence for supplier involvement has yet to be systematically understood. To fill this gap, this study aims to combine the relational perspective with the resource-dependence perspective to explore how buyer dependence, supplier dependence and buyer–supplier interdependence influence buyers’ decision-making on tapping into upstream supply networks for coping with technology uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, a survey is conducted among Dutch firms with more than 50 employees in the discrete manufacturing industries (ISIC 28-35), resulting in a sample of 125 manufacturers. Findings First, there is a significantly positive relationship between technology uncertainty and supplier involvement, giving support to the expectation that buyers are indeed involving their key suppliers in the product/process design and improvement, as a response to technology uncertainty. Second, buyer dependence and interdependence are found to be positively moderating the relationship between technology uncertainty and supplier involvement. In contrast, supplier dependence has a negative moderating effect on the baseline relationship. Research limitations/implications The authors contribute to a relational view on buyer–supplier relationships by showing that the validity of this view, in the context of technology uncertainty, is contingent on the resource dependence between buyers and suppliers, and the authors contribute to the supply chain management literature more generally by combining a relational perspective with a resource-dependence perspective. Practical implications The findings provide several nuanced insights into the effect of resource dependence (buyer dependence, supplier dependence and interdependence) on supplier involvement for coping with technology uncertainty. Originality/value This study contributes to the supply chain management research by going beyond the benefits of supplier involvement and highlights the circumstances under which supplier involvement is likely to occur.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for identifying and managing supply quality risk (SQR). Design/methodology/approach The research method began with a literature study to form a grounded model of how organizations identify and perceive SQR and associate various supplier quality management practices (SQMPs) with SQR sources. The second phase consisted of structured interviews at three companies in the food machinery industry in order to refine these concepts and examine causal relationships. Findings The findings from this study indicate that firms may be more likely to implement integrative supply chain practices when supplier or component sources of SQR are considered to be a significant threat. Conversely, market sources of SQR were generally not perceived as being significant, and therefore do not warrant as much direct intervention in their management. Research limitations/implications Most previous studies on supply chain risk focus on delivery disruptions. However, there is a lack of knowledge on identifying, assessing, and managing supply risk associated with quality. By addressing these issues and outlining future research directions the authors help provide a starting point for contributing to this line of study in supply risk theory and practice. Practical implications The framework developed in this paper can aid supply chain professionals in understanding what constitutes SQR and providing insight to approaches for managing this form of supply risk. Originality/value This is the first empirical study that the authors are aware of that links various sources of SQR to specific SQMPs.

Assessing and facilitating warehouse safety AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate how warehouse safety can be assessed and facilitated.Methodology -Through a literature study, we build a theoretical framework to provide insights in how safety in Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) can be assessed and facilitated. We perform a case study at a large Dutch LSP using interviews and questionnaires to determine the relevance of the subdimensions to assess warehouse safety. Findings -Using literature, we identify people, procedures and technology related sub-dimensions of safety culture and safety behavior and factors that may affect how safety culture translates to safety behavior. Using a case study our findings indicate which sub-dimensions and influencing factors LSP employees find important and why. We found differences in the importance assigned to safety, which may point to the existence of sub-cultures across warehouses. Research limitations/implications -This paper contributes to the limited existing warehouse safety literature in which the factors that influence safety are not well explored. Although the case study investigates one LSP and as such does not generalize across LSPs, it provides valuable insights in important aspects of safety and how they can be influenced. Practical implications -This paper offers safety managers insights in how to assess and facilitate safety within their warehouses. Originality -Although warehouse safety is important, there is scarce academic research that explores this issue.

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