Innovators and Transformers Revisiting the gap between academia and practice: insights from the green logistics phenomenon
Jazairy, Amer; Pohjosenperä, Timo; Prataviera, Lorenzo Bruno; Juntunen, Jouni (2024-07-08)
Emerald
08.07.2024
Jazairy, A., Pohjosenperä, T., Prataviera, L.B. and Juntunen, J. (2025), "Innovators and transformers: Revisiting the gap between academia and practice: insights from the green logistics phenomenon", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 55 No. 4, pp. 341-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-12-2023-0497
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© 2024, Amer Jazairy, Timo Pohjosenperä, Lorenzo Bruno Prataviera and Jouni Juntunen. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2024, Amer Jazairy, Timo Pohjosenperä, Lorenzo Bruno Prataviera and Jouni Juntunen. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202408135358
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202408135358
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Purpose:
Logistics and supply chain management (L&SCM) scholars and practitioners have devoted extensive efforts to advancing green logistics practices (GLPs), yet the intersection between the two domains in relation to the topic remains underexplored. To accelerate GLPs’ development amid the escalating climate crisis, this research examines this intersection by comparing the responsiveness of academia and practice to the call for green logistics over time.
Design/methodology/approach:
To compare between academia and practice, we combined a systematic literature review on the development of GLPs in L&SCM journals (N = 122) with a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports published by the four major global logistics service providers (LSPs: DHL, DB Schenker, UPS and FedEx; N = 156) over the past three decades.
Findings:
This research reveals that all the GLPs covered in the L&SCM literature have already been applied and reported by practitioners, both consistently and over a significant period of time. Academic progress, in turn, is delayed by slow-paced empirical methods, elevated research quality standards, prolonged funding and recruitment processes, and extended peer-review intervals. Further, a tendency toward reactive knowledge creation rather than proactive knowledge transfer is evident, obscuring the role of L&SCM scholars in steering the industry’s green advancement.
Practical implications:
Recommendations are offered to L&SCM authors, editors, reviewers and university departments to advance pracademic endeavors in green logistics research and increase its responsiveness to global events.
Originality/value:
This is one of the first studies to scrutinize the intersection between academia and practice on the evolution of GLPs. The revealed gaps prompted us to suggest a transformative paradigm for academia-practice collaborations targeting the L&SCM discipline at large, combining a bold proactive research stream aimed at knowledge transfer with a more traditional reactive stream aimed at knowledge creation.
Purpose:
Logistics and supply chain management (L&SCM) scholars and practitioners have devoted extensive efforts to advancing green logistics practices (GLPs), yet the intersection between the two domains in relation to the topic remains underexplored. To accelerate GLPs’ development amid the escalating climate crisis, this research examines this intersection by comparing the responsiveness of academia and practice to the call for green logistics over time.
Design/methodology/approach:
To compare between academia and practice, we combined a systematic literature review on the development of GLPs in L&SCM journals (N = 122) with a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports published by the four major global logistics service providers (LSPs: DHL, DB Schenker, UPS and FedEx; N = 156) over the past three decades.
Findings:
This research reveals that all the GLPs covered in the L&SCM literature have already been applied and reported by practitioners, both consistently and over a significant period of time. Academic progress, in turn, is delayed by slow-paced empirical methods, elevated research quality standards, prolonged funding and recruitment processes, and extended peer-review intervals. Further, a tendency toward reactive knowledge creation rather than proactive knowledge transfer is evident, obscuring the role of L&SCM scholars in steering the industry’s green advancement.
Practical implications:
Recommendations are offered to L&SCM authors, editors, reviewers and university departments to advance pracademic endeavors in green logistics research and increase its responsiveness to global events.
Originality/value:
This is one of the first studies to scrutinize the intersection between academia and practice on the evolution of GLPs. The revealed gaps prompted us to suggest a transformative paradigm for academia-practice collaborations targeting the L&SCM discipline at large, combining a bold proactive research stream aimed at knowledge transfer with a more traditional reactive stream aimed at knowledge creation.
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