Purpose

This study aims to examine and understand the impact of reverse logistics adoption on firms' digitalization and collaboration activities. Specifically, leveraging the knowledge-based view, this study examines how adopting sustainable logistic practices (reverse logistics) prepares firms to embrace digitalization and encourages them to collaborate with other organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used longitudinal survey data from two waves (2017 and 2019) from the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research. The authors used the negative binomial regression analyses to test the impact of reverse logistics adoption on the digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration dependent count variables.

Findings

The study's findings highlight the usefulness of reverse logistics in enabling digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration. The results show that the firms investing in sustainable supply chains will be better positioned to nurture digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration.

Practical implications

For resource-bound managers, this study provides an important insight into prioritizing activities by highlighting how reverse logistics can facilitate digitalization and collaboration. The study demonstrates that the knowledge generated by reverse logistics adoption can be an essential pillar and enabler toward achieving firms' digitalization and collaboration goals.

Originality/value

The study is among the first to examine the effect of reverse logistics adoption on firm activities that are not strictly associated with the circular economy (digitalization and collaboration). Utilizing the knowledge-based view, this study reports on the additional benefits of reverse logistics implementation previously not discussed in the literature.

中文翻译：

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下一步是什么？采用逆向物流对数字化和组织间协作的影响

目的

本研究旨在检验和了解采用逆向物流对公司数字化和协作活动的影响。具体而言，本研究利用基于知识的观点，研究采用可持续物流实践（逆向物流）如何让企业做好迎接数字化的准备，并鼓励他们与其他组织合作。

设计/方法/途径

该研究使用了来自曼海姆欧洲经济研究中心的两波（2017 年和 2019 年）的纵向调查数据。作者使用负二项式回归分析来检验采用逆向物流对 数字化和组织间协作 相关计数变量的影响。

发现

该研究的结果强调了逆向物流在实现数字化和组织间协作方面的作用。结果表明，投资于可持续供应链的公司将更有能力培育数字化和组织间协作。

实际影响

对于资源受限的管理者，本研究通过强调逆向物流如何促进数字化和协作，提供了对活动优先级排序的重要见解。该研究表明，采用逆向物流产生的知识可以成为实现公司数字化和协作目标的重要支柱和推动因素。

原创性/价值

该研究是首批研究采用逆向物流对与循环经济（数字化和协作）不严格相关的企业活动的影响的研究之一。利用基于知识的观点，本研究报告了以前未在文献中讨论过的逆向物流实施的额外好处。