Purpose: The implementation of reverse logistics (RL) as a strategic decision has gained significant attention amongst organisations due to its benefits to sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature to evaluate the performance of the RL process based on the three dimensions of sustainability including environmental, economic and social aspects.Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was adopted to collect and analyse the information.Findings: The findings of this research show that most of the studies have focused on the performance evaluation of RL by considering the factors associated with economic and environmental performance. The social aspect of RL has been overlooked and requires investigation due to its contribution to positive social outcomes. In addition, no research has been conducted to assess the impact of each of the disposition options on the triple-bottom-line sustainability performance in one study.Originality/value: Although RL can make a significant contribution to improving the sustainability performance of firms, little research has been undertaken on exploring the relationship between RL and sustainability performance. This paper provides practitioners, academics and researchers a broad and complete view of the relationship between RL and sustainability performance with suggestion for future research.
28 August 2018 in Packaging Technology and Science
Discussions surrounding the global shortage of seafarers (especially ship officers) continue to evolve and have attracted the attention of a growing number of researchers and industry practitioners in recent times. There is a general consensus within the literature that ship-to-shore mobility among seafarers (including officers and unlicensed mariners) is increasing. Prolonging the number of years that seafarers spend at sea and their subsequent retention is therefore an important issue that requires further attention. This conceptual paper (which is the product of a systematic literature review on seafarers) argues that to effectively retain ship officers and cadets at sea, the range of factors negatively influencing their retention must be identified and sufficiently managed by shipping industry employers. The result from the synthesis of the reviewed literature shows that the range of retention issues that shipping industry employers need to focus on relates mostly to the following: satisfaction with job and employer, opportunities for career progression and good working conditions. The paper also examines the cluster of human resource practices and theories among industry employers and how they eventually predict the mobility of seafarers to landside jobs. Recommendations are given on how shipping industry employers may be able to alleviate the current labour crisis within the shipping industry through prudent retention strategies.
Regulatory Technology (RegTech) is an emerging set of computing and network-based information systems and practices intended to enhance and improve regulatory compliance processes. Such technologies rely on collecting exclusive information from the environment and humans through automated Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and self-reported data. The key enablers of RegTech are the increased capabilities and reduced cost of IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. This article focuses on a survey of RegTech, highlighting the recent developments in various sectors. This work identifies the characteristics of existing implementations of RegTech applications in the financial industry. It examines the critical features that non-financial industries such as agriculture must address when using such technologies. We investigate the suitability of existing technologies applied in financial sectors to other industries and the potential gaps to be filled between them in terms of designing information systems for regulatory frameworks. This includes identifying specific operational parameters that are key differences between the financial and non-financial sectors that can be supported with IoT and AI technologies. These can be used by both producers of goods and services and regulators who need an affordable and efficient supervision method for managing relevant organizations.