Submission deadline: 15 March 2024

Global Value Chains and the Natural Environment:
Advancing Knowledge for Research, Practice, and Policymaking


Guest Editors:

AMP Associate Editor:

Background

The rise of global value chains (GVCs) is perhaps the most notable phenomenon in the conduct of economic activity in the 21st century (Buckley & Strange, 2015; Gereffi, 2018; Gereffi, Humphrey, & Sturgeon, 2005). GVCs are the nexus of interconnected functions and operations through which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed across the globe (Kano, Tsang, & Yeung, 2020). About 50 percent of global trade takes place through GVCs (World Bank, 2020). Accordingly, GVCs and global supply chains play a key role in the field of management (Gereffi, 2019; Gereffi & Lee, 2012; Kano & Oh, 2020; Kano et al., 2020; Serdijn, Kolk, & Fransen, 2021; Villena & Dhanorkar, 2020). 

There is mounting evidence that GVCs have a profound impact on the natural environment. For example, business activities embedded in GVCs and global supply chains are increasingly taxing on the natural environment, including loss of biodiversity, potable water, and clean air and soils, threatening the survival of humankind (Rockström, Steffen, Noone, Persson, Chapin, Lambin et al., 2009; Sarkis, 2021; Steffen, Richardson, Rockström, Cornell, Fetzer, Bennett et al., 2015). Yet, research about GVCs and the natural environment is scarce. GVC research has thus far primarily focused on social sustainability (social/labor issues) and economic sustainability (upgrading) (e.g., Gereffi, 2019; Kano & Oh, 2020; Kano et al., 2020; Serdijn et al., 2021). A few recent studies have started to explore topics related to GVCs and the natural environment (Achabou, Dekhili, & Hamdoun, 2017; Ras & Vermeulen, 2009; Sun, Li, Ma, & He, 2019). Notwithstanding early research, there is a pressing need to advance our knowledge in the management field about GVCs and the natural environment that can shape theory, practice, and policy for years to come.

We believe that the management field should take a prime role in developing and disseminating knowledge about GVCs and the natural environment but is yet to grasp this opportunity (e.g., Nyberg & Wright, 2020; Sharma, 2022). As such, this special issue seeks to turn the spotlight on the ‘natural environment’ in GVCs and global supply chains so that management scholars can inform practice and policymaking about GVCs and the natural environment. 

Purpose and Aims

Against this backdrop, the purpose of this special issue is to provide the platform for a collective effort to advance new knowledge about GVCs and the natural environment for management research, policy and practice. For example, instead of considering the natural environment as exogenous, there is a need to study externalities, endogenize the natural environment, and understand how adverse effects can be avoided and not just managed. Similarly, businesses involved in GVCs often experience tensions, face trade-offs, and must make difficult choices to address pressing issues in the national environment. GVCs may also have contradictory and unexpected influences on the natural environment worldwide. They may be a driver of the so-called “the pollution haven effect” that threatens the natural environment in emerging markets and around the globe (Berry, Kaul, & Lee, 2021). Here the incentive challenge is replaced by co-opting solutions to evade rather than truly address the environmental problems (e.g., consider how carbon credits create a market for offsetting rather than solving emissions, pollution, and environmental harm).

The aims of this special issue include:

Prospective authors should note that the purpose of AMP is to carry consolidation and extensions of scholarly debates with a theoretical and policy significance (i.e. primarily conceptual work). Policy can encompass any level: state, society, economy, community and/or organizational. As such, we seek consolidations and extensions of scholarly conceptual debates on GVCs and the natural environment to advance theory, policy, and practice. 

Example Topic Areas of Interest

  1. Actors (institutions and stakeholders):
  1. Governance, authority, and responsibility:
  1. Time and temporality:
  1. Location and geography:
  1. Paradoxes, tensions, and trade-offs:
  1. Externalities and unintended consequences:

Paper Style

  1. Scholars are reminded that AMP seeks papers that advance theory and contribute to policy (broadly defined).
  2. We welcome conceptual and qualitative (e.g., narratives, multiple cases, experiments) papers, but note that AMP is neither a theory-tested nor a mathematical modeling journal.

Submission and Review Process

Submitted manuscripts must adhere to the scope, standards, format, and editorial policy of the Academy of Management Perspectives (AMP). “Author Guidelines” and the AMP Style Guide for Authors must be followed. All papers must be submitted through the official AMP submission system between 1 March 2024 and 15 March 2024, indicating that the submission is for this special issue.

