Purpose: This paper aims to explore the potential of blockchain technology (BT) to support the operational excellence in perishable food supply chain (PFSC) during outbreaks, by doing use-case analysis.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review is performed to determine the dimensions of operational excellence in the food supply chain (FSC), then a single use-case analysis is conducted to explore the potential of blockchain in order to achieve operational excellence for PFSC during the pandemics by applying context, interventions, mechanism and outcomes (CIMO) logic.Findings: The findings of this study reveal that blockchain capabilities such as immutability and transparency, visibility, traceability, integration and interoperability, disintermediation and decentralisation, smart contracts and consensus mechanism provide better sustainable operational excellence outcomes for PFSCs to be more responsive, flexible, efficient and collaborative to cope with the impacts of COVID-19.Research limitations/implications: This research employs only one real case with multiple PFSC participants. Statistical generalisation is not possible at this stage of the research. However, the findings are not restricted to this single use-case.Practical implications: This study provides a research direction to explore the potential of BT to achieve operational excellence in the PFSC during outbreaks and generates prescriptive knowledge for better managerial decision-making across the PFSC during outbreaks.Originality/value: This research conducts semi-structured interviews with different participants in one blockchain ecosystem to understand multiple participants' perspectives of operational excellence within PFSC.

To formulate multi-tier supply chain management strategies with global impact, understanding the roles of various supply chain partners in disseminating sustainability along the supply chain is crucial. We analyze the influence of different supply chain positions on sustainability and financial outcomes of Turkish manufacturing companies listed in İstanbul Stock Exchange (BIST). We propose a sustainability measure, and rank firms according to their sustainability practices in relation to their financial outcomes using data envelopment analysis (DEA). We estimate Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) equations to control for the common financial shocks that can affect sustainability and financial outcomes simultaneously. Our analysis reveals that first-tier and sub-supplier (second-tier and lower-tiers) firms’ financial performance is substantially better compared to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) firms while their sustainability outcomes stay behind. We find that this latter effect is more profound for first-tier firms. Although the supplier firms generally comply with the OEM’s product standards, our results show that they are not aligned with the OEM in terms of the environmental and social impact of their operations. Given the crucial role of first-tier suppliers in sustainability dissemination along the supply chain, policies should be formulated in this industry amid these characteristics of the sustainability dissemination.

The literature has reached a consensus that ISO standardization enhances the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance of companies, which in turn has a positive effect on corporate financial performance (CFP). There is less understanding in terms of the effect of different certifications and underlying mechanisms between the effect of the ISO certification on the CFP. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different ISO certifications on the CFP of Turkish companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST). Based on audited financial statements of a population of 148 manufacturing companies listed during 2010–2022 and using the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique, this study shows that the number of ISO certifications has a positive impact on return on asset (ROA) and Tobin’s Q, however, no direct effect on operational efficient and R&D intensity. While there is no effect of the occupational health and safety management systems certification on ROA and Tobin’s Q, the analysis brought forward that ROA seems to be positively affected by the standards referring to environmental, energy, quality, and information security management systems certification while Tobin’s Q is positively affected by the last two certifications.

The empirical literature considers firm-specific aspects affecting corporate sustainability decisions but generally omits the influence of the competition. We advocate that sustainability actions of a company impact its marketplace and vice versa. Therefore, the sustainability return of the single firm is a function of the other firms’ sustainability decisions. We approach sustainability decisions as strategic decisions and evaluate the effect of competition and spillovers in a static market entry game. We estimate the parameters of the discrete choice model using the social performance ratings from MSCI KLD 400 Social Index as proxy for sustainability decisions and financial information from Wharton Research Data Services’ COMPUSTAT dataset. When strategic interaction is not accounted for, we find that an increase in the number of competitors increases the likelihood of sustainability investments, seemingly shows the spillover effect dominates the competition. When we apply the multi-stage approach, which incorporates competitive interaction, we provide empirical evidence that the effect of competition on the likelihood of entry into the sustainability market dominates the effect of spillover. We find that strategic motives, typically ignored in the empirical literature, appear to be an important factor in understanding sustainability-related decisions.

Sustainable production and operations (SPO) are widely expected to influence firm performance through improvements in efficiency, legitimacy, and organizational capabilities. This study uses ISO certifications as a proxy for SPO and examines both adoption determinants and performance implications using a balanced panel of 142 manufacturing firms listed on the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) over a 10‐year period (2012–2022). An integrated econometric and system dynamics (SD) framework is employed. The econometric results indicate that ISO adoption is associated with firm size, prior financial performance, and selected governance characteristics, although effects vary across certification types. Evidence on performance effects remains limited: while some specifications suggest efficiency gains, results are not robust once persistence and endogeneity are considered, and no consistent relationship is observed for revenue or market valuation. Simulation results suggest that sustainability effects may develop gradually over time, with diminishing returns and increasing uncertainty. Overall, SPO should be viewed as a dynamic, long‐term capability, with ISO certifications affecting performance indirectly through learning and feedback processes.

Extreme weather can impact both businesses and consumers in significant ways. Firms can be affected through changes and disruptions in production and operations but can also be affected through the demand response as consumers’ demand for various goods and services changes due to extreme weather. We investigate the interdependence between the extreme temperatures and the AC demand. Demand for ACs in Turkey is growing in the last decades due to both demographic factors and an episode of rapid increase in the GDP per capita. However, the pace of the growth is not uniform and varies due to the existence of different climatic and socioeconomic conditions across different regions of Turkey. To reckon with time and cross-sectional variation as well as the city level climatic and socioeconomic differences, we estimate a dynamic fixed effect (DFE) model and use cointegration framework to identify short and long run effects of the extreme weather on the AC demand. We find strong evidence of a long run equilibrium effect where the consumer demand for ACs increases significantly due to extreme hot weather.