The Firm Boundary Decision for Sustainability-Focused Companies

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Author(s): Ozan Özcan (University of South Florida, USA)and Kingsley Anthony Reeves (University of South Florida, USA)
Copyright: 2013
Pages: 21
Source title: Technological Solutions for Modern Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): ZongWei Luo (The University of Hong Kong, China)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2773-4.ch017

Keywords: Business & Management / Business Science Reference / Operations and Service Management / Supply Chain Management

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Abstract

This paper examines the vertical integration level of environmentally sustainable and non-sustainable companies. The first part develops the theoretical foundation for linking sustainability strategies to organizational structure. The second part empirically examines the vertical integration level of 144 sustainability-focused companies in 9 different industries. The results demonstrate that sustainability-focused companies in the Health Care Industry and the Industrials Industry tend to have more vertically integrated organizational structures than their industry competitors that are not pursuing such a strategy since these two industries are production oriented and they have closer relationships with their suppliers. There was no significant difference in the vertical integration level of sustainability-focused versus non-sustainability-focused companies for the other seven industries studied. Research shows the linkage between environmental strategies and vertical integration has not been thoroughly examined. This study’s results are useful to researchers and managers who are interested in corporate sustainability behavior.

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The Firm Boundary Decision for Sustainability-Focused Companies

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