Abstract: Firms having a short-term temporal orientation has been stressed as a key underlying cause of many sustainability problems, such as poor labor practices in the supply chain, pollution spills and inadequate responses to climate change. Yet, little evidence has emerged to demonstrate that a longer-term orientation genuinely improves sustainability-related outcomes and risk. The paucity of research may be due to difficulties in measuring firm-level data for both the temporal orientation and sustainability risk. Furthermore, establishing a causal relationship between these constructs is challenging due to potential unobservable firm-level attributes and endogeneity. We propose a structured approach using an operations lens that taps into distinct dimensions of temporal orientation, one focused on product-related and another on process-related investment horizons. We use a novel unbalanced panel of North American manufacturing firms for the period 2007-17 to quantify sustainability risk. Using multiple empirical approaches, we find evidence that long-term product and long-term process orientation both cause a significant reduction in sustainability risk. Our research informs the managerial community on how long-term investment decisions may mitigate sustainability risk.
Biography: Robert D. Klassen is a Professor of Operations Management, and holds the Magna International Inc. Chair in Business Administration at the Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada. He also is currently serving as the Interim Director of Ivey’s Building Sustainable Value Centre.
Professor Klassen’s research explores the multi-faceted linkages between the natural environment, social issues and operations performance, termed the triple bottom line, with a particular focus on the pivotal role of supply chains. He has over 50 refereed publications, including widely cited articles in such journals as Management Science, Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and International Journal of Operations and Production Management, among others. He is now serving as co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Operations and Production Management. He also continues to serve as the Departmental co-Editor (Sustainable Operations) at Production and Operations Management, and has previously served in that role at the Journal of Operations Management.
Having recently completed a five-year term as Associate Dean, he is now teaching the core Operations Management course in the MSc program, and has previously taught this course and multiple electives in Sustainable Development, Services Management, and Technology Management in the undergraduate, MBA and EMBA programs. Professor Klassen has co-authored two textbooks, and written more than three dozen teaching cases and simulation exercises in the areas of sustainability, process analysis, and operations strategy.
Contact: Please reserve your place by emailing operationsgroup@wbs.ac.uk