Staff publications (BAM)

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 28

Open Access
Study on eco-efficiency optimization based on LCA-MFCA integration method: a case study on the cement industry
(SAGE, 2025-12-31) Liu, Sanhong; Xie, Ying; Liang, Wen; Liu, Tieqiao; Luo, Shanmei
Cement production in China suffers from low eco-efficiency due to high coal and electricity consumption and substantial emissions. This study proposes a novel approach integrating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) to improve both economic and environmental performance. The method includes: (1) quantifying material, economic, and environmental losses using LCA and MFCA; (2) identifying improvement strategies through Pareto analysis, hypothesis testing, and expert input; and (3) validating results using an empirical case study. Applied to a cement company in Xinjiang, the approach increased eco-efficiency from 0.8737 to 1.0519, demonstrating synchronous economic and environmental gains. This is one of the first studies to apply LCA–MFCA integration in China’s cement sector.
Open Access
Kahneman's legacy in project management: improving decision-making and performance
(Elsevier, 2025-05-01) Cantarelli, Chantal C.
Open Access
Modelling and optimising a multi-depot vehicle routing problem for freight distribution in a retail logistics network
(Elsevier, 2025-09-01) Mogale, Dnyaneshwar G.; Ghadge, Abhijeet; Jena, Sarat Kumar
An efficient freight distribution network is critical for enhancing competitiveness by lowering transportation costs and increasing profitability. This study adopts a case-based modelling approach to tackle a real-world Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem (MDVRP) faced by a UK-based retailer aiming to expand its operations in northern UK. Due to high fixed costs and a limited branch network, the retailer seeks to improve operational efficiency by reducing transportation costs without establishing additional facilities. A novel mixed-integer programming model is developed to optimise the existing distribution network by incorporating realistic operational constraints. The model addresses key complexities such as driver costs, inter-depot routing, transportation hubs, multiple depots, dynamic demand, a heterogeneous fleet, cross-docking, multiple product types, vehicle capacity and travel time restrictions. Using an exact solution method, the model yields optimal results demonstrating significant reductions in transportation costs while maintaining service constraints. The findings provide valuable research insights and practical recommendations for optimising freight distribution networks under realistic and resource-constrained conditions.
Open Access
Embodying routine replication dynamics: an ethnographic study on the impact of the body in routine replication in the Royal Air Force
(Process Organization Studies (PROS), 2025-06-29) Alvarenga, Alessandro; Safavi, Mehdi
We examine the role of embodiment in routine replication by investigating how the Royal Air Force adapted the loaded march (tabbing) routine from its Ground Combat Training program into Initial Officer Training. Routine replication required adjustments due to bodily differences among trainees, balancing flexibility with recognizability. Using enactive ethnography—where the first author physically participated in the marches—our 30-month ethnographic study reveals that routine replication is shaped by three bodily adaptation mechanisms: ‘playing with rhythm,’ ‘coping with injuries,’ and ‘dealing with emotions’. These mechanisms illustrate how bodies actively shape routine enactment, challenging conventional views of routine replication as a purely cognitive or procedural process. Our study advances Routine Dynamics by integrating an embodied perspective into the replication dilemma and demonstrating how bodily constraints and adaptations influence routine evolution. Additionally, we contribute methodologically by showcasing enactive ethnography as a powerful approach for studying embodiment in organizations.
Open Access
Routine replication and embodying process: an ethnographic study on the impact of the body in routine replication in the Royal Air Force
(EGOS (European Group for Organization Studies), 2025-07-04) Safavi, Mehdi; Alvarenga, Alessandro
We examine the relationship between routine replication and embodiment by studying how the Royal Air Force replicated an arduous loaded march in its Initial Officer Training programme from its Ground Combat Training programme. The routine (also called ‘tabbing’) was adapted to fit its new context, as the replication was affected by the differences in the trainees’ bodies, but it was kept recognisable as the same routine in both settings. Using qualitative methods and 30 months of data collection, this ethnographic case study involves a novel methodology in which we collected data through an enactive ethnography. Our research advances the study of Routine Dynamics, more specifically routine replication and embodiment, in two ways. First, we show how routine participants’ bodies play an important role within routine replication process and how they impact its dynamics. To deal with the ‘replication dilemma’, a constant interplay between flexibility and recognisability occurs through three overarching bodily mechanisms, namely, ‘playing with rhythm’, ‘coping with injuries’, and ‘dealing with emotions’. Our research adds to the scarce body of research on the role of embodiment in routine replication. Second, we contribute by introducing a novel way of conducting an ethnography. The first author not only observed the phenomena but also participated in the loaded marches together with the other officer cadets physically experiencing the routine performing and patterning. This study hence responds to recent calls to explore novel, seldom-used methodologies and uses enactive ethnography to study embodiment in practice.
