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Purpose While controlling for supply chain effects, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if globalization and collaborative integration within a firm-wide manufacturing network have significant implications for the adoption of sustainable production (SP) and sustainable sourcing (SS) practices at the plant level. Design/methodology/approach The authors conceptualize SP and SS as process innovations with moderate degrees of innovativeness and apply “Organizational integration and process innovation” theory to build our conceptual model. Then, the authors use primary survey data from 471 assembly manufacturing plants operating in the US, Europe and Asia to test our hypotheses rigorously. Findings This research finds that the adoption of SP practices at the plant level is significantly and positively associated with globalization and integration of the firm-wide manufacturing network. On the contrary, the adoption of SS practices is more strongly affected by integration in the external supply chain and benefits from the manufacturing network only indirectly, through the association with SP practices. Originality/value Operations management literature devoted to sustainability has studied sustainable practices mostly from a risk management angle. Also, there exists contrasting evidence in the operations strategy literature about the positive and negative effects that globalization of a manufacturing network may have on the adoption of sustainable practices at the plant level. Moreover, several studies show how integration with supply chain partners helps manufacturing plants transition into more SP and SS practices; however, related literatures have neglected that collaborative integration within a firm-wide manufacturing network may also help to develop, or adapt to, new sustainable practices. This research represents a first attempt to resolve discordance and unveil the positive effects that manufacturing networks may have on sustainable innovations at the plant level.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance in setting the level of autonomy (i.e. parental control) of plants in a network to enhance operational performance. In particular, the effect of autonomy on performance is analysed directly and indirectly through internal manufacturing network integration (MNI) and external supply chain integration (SCI) as two dimensions of manufacturing network embeddedness. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on data from 441 manufacturing plants in 17 countries. Data were gathered during the Sixth International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Five main constructs were obtained after carrying out a confirmatory factor analysis: plant autonomy, internal MNI, external SCI, efficiency and effectiveness. Direct and indirect relationships among the constructs are tested through a structural equation model. Findings Higher levels of autonomy correlate with higher effectiveness and similar efficiency. However, lower autonomy leads to higher levels of manufacturing network and SCI, which enhance performance. Although not statistically significant, the analysis of the total effects reveals a mildly positive effect of autonomy on effectiveness and negative effect on efficiency, which requires further investigation. Research limitations/implications Further research could include headquarters’ perspectives or additional determinants (e.g. business strategy objectives). Practical implications Managers should set autonomy levels strategically: higher for effectiveness and lower for efficiency. However, lower autonomy can also strengthen internal MNI and external SCI, thus improving operational performance. Originality/value The concept of manufacturing network embeddedness highlights the importance of considering external supply chain and internal MNI in the same framework, as both dimensions can affect operational performance.

Purpose - This paper aims at understanding the relationship between the adoption of new forms of work organizations (NFWOs) and measures of country impact, in terms of national culture and economic development.Design methodology approach - The adoption of NFWO practices is measured through data from the fourth edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey, while Hofstede's measures are adopted for national culture, and gross national income (GNI) per capita is used as an economic development variable. Multivariate linear regression is applied to investigate relationships, using company size as a control variable. A cluster analysis is utilized to identify groups of countries with similar cultural characteristics and to highlight different patterns of adoption of NFWO practices.Findings - The authors show that it is possible to explain different patterns in the adoption of NFWO practices when considering company size and cultural variables. GNI is instead only significant for some practices and does not always positively influence the adoption of NFWO. On the other hand, cultural variables are linked to all the practices, but there is no dominant dimension to explain higher or lower NFWO adoption.Research limitations implications - Results are limited because only Hofstede's cultural variables are used and manufacturing performance is not considered. Therefore, it is not possible to discriminate between more or less successful NFWO variations.Practical implications - This paper provides managers with insights on how to take into account cultural variables when transferring organizational models to different countries.Originality value - This paper contributes to previous studies showing the importance of including several contextual variables, country impact in particular, in the study of operations management.

Purpose The last decades have witnessed an increased interest in urban logistics originating from both the research and the practitioners’ communities. Sustainable freight transports today are on the political, social and technological agenda of many actors operating in urban contexts. Due to the extent of the covered areas and the continuous progress in many fields, the resulting body of research on urban logistics appears quite fragmented. From an engineering management perspective, the purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review (SLR) that aims to consolidate the knowledge on urban logistics, analyse the development of the discipline, and provide future research directions. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses the main evidence emerging from a SLR on urban logistics. The corpus resulting from the SLR has been used to perform a citation network analysis and a main path analysis that together underpin the identification of the most investigated topics and methodologies in the field. Findings Through the analysis of a corpus of 104 articles, the most important research contributions on urban logistics that represent the structural backbone in the development of the research over time in the field are detected. Based on these findings, this work identifies and discusses three areas of potential interest for future research. Originality/value This paper presents an SLR related to a research area in which the literature is extremely fragmented. The results provide insights about the research path, current trends and future research directions in the field of urban logistics.

