IN BRIEF In business today, companies cannot ignore environmental issues. Increasing government regulation and stronger public mandates for environmental accountability have brought these issues into the executive suite, and onto strategic planning agendas. At the same time, companies are integrating their supply chain processes to lower costs and better serve customers. These two trends are not independent; companies must involve suppliers and purchasers to meet and even exceed the environmental expectations of their customers and their governments. Based on case studies of five companies in the furniture industry, a number of supply chain environmentally‐friendly practices (EFP) are identified. Using accepted qualitative research methods for case‐based research, several primary areas for change to increase purchasing's impact on environmental results are identified: 1. Materials used in product design for the environment 2. Product design processes 3. Supplier process improvement 4. Supplier evaluation 5. Inbound logistics processes The experiences of these companies illustrate the types of environmentally‐friendly practices used in each of these five areas, and “rules of thumb” which purchasing and supply chain managers can apply. Two additional themes which emerge from this research are the importance of management's commitment to supply chain EFP, and the need to move beyond environmental compliance to achieve a proactive environmentally‐friendly supply chain.

This paper draws on the results of interviews with five environmental managers in the furniture industry to develop a taxonomy of environmentally‐friendly (‘green’) best practices within the operations management value chain. This taxonomy is then extended to develop a group of propositions concerning the role of management in promoting environmentally‐friendly practices. The results suggest that in order to be successful, environmental management strategies must be integrated into all stages of the value chain, which includes all of the processes spanning product design, procurement, manufacturing and assembly, packaging, logistics, and distribution. While the potential for environmental performance improvement in all five of the companies is evident, all of them demonstrated ‘pockets’ of environmentally‐friendly practices (EFP) in different areas of their respective value chain functions. The propositions and results emerging from the analysis also suggests that reacting to regulations is no longer sufficient. World‐class EFP must anticipate and pre‐empt changing environmental regulations and customer expectations, and proactively prepare products, processes and infrastructure for these changes without sacrificing competitive advantage.

IN BRIEF Past studies into EDI have shown, mostly by examples, that EDI can be used as a supplier management tool to achieve improved supplier reliability by providing both trading partners with better information. This, in turn, leads to closer supplier relationships, fewer late orders, and a decrease in problems with delivered quality, quantity, or mix. The research discussed in this article tests this contention by examining EDI usage patterns and supplier reliability in a sample of 30 companies that transmit purchase orders to their suppliers via EDI. The study found that the quality of delivered products and materials, as well as the delivery of the correct item/mix, is related significantly to (1) the buyer's experience using EDI as a tool in supplier management; (2) the willingness of both the buyer and supplier to share sensitive production and capacity information; (3) the acquisition of the EDI system; and (4) the level of EDI integration with other computer applications. Integrating the findings of this study with past research suggests that EDI can be used as part of an overall supplier management strategy to improve supplier performance and reduce the cost associated with materials acquisition.

Typology, Supply chain, Retail, Theory-building, Internet, Multi-channel distribution,

Many companies have adopted electronic data interchange (EDI), often with results inconsistent with the expectations of the company. In these instances, it is often the mismatch between expectations and the company’s activities undertaken to achieve the desired performance gain that fuels their dissatisfaction with EDI. This same mismatch often causes academic research into EDI and supply chain management to lose focus. This article presents a framework of EDI benefits in a supply chain management context that can be used to match a company’s EDI efforts with its desired outcomes from EDI use. The framework states that two critical factors to understanding EDI’s impact on supply chain management are the span of management control of the business process in question and whether EDI directly or indirectly influences that same business process. The proposed framework is then used to develop a research agenda for EDI and supply chain management. We suggest possible directions for research methods, measure development and hypothesis generation that can be used in future research studies.

Purpose -To explore how universities can adopt sustainability practices that have proven to be successful in business. Design/methodology/approach -Draws on several sources of theory (internationally published literatures in business, sustainability, and education) and practice (primarily US business and university practice) to develop a framework. Findings -Two seemingly divergent trends have created a unique opportunity for universities to significantly improve their environmental performance: the increasing importance to businesses of managing the natural environment and the growing awareness that universities cannot continue to isolate themselves from the community in which they are embedded. The first of these trends has caused a previously untapped source of ideas to become energized into thinking about how to move toward a more sustainable world. The second trend has caused a previously "introspective-to-a-fault" institution to look beyond itself for ways of thinking and acting. Practical implications -The intersection of the two trends is a powerful place, where new and successful approaches to managing the natural environment, albeit from what might be thought of as a non-traditional source, can be absorbed by an institution that has significant environmental impact and an even more significant responsibility to future generations. Originality/value -Provides a focus on the huge opportunities for applying some of the environmental lessons learnt by business to higher education.

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