Open Access
EXPRESS: Complexity as a domain between order and chaos: implications for organizational scholarship
(SAGE, 2025-12-31) Uotila, Juha; Morrell, Kevin
Organizations are grappling with increasingly complex challenges, including those stemming from technological disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and climate change. Despite the increasing acknowledgement of the complexity inherent in many organizational problems, complexity theory has had limited impact on mainstream management scholarship. Synthesizing contemporary complexity literature, we conceptualize complexity as a systemic property of a certain – and, we argue, rather broad – domain of organizational problems, and complexity theory as a theory of change in such organizational contexts. This view of complexity implies that complexity theory has important implications to organizational scholarship at large, indicates limitations of using conventional scientific methods, and suggests that the credibility and replication crises in many branches of organizational research may not be treatable simply by better statistical designs. Instead, methodological choices in complex organizational domains should take account of the properties of non-linearity and emergence, and organizational scholars should embrace complexity theory not only as an explanatory framework but also to inform research design.
Open Access
Stakeholder agency and grand challenge projects in forced displacement context
(European Academy of Management, 2025-06-25) Ambituuni, Ambi; Davis, Kate; Jellason, Nugun Patrick; Mahdiraji, Hannan Amoozad
Grand challenge projects (GCPs) address critical global issues such as poverty, climate change, COVID-19, and forced displacement. However, research reveals that many GCPs often yield limited results when managed through a top-down approach. In this research, we investigate how the agency of external nonmarket stakeholders (i.e., the project beneficiaries), can be useful in aligning GCPs to local needs for successful outcomes. Using participatory action research and interpretive structural modelling, we identify the key agency factors influencing the iterative, the practical–evaluative, and the projective dimensions of beneficiaries’ agency in forced displacement grand challenge context. We show how beneficiaries’ agency influences project legitimacy and urgency. Our findings also demonstrate that active beneficiaries’ involvement can significantly improve project outcomes, emphasising the need for GCPs to meaningfully incorporate beneficiaries’ perspectives to enhance impact and sustainability. Finally, our research provides practical insights for project managers and policymakers on engaging stakeholders in complex, high-stakes contexts.
Open Access
Unveiling synergies: the mediating role of China's OFDI and intelligent transformation in advancing green total factor productivity
(Wiley, 2025-12-31) Chen, Shunru; Alexiou, Constantinos; Xie, Ying
This research focuses on the impact of intelligent transformation on green total factor productivity (GTFP) within China's manufacturing enterprises from 2010 to 2022. To assess the extent of intelligent transformation across the sector, the study adopts natural language processing and the non‐radial SBM‐ML index to measure GTFP. Utilizing threshold and mediation analysis, we explore how outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) affects intelligent transformation and GTFP while additional robustness tests supplement the analysis. The study also considers the variability in the impact of intelligent transformation at enterprise, industry, and regional levels. The results reveal a significant positive relationship between intelligent transformation and GTFP, notably stronger in non‐OFDI firms and more pronounced in heavily polluting industries. In particular, enterprises with smaller scale of FDI and those in China's middle region see more substantial benefits.
