The notion of sustainability, in its three-fold meaning (economic, environmental, and social), is being adopted more and more by companies. Today it is widely accepted that sustainability cannot be achieved by firms in isolation, but requires the collaboration of all supply chain players. This issue is particularly relevant in industrial contexts where the supply chains are complex in terms of structure and number of players, such as the construction industry. Thus, the aim of the paper is to explore the sustainability practices adopted in the construction industry, with a particular attention to the role of environmental collaboration of supply chain partners in achieving sustainability. By means of multiple case study-based research, we investigate sustainability practices on a sample of construction companies of Italy, thus identifying three main sustainability approaches, which differ in both the strategic orientation towards sustainability and the level of implementation in design, purchasing, and governance processes, as well as the main variables driving the adoption of these approaches.

In recent years, the scientific literature on supply chain management has increasingly debated on environmental sustainability as well as collaboration, presenting these issues as an important source of innovation along the supply chain. By combining literature streams on environmental sustainability, supply chain collaboration and innovation at the supply chain level, this paper aims to analyse whether the adoption of environmental sustainability practices and collaboration along the supply chain implies better innovation performance, in terms of differentiation from the competitors for higher quality, product or process. The paper also investigates whether the internationalisation, in terms of both production and distribution activities, negatively moderates this relationship. The study focuses on the fashion industry, and a survey of major Italian fashion companies was conducted. The main results of the research clearly show the positive impact of these practices on innovation performance. The paper also proves the existence of a moderating effect exerted by internationalisation on the relationship between environmental sustainability and innovation performance.

Purpose: Reverse factoring (RF) is one of the most prevalent supply chain finance (SCF) solutions. This study challenges the view that suppliers accept financially attractive reverse factoring offers (RFOs) and reject financially unattractive ones. Specifically, it focuses on small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers and how transaction cost economics (TCE) factors affect their decision.Design/methodology/approach: The authors study eight cases of RFOs, interviewing suppliers, buyers and financial service providers (FSPs) and using several sources of private and publicly available secondary data.Findings: In five out of eight RFOs, suppliers either accepted unattractive offers or rejected attractive ones. Bounded rationality and opportunism seem to explain such misalignment, while asset specificity and frequency play a minor role in decisions.Research limitations/implications: The study shows the need for further investigation linking analytical assessment of SCF benefits with qualitative factors.Practical implications: SME suppliers cannot assume an RFO will benefit them. They must critically evaluate their buyers' offers, ideally with self-awareness towards how the abovementioned factors might affect their decisions. For buyers and banks, this study gives clear insights on how to approach SME suppliers to avoid rejection of financially attractive RFOs.Originality/value: This contribution analyses financial attractiveness of RFOs in conjunction with qualitative factors, including rejected RFOs and without assuming that RFOs are financially attractive for suppliers. This is original and relevant for both research and practice, since it extends the understanding of the supplier response to RFOs, thanks to the consideration of TCE factors.

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to study the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting the supplier scouting process, considering the information and the capabilities required to do so.Design/methodology/approach: Twelve cases of IT and information providers offering AI-based scouting solutions were studied. The unit of analysis was the AI-based scouting solution, specifically the relationship between the provider and the buyer. Information processing theory (IPT) was adopted to address information processing needs (IPNs) and capabilities (IPCs).Findings: Among buyers, IPNs in supplier scouting are high. IT and information providers can meet the needs of buyers through IPCs enabled by AI-based solutions. In this way, the fit between needs and capabilities can be reached.Originality/value: The investigation of the role of AI in supplier scouting is original. The application of IPT to study the impact of AI in business processes is also novel. This paper contributes by investigating a phenomenon that is still unexplored and unconsolidated in a business context.