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Gold, Stefan

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Gold, Stefan
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https://libra.unine.ch/handle/123456789/711

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  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Sustainable business growth: exploring operations decision-making
    (2017-2-8)
    Schwab, Leila 
    ;
    Gold, Stefan 
    ;
    Reiner, Gerald 
    Purpose: The objective of this paper is to explore how operations decision-making may keep the growing firms within the boundaries of corporate and societal sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: We classify operations decisions during growth periods according to the three dimensions of the triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental). By means of a longitudinal case study of a family-owned wood construction firm that is in a process of intense growth, we identify, visually represent and analyse the complex sequences of selected managerial operations decisions. Findings: Our empirical data suggests that operations decisions made by managers during growth periods follow specific patterns. From our analysis, we derive various research propositions that investigate how a well-understood and therefore efficient and effective decision-making process can facilitate sustainable business growth. Research limitations/implications: Our findings offer opportunities for future studies to zoom in on specific parts of the decision-making process during growth periods. Moreover, given the exploratory nature of our study, future research should test hypotheses derived from our research propositions. Practical implications: This study investigates operations decision-making during growth, which is crucial for guiding companies through this complex transition phase. Originality/value: This conceptual and empirical analysis explores new theory and contributes to the vastly under-researched subject of sustainable business growth.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Investing in disaster management capabilities versus pre-positioning inventory: A new approach to disaster preparedness
    (2014-11-11)
    Kunz, Nathan 
    ;
    Reiner, Gerald 
    ;
    Gold, Stefan 
    Disaster preparedness has been recognized as a central element in reducing the impact of disasters worldwide. The usual methods of preparedness, such as pre-positioning relief inventory in countries prone to disasters, are problematic because they require high investment in various locations, due to the uncertainty about the timing and location of the next disaster. Investing in disaster management capabilities, such as training staff, pre-negotiating customs agreements with countries prone to disasters, or harmonizing import procedures with local customs clearance procedures, has been recognized as a way to overcome this constraint. By means of system dynamics modeling, we model the delivery process of ready-to-use therapeutic food items during the immediate response phase of a disaster, and we analyze the performance of different preparedness scenarios. We find that pre-positioning inventory produces positive results for the beneficiaries, but at extremely high costs. Investing in disaster management capabilities is an interesting alternative, as it allows lead time reductions of up to 67% (18 days) compared to a scenario without preparedness, at significantly lower costs than pre-positioning inventory. We find that the best performance can be achieved when combining both preparedness strategies, allocating part of the available funding to disaster management capabilities and part to pre-positioning inventory. We analyze 2828 such combined scenarios to identify the best mix of preparedness strategies for different levels of available funding. On the basis of our findings, we provide recommendations for relief organizations on how to allocate their preparedness budget.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Sustainability management beyond corporate boundaries: from stakeholders to performance
    (2013)
    Seuring, Stefan
    ;
    Gold, Stefan 
    Effectively integrating sustainability into firms requires action that exceeds organizational boundaries. These boundary-spanning activities are increasingly being taken up by corporate action and are spurred, accompanied, and reflected in a growing body of academic literature. This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production significantly expands our understanding of sustainable supply chain management, both on the theoretical and the practical side. In this way, the special issue is another bit of fuel that drives the dynamic evolution of this research field. This editorial amplifies on how the different papers contribute to the new developments of sustainable supply chain management. One key development in this respect is the rising debate about the performance implications triggered by the integration of sustainability and supply chain management. This ranges from stakeholder integration and the implementation of standards to supplier partnerships and the development of appropriate performance measures. Among future research needs supply chains in low-income countries stand out, which are still hardly addressed. Therefore, we call for further empirical research that sharpens supply chain management theory and critically evaluates real-world sustainability effects.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Sustainable supply chain management in “Base of the Pyramid” food projects: A path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?
