• Energy Research

Abstract The contribution of a single firm to sustainable development is largely dependent on the firm's perceptions of the advantages of sustainability strategies and consequent practices. The relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance has been heavily debated, with mixed results. Our research is aimed at defining a model in which sustainability practices affect firm financial performance via strategic drivers or antecedents of firm success. We used structural equation modeling on data collected via survey of 348 Italian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises. We included four constructs dedicated to sustainability, a construct dedicated to financial performance and four constructs measuring the possible mediators in the sustainability-financial performance relationship. We found that the social, economic and formal practices dimensions of sustainability positively affect competitive advantage, mediated by corporate reputation, customer satisfaction and organisational commitment. We also found competitive advantage to be a second-stage mediator that positively contributes to financial performance. The contribution of our study lies in having tested a new model of the sustainability-financial performance relationship, considering each dimension of sustainability and a path through different mediators in an under-explored context—that of manufacturing small businesses in a European country.

Blockchain implications within the sustainability domain are rapidly arousing the interest of researchers and institutions. However, despite the avalanche of articles, papers, and recently published books, innovation in the blockchain domain is still heavily influenced by light literature, such as news, articles, opinion posts, and white papers. Lacking a homogeneous literature background, case studies often fall into storytelling, providing mere descriptions of the facts according to the writers’ impressions and opinions. We therefore investigate blockchain adoption for sustainable purposes through a case study while remaining firmly grounded in three main theoretical literature streams: knowledge management, knowledge infrastructure, and trust. Since blockchain interaction with the real world is managed by oracles, addressing the oracle problem is essential in order to evaluate the effectiveness of blockchain for sustainability issues. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other paper has efficiently addressed this subject or even mentioned it. Recognizing its scarce consideration in the literature, the oracle problem will be analyzed in both theoretical and practical terms, thereby providing a way to solve the issues related to non-fungible products in the supply chain. Choice over the selected case study was made in light of the divergence in motives for the adoption of blockchain (economic over social), which makes the results more inferable at a broader scale and offers an insight into how sustainable innovations can also be economically viable.

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) are challenging the traditional food system by leveraging concepts such as self-organisation and self-management aiming to shorten the food supply chain and give cu...

AbstractThe literature on the subject of corporate social responsibility and environmental management in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) has theorized about the different factors influencing the propensity of business owners/managers towards sustainability. However, the varying results and some gaps in these previous studies have highlighted the need to search for new models for the relationships among these drivers. This study theorizes and tests a model in which the decision flow of SME owners/managers is described as a multistep process in which the first push felt from internal and external pressures is mediated by two opposite forces: the positive influence exerted by the perceived benefits of sustainability and the negative influence exerted by the perceived barriers of implementing it. Data were collected from an Italian SME survey and analyzed through structural equation modelling. The results confirmed the hypotheses of a mediated path of influence, thus highlighting the different roles of factors that enable and block sustainability in SMEs, with prospective business and policy‐making implications in the light of the pursuit of the United Nation's recommended Sustainable Development Goals.

This paper aims at exploring the impact of green food on consumers’ purchase attitudes toward a hotel stay and on consumers’ behavioral intentions (i.e., intention to visit the hotel, intention to offer positive recommendations to others and willingness to pay a premium price), focusing on an Italian perspective where the food is a worldwide famous cultural element. This research employed a survey sent out by email to a database of contacts provided by an Italian company that operates in tourism. Data collection was completed in four weeks and the initial dataset counted 3586 of target respondents. A total of 302 surveys were completed and the data were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). Firstly, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that leads to the estimation of the structural model. The results show that personal beliefs toward green food are positively associated with respondents’ purchase attitudes toward green food. Moreover, stronger purchase attitudes toward green food lead to more favorable purchase attitudes toward hotels that offer green food, further substantiating the investigation about whether or not consumers’ attitudes employ similar concerns on sustainability for their daily purchases as well as for vacation products and services. In turn, the latter purchase attitudes are positively associated with individual behavioral intentions toward hotels that offer green food.

Despite the impressive growth of smart city initiatives worldwide, an organizational theory of smart city has yet to be developed, and we lack models addressing the unprecedented organizational and management challenges that emerge in smart city contexts. Traditional models are often of little use, because smart cities pursue different goals than traditional organizations, are based on networked, cross-boundary activity systems, rely on distributed innovation processes, and imply adaptive policy-making. Complex combinations of factors may lead to vicious or virtuous cycles in smart city initiatives, but we know very little about how these factors may be identified and mapped. Based on an inductive study of a set of primary and secondary sources, we develop a framework for the configurational analysis of smart cities viewed as place-specific organizational fields. This framework identifies five key dimensions in the configurations of smart city fields; these five dimensions are mapped through five sub-frameworks, which can be used both separately as well as for an integrated analysis. Our contribution is conceived to support longitudinal studies, natural experiments and comparative analyses on smart city fields, and to improve our understanding of how different combinations of factors affect the capability of smart innovations to translate into city resilience, sustainability and quality of life. In addition, our results suggest that new forms of place-based entrepreneurship constitute the engine that allows for the dynamic collaboration between government, citizens and research centers in successful smart city organizational fields.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine and overcome the barriers to the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, introducing a novel concept of sustainability in the fashion supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThis work is an exploratory study of a well-known fashion company operating in the Veneto region (Italy). Data extracted from interviews and focus groups are coded using the (CAQDAS) software AQUAD. The outcome is then organized according to an adapted TOE view.FindingsThis exploration study's findings support the idea that the blockchain solution could be a valuable add-on in sustainable supply chains. However, a high understanding of technology and extensive communication with clients is required for successful integration.Research limitations/implicationsBeing the outcome of qualitative analysis, the findings require further investigation to be inferable at a broader scale. As the project is still incomplete, some managerial choices are always subject to change.Practical implicationsFocused on a practitioner approach, this paper should guide managers in the process of successfully implementing blockchain technology. Arguably, similar companies may opt for similar choices.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to contextualize and address the blockchain adoption barriers in the fashion supply chain. Furthermore, it offers an overview of how blockchain affects sustainable production.