Alexander C.H. Skorna

Manufacturing firms are increasingly exposed to pressures coming from the sustainability challenge. A thorough understanding of these drivers is important in order for firms to be able to react to the sustainability challenge. Since the sustainability challenge creates dynamic market conditions, dynamic capabilities are believed to be a key for firms in dealing with that dynamism. Knowledge-related dynamic capabilities appear to be particularly important in supporting firms to find solutions to the challenge. However, to the best of our knowledge, empirical evidence is rather limited so far. Therefore, it is the goal of this paper to examine these drivers and assess dynamic capabilities in the light of the sustainability challenge. Four case studies with multinational manufacturing firms provide empirical findings.

Transport and logistics operations are vulnerable to many types of risks due to an increasing dynamic and structural complexity of today's supply chain networks. Globally distributed sourcing and production lead to more transported goods in general but also to more high-value cargoes being shipped around the world. However, detailed information about the transport condition and integrity are not available in the end-to-end chain as logistics operations lack full transparency. Therefore, this paper identifies causes and risks of cargo-related losses by an analysis of cargo insurance claims. Based on these results, appropriate preventive measures to monitor and improve the product quality during logistics operations are derived.

Ecological innovations are assumed to generate business opportunities by reducing resource consumption while increasing quality of life at the same time. This research seeks to address how a firm's strategy influences the development of innovations with emphasis on sustainability and how incremental and radical innovations differ upon achieving competitive advantage. Based on a literature review, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are derived. With the help of a case study, the conceptual model and the propositions are validated

Transport and logistics operations are vulnerable to many types of risks due to an increasing dynamic and structural complexity of today's supply chain networks. Global distributed sourcing and production leads to more transported goods in general but also to more high value cargoes being shipped around the world. However, detailed information about the transport condition and integrity are not available in the end-toend chain as e.g. a sealed container can be considered as "black box". In this paper we firstly analyze claims data from one of the largest transportation insurance providers in Europe. The sample consisted of 7,284 claims made in the recent four years (2005 - 2008) as a result of incidents in transportation. Through a variance analysis, we demonstrate differences among industries in terms of average losses, transportation mode and premium coverage. Secondly, based on these findings an active risk management framework will be developed using sensor-telematics and localization technologies to increase visibility and transparency in supply chain operations fitting industries' current needs. Findings from this paper provide facts on how prevention can be implemented in logistics. The results give practitioners in the supply chain management and marine cargo insurance industry a deeper understanding of current transportation risks and how to address them by creating innovative value-added services to differentiate logistics and insurance solutions effectively from competitors.