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We discuss workforce management, related to those aged 50+ , in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea. With international competitiveness becoming increasingly crucial, retaining the ‘right’ mix of employees to achieve strategic organisational goals is likely to determine organisational success. However, we argue that workforce management is not only influenced by organisational-level strategy but also by national institutional and sectoral policies. Decisions on whether and how to retain older workers are therefore (co-)determined by institutional incentives and barriers to doing so.

We find that British and Korean governments have legislated in favour of extended working lives and, hence, the retention of ageing workforces. In the United Kingdom, pension eligibility ages are being increased and in Korea mandatory retirement age has been raised to age 60. While changes to the UK pension systems leave individuals with the (financial) risks associated with extended working lives, the Korean government tries to protect individuals from financial hardship by enabling them to remain longer in their primary career. However, whether and how government regulation plays out depends on how organisations react to it. The Korean discussion, in fact, shows that there might be leeway: organisations might continue to externalise their employees early framed as honourable, or voluntary, early retirement, which might not be in the interest of the individual but very much in the interest of the organisation. It therefore appears as if the retention of ageing staff is not (yet) considered to be of strategic importance by many organisations in these countries.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of monitoring and mentoring strategies on sustainability diffusion within supply networks through focal companies and how suppliers engage in implementing these strategies.

The paper reports on three in-depth case studies conducted with focal companies and their suppliers. An interaction approach was adopted to guide the analysis of focal companies’ strategies for implementing and diffusing sustainability in supply networks.

The monitoring strategy impacts sustainability diffusion at the dyadic level, while the mentoring strategy is a prerequisite for the diffusion of sustainability at the supply network level. The findings suggest that coupling monitoring with mentoring can lead to diffusion beyond first-tier suppliers. Interaction intensity, supplier proactiveness and mindset change facilitate sustainability diffusion in supply networks.

The authors suggest more research be conducted on specific practices within monitoring and mentoring, as some of these imply very different levels of commitment and interaction.

The paper suggests that in the future, companies will be increasingly called upon to adopt cooperative initiatives to enable the diffusion of sustainability in supply networks.

The contribution of the paper lies in its identification of the impacts of monitoring and mentoring strategies on the diffusion of sustainability in networks, revealing different supplier engagement in these strategies, which may foster or hinder sustainability diffusion.

The purpose of this paper is to address the challenges faced by small businesses and to explain the importance of using strategic innovation to achieve long-term sustainability and viability.

This study of small business innovation includes reviewing the types and determinants of innovation as well as strategies to overcome innovation barriers. In addition, the authors developed a model that portrays elements needed for strategic innovation that supports the long-term viability of small businesses.

Small businesses serve as the economic foundation for many nations because they stimulate innovation, provide jobs, foster competitiveness and support overall economic growth. Small businesses can rapidly adapt to change, adopt new strategies and provide flexibility that supports strategic innovation. As a result, strategic innovation is a key driver of sustainable competitive advantage for small businesses.

Small business leaders need to integrate strategic innovation with their strategic planning to remain competitive. The strategic innovation model presented in this paper can assist them in understanding elements needed for successful strategic innovation and long-term viability.

Globally, small businesses exert a strong influence on economic growth and create opportunities, employment and technological development. This paper will assist small business leaders as they strive to use strategic innovation to strengthen their competitive capabilities.

The unique strategic innovation model that the authors developed can help small businesses to achieve long-term sustainability and viability in the competitive marketplace.

Time waiting for service is a major concern for consumers, and excessive waiting for a pre‐scheduled appointment is especially annoying. This is an on‐going problem because appointment scheduling is a challenging task, mainly due to the uncertainties associated with service times. Prior studies have focused mainly on a single scheduling period (i.e. either a morning or afternoon); this paper uses a more realistic model that represents an on‐going, multi‐period scheduling environment where clients can be scheduled days or even weeks into the future. Two main objectives will be considered; the best scheduling rule to use in a multi‐period environment, and the best placement of appointment slots that are left open for urgent clients. Both of these have been studied in a single period environment, and results here will be compared to those. It will be shown that in some cases earlier findings from the one‐period environment are robust and perform well in a multi‐period environment, while in other cases the one‐period findings do not apply.

