綠色供應鏈管理創新策略—探索策略聯盟學習機制與制度化理論之關聯性

Abstract

由於全球的自然環境不斷地惡化，今日世界所面臨的環境問題在未來幾年對人類而言可堪稱是最嚴峻的挑戰。因而，在組織體系如何在執行生產過程中成功大量地運用綠色開發與綠色創新可以有效的節省企業與環境資源，並對於環境造成最小的影響就顯得特別重要。而組織學習是一個循環的過程，在企業層次中透過已經學習得到的知識在組織中不斷地被制度化；而先前研究缺乏對於綠色供應鏈夥伴廠商間的管理策略提出一個整合性的架構，提供給後續產官學界一個完整性的觀點。因此，本研究目的在發展一個聯盟綠色知識學習機制(Alliance Green Knowledge Learning)與制度化過程(Institutional Process)的創新策略，以鼓勵公司去執行綠色供應鏈與綠色創新，為了進一步改善他們的環境績效，以及強化在全球市場的競爭優勢。綜合多學科的導向，本論文從策略聯盟觀點多方探索綠色供應鏈創新策略的前因、過程與結果，試圖建構一個全面性的概念架構以填補先前的缺口。 此外，本研究使用資源基礎觀點(Resourc-Based Views)與制度化的相關理論(Institutional Related Theory)去探索組織在聯盟夥伴間的互助行為，因為透過資料分享合作組織可能面對相似環境的影響迫使他們去採用相似的策略或實務去獲取目標；發展一套模型與提出十四個研究假設進一步驗證實務上的效果。研究假設透過342份台灣上市櫃公司的問卷，並結合調查方法與結構方程模式去收集與分析以勾勒出供應鏈與物流管理模式。研究結果指出在執行綠色供應鏈管理環境下聯盟綠色知識學習與制度化過程對於聯盟績效扮演極重要角色；再者，研究不只顯示內部供應鏈與外部環境導向對於綠色供應鏈管理與聯盟績效產生正面且顯著的影響之外，更重要的是描繪出綠色供應鏈的運作實務。此外，本研究顯示介於聯盟資與成員間市場與產品的相似性並非對於組織學習利益的前提，結果與先前大部份研究不同；同時也發現合法性的角色對於策略聯盟可能是取得競爭優勢的關鍵來源，特別是在制度化的過程。本研究也建議利用策略聯盟事件的聯盟合法化補充解釋以綜合策略與制度化的觀點擴大現有的研究成果；另外，結果亦顯出外部與內部壓力易會造成企業採用綠色供應鏈管理；相同地，本研究顯示制度失效的影響不只在制度化的過程，但對於聯盟績效依據所處的脈絡或多或少產生影響，特別是針對契約與資訊問題所造成的交易成本增加。因此，本研究指出策略聯盟的好處必須克服制度的失效，例如：降低若制度所產生的成本與風險。 最後，辯證本研究目標、研究重要發現並突顯制度的同形與失效在創造企業群組與網絡的角色，以及在彰顯亞洲企業統治機制可能的角色；本研究亦指出合作可以被當成一個不只是建構在綠色市場制度缺口與獲取競爭優勢有效的工具。本研究也提供影響綠色供應鏈管理創新策略潛在利益的實際證據，本研究開啟一個新穎與有趣的研究問題，並對未來給予更多元的研究方向，並同時間對於未來研究架構的構念化與後續理論的測試當成是一個催化劑。

The environmental problems the world is facing today, with their growing severity and increasingly global nature, are often called the most serious challenge that humanity has to face in the coming years. Therefore, successful green development and the implementation of green innovation in an organizational system can produce a significant savings in regard to the use of business and environmental resources and therefore will result in a smaller environmental impact. However, organizational learning is a cyclical process through which knowledge that has been learned at the firm level is continuously institutionalized at the organizational level. Thus, this study is aimed at developing an innovation strategy for alliance green knowledge learning mechanisms and institutional processes that encourage companies to implement a green supply chain and green innovation in order to improve their environmental performance and to enhance their competitive advantage in the global market. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, this dissertation explores the antecedents, processes and consequences of green supply chain management (SCM) innovation strategies from a strategic alliance perspective in order to build a comprehensive conceptual framework that fills the gaps in previous research. In addition, the resource-based view and institutional theory are used to explore the behavior of organizations in alliance partnerships because through data sharing cooperation, organizations may face similar environmental influences, thus pushing them to adopt similar strategies or practices to achieve their goals. A research model is developed, and fourteen hypotheses are proposed for further empirical validation. The hypotheses are tested based on the major survey data from 342 Taiwanese firms listed on the stock market. A combination of survey methodology and structural equation modeling is employed to collect and analyze the data drawing from a sample of supply chains and logistics managers. The results indicate that alliance green knowledge acquisition and institutionalization processes play prominent roles in firm alliance performance when implemented in a green SCM context. Moreover, this study not only demonstrates that both the internal supply chain and external environmental orientations exert a positive and significant influence on green SCM and alliance performance, but also, more importantly, they delineate how green SCM is practiced. In addition, this study shows that similarity between alliances and company markets and products is not a prerequisite for great learning benefits and also indicates that legitimatizing the role of strategic alliances may be a critical source of competitive advantage, especially in the institutional process. This study also extends recent efforts to synthesize strategic and institutional perspectives by suggesting that strategic and operational explanations of alliances complement a legitimate explanation of the strategic alliance phenomenon. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that the concepts of isomorphism and institutionalization are related and that both external and internal forces may assume that same role in the green SCM adoption decision. Similarly, it is shown that the effects of institutional voids are not only dependent on the institutional process, but that alliance performance is also dependent on the context in which it occurs. Without such institutions, contracting and information problems are more likely to arise, resulting in higher uncertainty and higher transaction costs. Therefore, this study suggests that strategic alliance benefits are based on a need to overcome institutional voids i.e. the need to reduce the costs and risks associated with weak institutions. Finally, to justify our research objectives, the role of institutional isomorphism and voids in creating business groups and networks are outlined and emphasized, and their possible role in illuminating corporate governance mechanisms regarding Asian firms is accentuated. The study also demonstrates that collaboration can be used as an alternative means to not only bridge institutional gaps in the green market, but also to achieve competitive advantages. This study also provides empirical evidence of the potential impact of green SCM innovation strategies and opens the doors for new and intriguing questions and fruitful future research, while at the same time serving as a catalyst for further conceptualization and subsequent theory testing.