The guest editors will organize two workshops as part of the call for papers. The first workshop (virtual) is an idea development workshop (IDW) before formal submissions and is intended to be held in autumn 2023. With this workshop, the guest editors and select expert scholars of the field will provide peer feedback on tentative ideas proposed within the scope of the call.

The second workshop (physical) is a paper development workshop (PDW) for authors who are invited to revise and resubmit a manuscript in early autumn 2024 hosted by Aarhus University. This workshop aims to offer in-depth and constructive comments to papers that received a revise and resubmit and steer the prospective authors toward a successful contribution to the proposed special issue and AMP. Attendance is not a precondition for publication, nor does participation in the workshops assure acceptance of the paper in the special issue. Details about the IDW and PDW will be communicated in time. 

Please send queries about the special issue to the guest editors.

References

Achabou, M. A., Dekhili, S., & Hamdoun, M. 2017. Environmental Upgrading of Developing Country Firms in Global Value Chains. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(2): 224-238.

Bank, W. 2020. World development report 2020: Trading for development in the age of global value chains. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Berry, H., Kaul, A., & Lee, N. 2021. Follow the smoke: The pollution haven effect on global sourcing. Strategic Management Journal, 42(13): 2420-2450.

Buckley, P. J. & Strange, R. 2015. The Governance of the Global Factory: Location and Control of World Economic Activity. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(2): 237-249.

Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J., & Sturgeon, T. 2005. The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy, 12(1): 78-104.

Gereffi, G. & Lee, J. 2012. Why the World Suddenly Cares About Global Supply Chains. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 48(3): 24-32.

Gereffi, G. 2018. Global value chains and development: Redefining the contours of 21st century capitalism: Cambridge University Press.

Gereffi, G. 2019. Global value chains and international development policy: Bringing firms, networks and policy-engaged scholarship back in. Journal of International Business Policy, 2(3): 195-210.

Kano, L. & Oh, C. H. 2020. Global Value Chains in the Post‐COVID World: Governance for Reliability. Journal of Management Studies, 57(8): 1773-1777.

Kano, L., Tsang, E. W. K., & Yeung, H. W.-c. 2020. Global value chains: A review of the multi-disciplinary literature. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(4): 577-622.

Nyberg, D. & Wright, C. 2020. Climate-proofing management research. Academy of Management Perspectives(ja).

Ras, P. J. & Vermeulen, W. J. V. 2009. Sustainable production and the performance of South African entrepreneurs in a global supply chain. The case of South African table grape producers. Sustainable Development, 17(5): 325-340.

Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin, F. S., Lambin, E. F., Lenton, T. M., Scheffer, M., Folke, C., Schellnhuber, H. J., Nykvist, B., de Wit, C. A., Hughes, T., van der Leeuw, S., Rodhe, H., Sörlin, S., Snyder, P. K., Costanza, R., Svedin, U., Falkenmark, M., Karlberg, L., Corell, R. W., Fabry, V. J., Hansen, J., Walker, B., Liverman, D., Richardson, K., Crutzen, P., & Foley, J. A. 2009. A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461(7263): 472-475.

Sarkis, J. 2021. Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 41(1): 63-73.

Serdijn, M., Kolk, A., & Fransen, L. 2021. Uncovering missing links in global value chain research – and implications for corporate social responsibility and international business. critical perspectives on international business, 17(4): 619-636.

Sharma, S. 2022. From Environmental Strategy To Environmental Impact. Academy of Management Discoveries, 8(1): 1-6.

Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S. R., de Vries, W., de Wit, C. A., Folke, C., Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Mace, G. M., Persson, L. M., Ramanathan, V., Reyers, B., & Sörlin, S. 2015. Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223): 1259855.

Sun, C., Li, Z., Ma, T., & He, R. 2019. Carbon efficiency and international specialization position: Evidence from global value chain position index of manufacture. Energy Policy, 128: 235-242.

 

 

Kind Regards,

Ismail Gölgeci
Associate professor, D.Sc.

Senior Associate Editor, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Aarhus University
Department of Business Development and Technology, School of Business and Social Sciences

Mobile: +4593521226

Email: [log in to unmask]

Skype: Ismail.Golgeci

AU Profile

Research Gate

Google Scholar

 

Recently published research:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850118306023

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850121000183

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850121000584

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJOPM-08-2020-0515/full/html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593121000640

 

____
AIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business.
For information: http://aib.msu.edu/community/aib-l.asp
To post message: [log in to unmask]
For assistance: [log in to unmask]
---
You must be an active AIB member to post to AIB-L. AIB-L has a moderator which checks messages for basic relevance. However, AIB does not edit or screen messages for accuracy or reliability of content. All subscribers are recommended to perform their own due-diligence before responding to any requests or calls. AIB accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.