The concept of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) integrates the environmental and social sustainability dimensions into the management of supply chains. However, the understanding of the management of social sustainability in the supply chain is relatively underdeveloped. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore the adoption, emerging approaches and the (un)intended outcomes of social sustainability in the supply chain as well as supply chain social sustainability in the Arab world.

This paper systematically reviews 396 peer-reviewed papers on social sustainability in the supply chain published between 1997 and 2020.

The review identifies and discusses three types of factors influencing the adoption of social sustainability in the supply chain: drivers, enablers and barriers. The review also identifies four main approaches to tackling social issues in the supply chain, namely an internal approach (e.g. internal adaptation), a hands-off approach (e.g. supplier switching), a hands-on approach (e.g. collaboration practices) and a relational approach (e.g. justice). The review also reveals that although addressing these issues can generate positive outcomes, it can also lead to unintended negative outcomes such as increased social violations and the perception of unfairness among suppliers.

This study complements the existing literature reviews on the social dimension of SSCM by not only providing an update of the current literature and shedding light on an emerging approaches (e.g. justice) to tackling social issues in supply chains but also by exposing the unintended negative consequences of tackling social issues, a subject that has largely been overlooked to date.

This study aims to examine publications of supply chain management (SCM) researchers from across the world and maps the leadership role of authors and institutions based on how prolific they are in publishing and on network measures of centrality while accounting for the quality of the outlets that they publish in. It aims to inform stakeholders on who the leading SCM scholars are, their primary areas of SCM research, their publication profiles and the nature of their networks. It also identifies and informs on the leading SCM research institutions of the world and where leadership in specific areas of SCM research is emerging from.

Based on SCM papers appearing in a set of seven leading journals over the 15-year period of 2001-2015, publication scores and social network analysis measures of total degree centrality and Bonacich power centrality are used to identify the highest ranked agents in SCM research overall, as well as in some specific areas of SCM research. Social network analysis is also used to examine the nature and scope of the networks of the ranked agents and where leadership in SCM research is emerging from.

Authors and institutions from the USA and UK are found to dominate much of the rankings in SCM research both by publication score and social network analysis measures of centrality. In examining the networks of the very top authors and institutions of the world, their networks are found to be more inward-looking (country-centric) than outward-looking (globally dispersed). Further, researchers in Europe and Asia alike are found to exhibit significant continental inclinations in their network formations with researchers in Europe displaying greater propensity to collaborate with their European-based counterparts and researchers in Asia with their Asian-based counterparts. Also, from among the journals, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal is found to exhibit a far more expansive global reach than any of the other journals.

The journal set used in this study, though representative of high-quality SCM research outlets, is not exhaustive of all potential outlets that publish SCM research. Further, the measure of quality that this study assigns to the various publications is based solely on a publication score that accounts for the quality of the journals, as rated by Association of Business Schools that the papers appear in and nothing else.

By informing the community of stakeholders of SCM research about the top-ranked SCM authors, institutions and countries of the world, the nature of their networks, as well as what the primary areas of SCM research of the leading authors in the world are, this research provides stakeholders, including managers, researchers and students, information that is helpful to them not only because of the insights it provides but also for the gauging of potential for embedding themselves in specific networks, engaging in collaborative research with the leading agents or pursuing educational opportunities with them.

This research is the first of its kind to identify and rank the top SCM authors and institutions from across the world using a representative set of seven leading SCM and primary OM journals based on publication scores and social network measures of centrality. The research is also the first of its kind to identify and rank the top authors and institutions within specific areas of SCM research and to identify future research opportunities relating to aspects of collaboration and networking in research endeavors.