Open Access
Like Drinking Water After Being in the Desert’: Social-Symbolic Work of Sustainable Procurement Professionals
(EurOMA, 2025-03-27) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
Open Access
‘Like drinking water after being in the desert’: social-symbolic work of procurement professionals in driving sustainable procurement
(EurOMA, 2025-06-18) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
Sustainable procurement aims to strategically embed environmental, social, and economic considerations into purchasing decisions to minimise negative impacts and generate positive outcomes across the entire supply chain (Meehan & Bryde, 2011). Recent studies have argued that procurement professionals can play a pivotal role in sustainable procurement by acting as change makers and implementers within their organisations (Luzzini et al., 2024). However, individual-level perspectives on their agency remain limited and under-documented (Villena, 2019; Walker et al., 2012). The study examines how procurement professionals use agency to change procurement functions and incorporate sustainability. It draws on the notion of social-symbolic work which refers to the ‘purposeful, reflexive efforts of individuals, collective actors and networks of actors to shape social symbolic objects’ (Lawrence & Phillips, 2019, p.31). Where a social symbolic object is considered ‘a combination of discursive, relational, and material elements that constitute a meaningful pattern in a social system’ (Lawrence & Phillips, 2019, p.24). In this study, we examine procurement as the social-symbolic object where the discursive elements encompass the language and narratives related to purchasing. The relational elements pertain to the networks of relationships between procurement professionals, suppliers, internal departments, and regulatory bodies. Lastly, the material elements include the tools, technologies, policies, and procedures that enable procurement activities.
Open Access
'Like drinking water after being in the desert’: social-symbolic work of sustainable procurement professionals
(International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA), 2025-04-02) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
This study examines how procurement professionals exercise agency in embedding sustainability within procurement processes, using a social-symbolic work lens. Drawing on 36 interviews and 15 observed meetings, it reveals that sustainable procurement is shaped through practice, legitimacy, and identity work. The findings highlight procurement professionals as change agents, driven by personal values, and challenge the view of procurement as purely operational. The study contributes a framework illustrating how these forms of work interact to drive systemic change, offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance for aligning sustainability with procurement practices and professional roles
Open Access
Exploring sustainable purchasing and supply chain management through an institutional change lens: a systematic literature review
(International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA), 2025-04-02) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
The notion of sustainability within purchasing and supply chain management (PSCM) is not a recent development, as it has been evolving over the past few decades (Hoejmose & AdrienKirby, 2012; Johnsen et al., 2017; Miemczyk et al., 2012). Early discussions in PSCM focused primarily on environmental concerns, such as reducing carbon emissions, minimising waste, and improving energy efficiency within supply chains (Carter & Liane Easton, 2011; Seuring & Müller, 2008). Over time, the scope of sustainability expanded to include social and ethical dimensions, such as ensuring fair labour practices, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting local communities through procurement decisions (Yawar & Seuring, 2017; Zorzini et al., 2015).
Open Access
Leveraging animal feed supply chain capabilities through big data analytics: a qualitative study
(Emerald, 2025) Abushaikha, Ismail; Bwaliez, Omar M.; Yaseen, Marwa; Hamadneh, Samer; Darwish, Tamer K.
Purpose Although big data analytics (BDA) has gained widespread interest in supply chain management (SCM) literature in recent years, our understanding of how it contributes to improved animal feed supply chains (SCs) is still underexplored. This study provides a greater understanding of the role of BDA in improving animal feed SC capabilities. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was used in this study. Data were collected through 32 semistructured interviews from several actors involved in the production and supply of animal feed concentrates. Findings This study provides rich in-description evidence of how BDA enhances performance in the animal feed supply chain through improved logistics capabilities, quality control and information visibility. Our findings also suggest that organizational culture contributes to leveraging BDA capabilities in the feed-processing SCs. Practical implications The research provides an in-depth qualitative investigation of implementing big data in the feed processing SCs. The study provides practical implications for SC managers in the agri-food sector. Originality/value The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge by providing field evidence of the relevance of BDA to animal feed SCs. Moreover, this study adds to the existing literature by providing an understanding of the role of the internal culture of the organization in leveraging BDA capabilities in the SC.
