A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives

Sustainability studies in operations management have reported the positive effects of lean, green, and social management systems on various dimensions of a firm’s sustainability performance. However, despite its high importance and relevance, the time dimension of sustainability has not been systema...

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Main Authors: Wu, L., Subramanian, N., Gunasekaran, A., Pawar, K., Doran, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/
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author Wu, L.
Subramanian, N.
Gunasekaran, A.
Pawar, K.
Doran, D.
author_facet Wu, L.
Subramanian, N.
Gunasekaran, A.
Pawar, K.
Doran, D.
author_sort Wu, L.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Sustainability studies in operations management have reported the positive effects of lean, green, and social management systems on various dimensions of a firm’s sustainability performance. However, despite its high importance and relevance, the time dimension of sustainability has not been systematically considered. This paper re-categorizes the well-identified sustainability initiatives based on a time dimension and empirically validates the categorization. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were performed using data collected from 284 Chinese automotive firms. The results suggest that various lean and reactive green practices can be categorized as “short-term sustainability initiatives” because the effects of implementing these practices can be seen in a short period of time. Specifically, the benefits of implementing short-term sustainability initiatives can be further strengthened and reinforced in the long run by implementing corporate social responsibility CSR) practices. In addition, our findings also demonstrate that to fully realize the potential associated with CSR practices, firms need to be long-term oriented and adopt a wait and watch approach.
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spelling nottingham-515242020-04-06T04:30:13Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/ A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives Wu, L. Subramanian, N. Gunasekaran, A. Pawar, K. Doran, D. Sustainability studies in operations management have reported the positive effects of lean, green, and social management systems on various dimensions of a firm’s sustainability performance. However, despite its high importance and relevance, the time dimension of sustainability has not been systematically considered. This paper re-categorizes the well-identified sustainability initiatives based on a time dimension and empirically validates the categorization. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were performed using data collected from 284 Chinese automotive firms. The results suggest that various lean and reactive green practices can be categorized as “short-term sustainability initiatives” because the effects of implementing these practices can be seen in a short period of time. Specifically, the benefits of implementing short-term sustainability initiatives can be further strengthened and reinforced in the long run by implementing corporate social responsibility CSR) practices. In addition, our findings also demonstrate that to fully realize the potential associated with CSR practices, firms need to be long-term oriented and adopt a wait and watch approach. Wiley 2018-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/1/BSE%20Paper%20FINAL_accepted%20Manuscript.pdf Wu, L., Subramanian, N., Gunasekaran, A., Pawar, K. and Doran, D. (2018) A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27 (8). pp. 1117-1130. ISSN 1099-0836 Sustainability/sustainable development sustainability performance measurement structural equationmodeling (SEM) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bse.2055 doi:10.1002/bse.2055 doi:10.1002/bse.2055
spellingShingle Sustainability/sustainable development
sustainability performance measurement
structural equationmodeling (SEM)
Wu, L.
Subramanian, N.
Gunasekaran, A.
Pawar, K.
Doran, D.
A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title_full A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title_fullStr A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title_full_unstemmed A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title_short A two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
title_sort two-dimensional, two-level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development : assessing the return on sustainability initiatives
topic Sustainability/sustainable development
sustainability performance measurement
structural equationmodeling (SEM)
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51524/