Emerging Issues of Green Logistics in Manufacturing Firms of China: A Literature Review (Published)
With the world’s largest population and increased rate of growth, China’s economy is faced with a big concern of moving towards more sustainable development initiatives. This paper aimed to evaluate the emerging issues of green logistics in Chinese manufacturing firms. This research used content analysis to review literature from recent journals, magazines and newspapers to draw out secondary data that helped to analyse the drivers of green logistics practices and the challenges faced by Chinese manufacturing firms in implementing them. Material collection, descriptive analysis, category selection and material evaluation steps were used when conducting the analysis. The emerging issues of green logistics in Chinese manufacturing firms were found to be driven by regulatory measures, pressures arising from customers and competitors, and social cultural responsibility. Key barriers to green logistics implementation by these firms were associated with technical factors, organization factors, and financial and human resource constraints. A great deal of potential for green logistics studies is present in China and a proper research funding and infrastructure will aid in the sustainability agenda of this economy. For the Chinese manufacturing companies to cope up with the environmental crises, they need to consider environmental protection issues and integrate these with their operational decisions to create sustainability in their organizations. More co-operations in these firms is also needed with better top managerial support to govern employee’s green behaviour and avail technical resources and learning capabilities within the industry. Although few researchers have studied Green Supply Chain Management in China, this paper is unique in that it evaluates emerging issues of Green Logistics in Chinese Manufacturing firms using a literature review approach.
Keywords: Chinese manufacturing firms, Environment, Green Supply Chain Management, Literature Review, green logistics
Facility Location and Its Impact on the Environment: Using a Centralized and Decentralized Approach, a Case Study (Published)
There has been an increase in consumption of goods in the last century due to the rapid economic growth all over the world. Globalization has availed large streams of goods to meet this demand but the production, transportation, storage and consumption of these goods have caused environmental problems to emerge. Manufacturing companies are facing numerous pressures from the government and consumers to produce environmentally sustainable goods. The decision to set-up a plant is a strategic issue as the best facility location does not only ensure that the costs are minimized but also take care of the impacts on the environment. This paper presents a case of ABC Chinese steel manufacturing company operating in a centralized facility location approach and intends to evaluate the impact of a decentralized approach on the environment. A simulation of the two networks is run and the results reveal that the centralized approach is more suitable for this company as it is not only economical to them but it is also environmentally sustainable due to the lower carbon emissions produced by this model. The research concludes that facility location decisions greatly impacts the environment but the approach to adopt depends on the type of the product, mode of transportation and the choices of fuel.
Keywords: Environment, Simulation, Supply chain management, facility design, facility location