Open Access
Port co-opetition: revisited after 20 years
(Taylor and Francis, 2025-05-01) Song, Dong-Wook; Deshmukh, Ajay
This paper revisits the concept of port co-opetition with the aim to understand how it has evolved over time since the publication 20 years ago. In so doing, the paper does also attempt to project its future research direction by synthesising the same concept applied to a wide range of academic disciplines. The first aim is of retrospective, while the second of prospective—looking for the future by looking back to the past. The study highlights that co-opetition, defined as doing both collaboration and competition at the same time, has seen noticeable changes over the past two decades by chasing the evolving nature of co-opetition within the port industry from actor-centric and activity-centric perspectives. The focus was initially on individual firms and their interactions; however, there has existed a greater emphasis on the broader activities and their processes as defined co-opetitive relationships. This shift reflects the general trend in the global economy where co-opetition has become increasingly relevant for players to successfully navigate ever more complicated market dynamics. Despite significant progress made in the field of port co-opetition, much of the existing literature remains cantered into the actor-centric view, having limitedly explored the other side of the concept. As a way to fill in this less considered perspective, this paper aims to propose a framework in which the port co-opetition per se could be more systematically analysed, leading us to gain a valuable insight into the field for the benefits of researchers and practitioners. This line of study will make us to better understand the concept in a context of port industry as a potential instrument of implementable strategies.
Open Access
Additive manufacturing in edible product supply chain: a sustainable perspective
(Springer, 2025-08-07) Li, Wenqi; Ekren, Banu Y.; Aktas, Emel
As the quest for healthier lifestyles intensifies, there is a growing demand for customized nutritional options, challenging the traditional food supply chain with its perishable goods and unpredictable demand patterns. This paper explores the potential of additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, as an innovative solution to these challenges. We present a conceptual framework to assess the impact of AM on the supply chain of edible products, including food and medicine, through the lens of sustainability—encompassing environmental, social, and economic perspectives. Our systematic literature review identifies five key strategies through which AM can enhance supply chain sustainability: distributed localized manufacturing, in-house production, delayed production, mass customization, and on-demand production. This research contributes valuable insights for industry practitioners and policymakers, guiding them toward exploiting AM's potential to revolutionize the sustainable supply chain management of edible products. Our findings highlight the transformative capabilities of AM and set the stage for future research directions in the nexus of additive manufacturing and sustainable supply chain practices.
Open Access
Dynamic distributional effects of fiscal consolidation: a sample of 16 OECD countries
(National Library of Serbia, 2025-12-31) Okeke, Angela; Alexiou, Constantinos; Nellis, Joseph G.
We explore the long-term distributional consequences of fiscal adjustment episodes and the dynamic consequences of fiscal consolidation for countries with large sized consolidations vis-a-vis countries with small sized consolidations. In this direction, panel ARDL and impulse response functions using local projections are adopted for a panel of 16 OECD countries covering the period 1980 to 2019 based on a newly updated fiscal adjustment dataset, compiled by Gustavo Adler et al. (2024). The evidence suggests that adverse income disparities which tend to arise upon implementation of fiscal adjustments are dynamic and persist through the long run. While baseline results for the Gini suggest that long-term inequality levels hold at approximately the same as peak levels (by the 7th period), inequality measured by the bottom 40 income share appear to exhibit peak levels at the 14th period, suggesting a more persistent impact. Disaggregating impact by adjustment size, evidence is also offered for small-sized adjustment and large-sized adjustment countries showing that small-sized adjustments lead to gradual but prolonged inequality effects, while large-sized adjustments generate steeper but shorter-lived inequality increases.
Open Access
A sustainable supply chain finance ecosystem: a review and conceptual framework
(Elsevier, 2025-08) Liao, Ziling; Prataviera, Lorenzo Bruno; Ghadge, Abhijeet; Abushaikha, Ismail
Supply chain finance (SCF) is a set of instruments for optimizing working capital and improving supply chain efficiency. The evolving field of sustainable supply chain finance (SSCF) extends SCF with a growing focus on sustainability. While existing research has primarily focused on the economic benefits of SCF, its potential to generate broader sustainability benefits across environmental, social, and governance dimensions has received limited attention. Moreover, discussions on SSCF solutions and stakeholder interactions remain insufficient, necessitating further exploration to consolidate current research. This study seeks to explore the role of sustainability in SCF and proposes an SSCF ecosystem. A systematic literature review (SLR) of SCF and sustainability resulted in the analysis of 70 interdisciplinary journal papers published between 2008 and 2023. The SSCF ecosystem is defined as a collaborative network of stakeholders leveraging financial tools and sustainability metrics to create shared value and sustainability goals across the supply chain. By applying stakeholder theory and CIMO logic, the study develops a conceptual framework to explain how SSCF mechanisms and interventions produce desirable outcomes for stakeholders. Key influencing factors were identified across four sustainability dimensions—economic, environmental, social, and governance—along with core stakeholders, including buyers, financial institutions, and suppliers, supported by technology/logistics providers and ESG information providers. The study contributes by linking stakeholders to two distinct categories of SSCF solutions: buyer-centric accounts payable financing and supplier-centric accounts receivable financing. Lastly, it proposes future research directions by examining SSCF as an independent subject and capturing its links to traditional SCF.
