بایگانی برچسب برای: United Kingdom

An empirical study of green[taliem.ir]

An empirical study of green supply chain management practices amongst UK manufacturers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent and nature of greening the supply chain (SC) in the UK manufacturing sector; and the factors that influence the breadth and depth of this activity. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the findings from a sample of manufacturing organisations drawn from the membership of The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply. Data are collected using a questionnaire, piloted and pre-tested before distribution with responses from 60 manufacturing companies. Findings – On average manufacturers perceive the greatest pressure to improve environmental performance through legislation and internal drivers (IDs). The least influential pressures are related to societal drivers and SC pressures from individual customers. Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices amongst this “average” group of UK manufacturing organisations are focusing on internal, higher risk, descriptive activities, rather than proactive, external engagement processes. Environmental attitude (EA) is a key predictor of GSCM activity and those organisations that have a progressive attitude are also operationally very active. EA shows some relationship to legislative drivers but other factors are also influential. Operational activity may also be moderated by organisational contingencies such as risk, size, and nationality. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation to this paper is the relatively small manufacturing sample. Practical implications – This paper presents a series of constructs that identify GSCM operational activities companies to benchmark themselves against. It suggests which factors are driving these operational changes and how industry contingencies may be influential. Originality/value – This paper explores what is driving environmental behaviour amongst an “average” sample of manufacturers, what specific management practices take place and the relationships between them.
Evaluating management training[taliem.ir]

Evaluating management training and development in a cross-cultural context A stakeholder approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the challenge in evaluating China’s overseas management training and development (MTD) in cross-cultural settings. It examines the evaluation practice of China’s overseas MTD interventions and explores a comprehensive approach to the MTD evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – This study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 526 major stakeholders involved in China’s overseas MTD. A mix method approach is used to explore the perspectives of different stakeholders. Findings – The respondents from different stakeholder groups perceived purposes of evaluation and problems conducting evaluation differently. The perceived evaluation criteria and approaches by individual group were also focused differently. The current evaluation system was based on segmented information collection and little joint effort was found in the MTD evaluation. The judgement on the value of China’s overseas MTD is culturally sensitive due to the diversity of stakeholders from different cultural backgrounds. A new framework is proposed to address the evaluation challenge. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to evaluating China’s MTD between China and the UK. The valuation framework is based on complex involvement of multiple stakeholders in an international setting. It may not be applicable to situations where only two parties are involved in training. Practical implications – The proposed stakeholder-based evaluation framework may be used for other skill-based training and development programs involving multiple stakeholders in the international arena. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the HRM evaluation literature by focusing on a unique evaluation setting and proposes a framework to evaluate a complex international MTD initiative by the Chinese Government. Keywords China, United Kingdom, Stakeholder analysis, Cross cultural studies, Training evaluation, Management development Paper type Research paper