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  • Fall 2013
  • Article
  • Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change

By: Chonnikarn Fern Jira and Michael W. Toffel
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Abstract

Suppliers are increasingly being asked to share information about their vulnerability to climate change and their strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their responses vary widely. We theorize and empirically identify several factors associated with suppliers being especially willing to share this information with buyers, focusing on attributes of the buyers seeking this information and of the suppliers being asked to provide it. We test our hypotheses using data from the Carbon Disclosure Project's Supply Chain Program, a collaboration of multinational corporations requesting such information from thousands of suppliers in 49 countries. We find evidence that suppliers are more likely to share this information when requests from buyers are more prevalent, when buyers appear committed to using the information, when suppliers belong to more profitable industries, and when suppliers are located in countries with greenhouse gas regulations. We find evidence that these factors also influence the comprehensiveness of the information suppliers share and their willingness to share the information publicly.

Keywords

Knowledge Sharing; Motivation And Incentives; Risk Management; Climate Change; Supply Chain Management; Environmental Sustainability

Citation

Jira, Chonnikarn Fern, and Michael W. Toffel. "Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change." Special Issue on the Environment. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 15, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 559–577.
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About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
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More from the Authors
  • Manage the Suppliers That Could Harm Your Brand: Know When to Avoid, Engage, or Drop Them By: Jodi L Short and Michael W. Toffel
  • Assessing Prediction Accuracy of Machine Learning Models By: Michael Toffel and Natalie Epstein
  • T-tests: Theory and Practice By: Michael Parzen, Natalie Epstein, Chiara Farronato and Michael Toffel
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