Open Access
A review of the performance metrics and entrepreneurial practices of economics and business departments in UK universities: a ‘Gresham’s Law’ threat?
(Sage Publications, 2025) Alexiou, Constantinos; Saridakis, George
Entrepreneurial approaches and privatisation practices have been widely embraced by academic and professional leadership teams in UK universities, arguably to ensure that the existing chasm between universities and society is bridged. Departments specialising in economics and business have transformed into mechanisms for disseminating knowledge reconfigured to meet the social and economic demands of the contemporary ‘entrepreneurial’ university. This article, through a comprehensive review of the extant literature, argues that the entrepreneurial practices and performance-driven metrics adopted by UK universities have largely suppressed academic pluralism, theoretical development and heterodox thinking. We are of the view that market practices, in conjunction with managerial-type approaches aimed at satisfying specific institutional and individual performance metrics, raise ethical concerns that undermine the established role of academia. The preservation of the university’s traditional role as an institution that promotes intellectual inquiry and pluralism, seeking factual and new knowledge by cultivating virtues and creativity, requires renunciation of the current model, which has transformed universities into ‘businesses’, and academics into ‘entrepreneurs’. Several alternative propositions are offered which, if considered, may help restore the sacrosanct role of the university as an institution of paideia.
Open Access
Navigating talent scarcity: talent attraction and selection practices among domestic firms and multinational corporations in Saudi Arabia
(Emerald, 2025-12-31) Alhaider, Masoud; Ali, Sa’ad; Abushaikha, Ismail
Purpose The study aimed to identify factors affecting talent attraction and selection in Saudi Arabia’s private sector and to compare the practices of domestic firms (DFs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and archival evidence from three DFs and 3 MNCs in Saudi Arabia. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Integrating institutional logics and dynamic capabilities theory, this study develops a novel framework explaining how firms manage a talent-starved environment. Unlike traditional models that emphasize targeting “ready-to-go” talent, our findings reveal that firms increasingly seek individuals with potential, balancing institutional pressures and business needs. MNCs and DFs alike must exercise strategic dexterity – sensing environmental shifts, seizing emerging opportunities, and reconfiguring selection criteria – by either merging existing logics or adopting new ones. Practical implications Although MNCs have been practicing formalized talent attraction and selection for longer than DFs and have more sophisticated processes, both organizational types have scope for improving their practices in the context of institutional logics at play in Saudi Arabia. Originality/value This study advances the understanding of talent attraction and selection in the Middle East by empirically demonstrating how institutional logics shape human resource practices in Saudi Arabia. It also applies a dynamic capabilities perspective to explain differences between DFs and MNCs, highlighting how firms strategically adapt talent management practices to labor market constraints.
Open Access
Integrating corporate identity, social responsibility, and reputation: a triadic framework for sustainable branding in hospitality & tourism
(Elsevier, 2025-09) Foroudi, Pantea; Melewar, T. C.; Tzempelikos, Nektarios; Ha, Norbani Che; Tourky, Marwa
Previous studies have explored the impact of corporate identity (CI), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate reputation (CR), but they have largely overlooked the effects of inconsistent CSR strategies on unexpected outcomes among hospitality employees. To address this gap, this study examines the interplay among CI, CSR, and CR within the hospitality industry. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the research reviews the literature from marketing, design, organizational studies, and management. It then employs qualitative methods, including interviews with managers and focus groups with employees, supplemented by a survey conducted among hospitality and tourism employees in the UK, Malaysia, and Iran. The findings reveal 20 critical CI factors across corporate communication, visual identity, and management behavior, demonstrating that CI influences CSR and CR. This study introduces a triadic framework that integrates CI, CSR, and CR, offering a holistic perspective essential for sustainable branding in hospitality.

Browse

Recent Submissions