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to explore the impact that sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has on company's sustainability performance (both environmental and social), the direct and the indirect impacts that traditional supply management (SM) has on such performance and the effect that global sourcing exerts on the relationships involving SM, SSCM and firm sustainability performance. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical data were obtained from the fifth edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. The sample consists of 336 assembly manufacturing companies from 21 countries. Data were collected in 2009. The authors apply a moderated mediation analysis to analyse the role of SM and SSCM, and also perform a multi-group analysis to verify the moderation effect played by global sourcing. Findings - First, SSCM improves sustainability performance (both environmental and social) of the company that implements it. Then, SM plays a complex role, as it fosters the adoption of SSCM and makes SSCM more effective. Interestingly, these results are valid for both Locals (i.e. companies sourcing mainly within their continent) and Globals (i.e. companies that have relevant international supply relationships). However, for Locals only, SM also produces a direct effect on sustainability performance of the company. Originality/value - Findings provide empirical evidence that supports previous theoretical works. Furthermore, this paper expands the literature by shedding light on the multifaceted role of SM and on the moderating role of global sourcing. Results are useful to practitioners and researchers interested in developing their understanding of how sustainability at the company level is related to supply chain management.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the impact that sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has on company’s sustainability performance (both environmental and social), the direct and the indirect impacts that traditional supply management (SM) has on such performance and the effect that global sourcing exerts on the relationships involving SM, SSCM and firm sustainability performance. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were obtained from the fifth edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. The sample consists of 336 assembly manufacturing companies from 21 countries. Data were collected in 2009. The authors apply a moderated mediation analysis to analyse the role of SM and SSCM, and also perform a multi-group analysis to verify the moderation effect played by global sourcing. Findings – First, SSCM improves sustainability performance (both environmental and social) of the company that implements it. Then, SM plays a complex role, as it fosters the adoption of SSCM and makes SSCM more effective. Interestingly, these results are valid for both Locals (i.e. companies sourcing mainly within their continent) and Globals (i.e. companies that have relevant international supply relationships). However, for Locals only, SM also produces a direct effect on sustainability performance of the company. Originality/value – Findings provide empirical evidence that supports previous theoretical works. Furthermore, this paper expands the literature by shedding light on the multifaceted role of SM and on the moderating role of global sourcing. Results are useful to practitioners and researchers interested in developing their understanding of how sustainability at the company level is related to supply chain management.

Purpose – The past three decades have seen the transformation of manufacturing involving its global dispersion and fragmentation. However, a number of recent developments appear to suggest that manufacturing may be entering a new era of flux that will impact the configuration of production around the globe. The purpose of this paper is to address the major emerging themes that may shape this configuration and concludes that most of them are still in their initial stages and are not likely to create a radical shift in the next few years in how manufacturing is configured around the world. These themes were presented in a special session on “Manufacturing in the World – Where Next?” at the 2013 EurOMA Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a series of perspectives on some key considerations pertaining to the future of manufacturing. An evaluation of their likely impact is offered and insights for the future of manufacturing are presented. Findings – The importance of a focus on the extended manufacturing network is established. The need for customer engagement and a forward looking approach that extends to the immediate customer and beyond emerges as a consistent feature across the different perspectives presented in the paper. There is both the potential and need for the adoption of innovative business models on the part of manufacturers. Originality/value – The paper presents in-depth perspectives from scholars in the field of manufacturing on the changing landscape of manufacturing. These perspectives culminate in a series of insights on the future of global manufacturing that inform future research agendas and help practitioners in formulating their manufacturing strategies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the role of the plant in a manufacturing network (MN) affects the configurations of the flows of goods among plants, suppliers and customers and how these configurations, in turn, affect the extent of adoption and effectiveness of supply chain (SC) integration. Design/methodology/approach Three research questions are developed at the plant level and then tested using an international survey (IMSS 6) featuring 364 plants which are part of an intra-company MN from 18 countries. Findings Five configurations of flows of goods emerge from the analysis. These configurations appear to be related to the role of the plant in the network and to the effectiveness of SC integration practices, but not to their extent of adoption. Research limitations/implications Research limitations include the focus on specific industries (assembly industries) and limited size of the clusters which did not allow for a deep investigation of each single cluster. Originality/value The paper creates a bridge between two literature streams (MNs and SC management) by means of an innovative flow-based perspective that can help researchers and practitioners to disentangle the two interwoven perspectives.

This paper proposes a framework that supports the collection and classification of information about the features of a city relevant to Urban Freight Transport (UFT). The information is organized in a framework of 28 different layers that are then stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool to enable efficient data retrieval and effective information graphical display. The resulting GIS tool thus represents a decision support system for UFT problems, providing decision makers and stakeholders with a wide range of easy to understand information aimed to support the identification and preliminary evaluation of UFT solutions. Moreover, by providing a standardized set of features and sources of information, the framework enables the comparison of different cities. To illustrate the benefits, prototypical real-scale tests based on the framework have been realized in two mid-sized European cities: Bergamo (North of Italy) and Luxembourg. For both cities, data were mainly collected from publicly available sources and organized according to the framework. The data and information collected have been used in collaboration with the stakeholders in order to identify the priorities of intervention and evaluate alternative UFT solutions. The real-scale applications confirmed the usability and effectiveness of the framework in engaging stakeholders and support the process of envisioning shared UFT solutions.