    (2013)
    Gold, Stefan 
    ;
    Hahn, Rüdiger
    ;
    Seuring, Stefan
    Conducting business operations at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) have necessitated the need for multinational corporations (MNCs) to involve poor communities in production processes including management of critical supply chains. However, current research on the interface between supply chain management and BoP business operation is lacking. In analyzing three cases of BoP projects in the food industry this study addresses the question of how sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) applied to BoP projects can help MNCs to achieve their sustainability goals. Findings indicate that applying SSCM to BoP projects can complement economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In particular, the BoP projects analyzed show viable paths for integrating the social domain of sustainability with general SSCM theory and practice. From the perspective of international business research, the findings help to link sustainability activities to MNC operations at the BoP. Accordingly, further research is needed to advance integration of these two research streams.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Wertschöpfungsketten als Herausforderung für Unternehmen
    (2012)
    Gold, Stefan 
    ;
    Seuring, Stefan
    Das nachhaltige Management von Wertschöpfungsketten hat sich als Thema in Wissenschaft und Praxis etabliert. Dabei lassen sich zwei Ansätze unterscheiden, einerseits das Supply Chain Management für nachhaltige Produkte sowie andererseits das Lieferantenmanagement in Bezug auf Risiken und Performance.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Governance for securing feedstock supply of biogas plants
    (2012)
    Gold, Stefan 
    As stocks of fossil fuels become harder to access and exploit worldwide, renewable energies as a sustainable option have entered the limelight in recent years. Bio-energy plays an essential role in the current mix of renewable energy technologies. In Germany, the state fosters insistently biogas technology within the concert of bio-energy options. Literature suggests that long-term stable economic ties with supplying farmers are the pivotal managerial challenge of bio-energy plant operators to secure a constant and competitively priced feedstock supply. Biogas plant operators are generally in a vulnerable position vis-à-vis their suppliers due to their substantial specific capital investment and a rather restricted economically viable catchment area. Transactional uncertainty due to volatile agricultural market prices, changing yield quantities, and unpredictable behaviour of suppliers makes biogas plant operators aim for effective governance. The study aims by means of in-depth interviews to explore how biogas plant operators perceive their specific situation of transactional uncertainty and which instruments (concerning formal and relational contracts) they use for securing stable and constant feedstock supply. Findings indicate that mutually reinforcing interaction of formal contracts, business partnerships, and equity participation with relational contracts proves to be successful in establishing long-term stable feedstock supply. While the specific rural societal culture has an ambiguous impact on governance design, local rootedness of biogas plant operators provide high levels of social capital and thus clearly facilitate the search for effective solutions that satisfy all parties.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Conducting content-analysis based literature reviews in supply chain management
    (2012)
    Seuring, Stefan
    ;
    Gold, Stefan 
    Purpose – Inconsistent research output makes critical literature reviews crucial tools for assessing and developing the knowledge base within a research field. Literature reviews in the field of supply chain management (SCM) are often considerably less stringently presented than other empirical research. Replicability of the research and traceability of the arguments and conclusions call for more transparent and systematic procedures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the importance of literature reviews in SCM. Design/methodology/approach – Literature reviews are defined as primarily qualitative synthesis. Content analysis is introduced and applied for reviewing 22 literature reviews of seven sub-fields of SCM, published in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2009. A descriptive evaluation of the literature body is followed by a content analysis on the basis of a specific pattern of analytic categories derived from a typical research process. Findings – Each paper was assessed for the aim of research, the method of data gathering, the method of data analysis, and quality measures. While some papers provide information on all of these categories, many fail to provide all the information. This questions the quality of the literature review process and the findings presented in respective papers. Research limitations/implications – While 22 literature reviews are taken into account in this paper as the basis of the empirical analysis, this allows for assessing the range of procedures applied in previous literature reviews and for pointing to their strengths and shortcomings. Originality/value – The findings and subsequent methodological discussions aim at providing practical guidance for SCM researchers on how to use content analysis for conducting literature reviews.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Barriers of food supply chains in Africa – a Delphi study
    (2012)
    Gold, Stefan 
    ;
    Seuring, Stefan
    ;
    Jeff, Ajang N. N.
    By means of the Delphi method, the study reveals structural and technological issues on the firm level as well as national policies as most relevant barriers of food supply chains in Africa. Second-rank issues are international trade and technology transfer as well as supply chain management. Regarding national governmental policies, the expansion and upgrading of infrastructure, primarily roads, rails, harbours and communication networks, are of main concern. On a farm or firm level two priority areas may be distinguished: On the producer stage, traditionally managed small-sized farms should be opened to technological, institutional and managerial innovations, while at the food processor stage innovations regarding the pre-treatment, preservation, handling and packaging of food need to be implemented. The findings are discussed against the background of previous research and the challenges involved. Productive food supply chains providing the local, regional and export market represent major weapons for considerably reducing poverty among smallholder farmers, poverty in general and for mitigating hunger.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Bio-energy supply chains and stakeholders
    (2011)
    Gold, Stefan 
    What are the management challenges and opportunities of bio-energy chains for both running their business efficiently and effectively and fostering the relationships with most relevant external stakeholders? This question is approached by systematically reviewing papers at the interface of bio-energy and supply chain or logistics issues. The review conducted as content analysis is based on an analytic framework that conceives bio-energy chains between challenges and benefits of bio-energy production with simultaneous internal supply chain management and external stakeholder management needs. Smartly designed and operated bio-energy projects hold promising potentials of contributing to sustainable development by both mitigating climate change and strengthening adaptation capabilities. Our analysis distils specific strategies and success factors for tapping this potential on two levels: On a supply chain level, individually adapted and designed supply chain systems relying on trustful information exchange, cooperation and relational governance safeguard profitability while holding adverse ecological and social impacts of operation down; they allow, for instance, minimising costs and emissions, implementing new technologies, and coping with environmental uncertainties such as crop failures and volatile prices. On a stakeholder level, governments as key actors for designing the future legal framework of bio-energy are primary targets for lobbying activities of bio-energy representatives. Respective arguments may focus on economic development and job generation. By minimising its adverse impacts on society and eco-systems and by communicating these efforts credibly, bio-energy warrants its superiority over fossil energy systems. Involving NGOs and residents in early stages of bio-energy projects via transparent two-way communication considerably increase societal acceptance.