Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463 – 473

Reverse logistics, stakeholders' influence, organizational slack,

and managers' posture
M a José Álvarez-Gil a,⁎, Pascual Berrone a,1 , F. Javier Husillos b,2 , Nora Lado a,3
a
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Department of Business Administration, Calle Madrid 126, Office 6.45, Getafe (28903) Madrid — Spain
b
Universidad Pública de Navarra, Department of Business Administration, Arrosadía s. n., Pamplona (31006) — Spain
Received 1 April 2005; received in revised form 1 November 2006; accepted 1 December 2006

Abstract

Reverse logistics (RL) has strategic importance. However, little is known concerning what motivates firms to adopt RL systems. Drawing on
stakeholder theory formulations, organizational slack, and the manager's strategic stance concept, this article develops a model that proposes
external, internal, and individual factors that affect the implementation of RL programs. Our framework considers three major explicative
variables: the attributes of the stakeholder (power, legitimacy and urgency), organizational slack for RL programs, and the manager's strategic
posture. The study draws on a sample of 118 Spanish companies and uses a probit model to determine the influence of these factors on the
probability of firms to implement RL systems. The study finds that customers, employees, and the government salience in terms of RL activities
and manager's progressive posture have a significant influence on the final decision of implanting RL programs. Conversely, the study finds that
shareholder salience negatively impacts the decision.
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Reverse logistics; Stakeholder theory; Organizational slack; Strategic posture

1. Introduction constitute the most common procedures of Reverse Logistics

(RL) (Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999; Stock, 1992).
Many studies in logistics assume that the supply chain flow RL gains importance in economic terms. For instance, the
begins with the incorporation of raw materials into the transfor- value of returned products to the retail sector of the Unites
mation process, and ends with the delivery of the product to the States exceeded 100 billion US dollars in recent years (Stock
final consumer. However, Ginter and Starling (1978) report that et al., 2002). From a strategic point of view, many firms have
a reverse channel of distribution could be central in business begun to consider these programs as potential to gain and
activities. Some studies confirm this assertion. The protagonis- maintain competitive advantage, leading to proactive initiatives
tic role of the consumer (Homburg et al., 2000), the increasing (Marien, 1998). However, the determinants of these initiatives
public consciousness and regulations on environmental issues remain largely unexplored by the academic community.
(Henriques and Sadorsky, 1996), and the change in the strategic Drawing on diverse but complimentary theoretical formula-
focus of firms (Madsen and Ulhoi, 2001) considerably tions, we propose that RL programs result from a combination
encourage activities such as the return, recondition, refurbish of external, organizational, and individual factors. Because the
and recycle of products and packaging. All these activities activities of RL involve multiple relationships between different
stakeholders (e.g. suppliers, customers) and the firm, we em-
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 91 6249643; fax: +34 916249607. phasize the role different stakeholders have on the RL systems
E-mail addresses: [Link]@[Link] (M.J. Álvarez-Gil), implementation. Furthermore, we analyze both the role of
[Link]@[Link] (P. Berrone), [Link]@[Link] organizational slack and the executive's strategic stance as
(F.J. Husillos), [Link]@[Link] (N. Lado).
1
Tel.: +34 916249892; fax: +34 916249607. potential determinants of RL programs. Empirically we assess
2
Tel.: +34 948166084. the impact of these factors on the probability of firms to adopt
3
Tel.: +34 91 6249640; fax: +34 916249607. RL systems. The results suggest that stakeholder pressures and a
0148-2963/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/[Link].2006.12.004
464 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473

proactive stance of managers increase the odds that companies planning, implementing and controlling flows of raw materials,
will implement RL programs. However, the weight and the in process inventory, and finished goods, from the point of use
significance of different measures of organizational slack were back to a point of recovery or point of proper disposal”
not always found to be a relevant factor in this decision. (REVLOG, 2004). This definition implicitly depicts the
Research and analysis provide three important contributions relationships between the firm and other participants in the
to the existing literature. First, the study empirically examines supply and value chain. For instance, the flow of raw materials
the determinants of implementation by providing clarification is related to suppliers and the stream of finished goods clearly
of the RL decision making process. Second, the chosen involves customers and distributors. Hence, activities related to
approach combines stakeholder theory with the concepts of RL imply complex relationships between individual firms and
organizational slack and manager's strategic posture by offering multiple stakeholders.
a solid theoretical framework on which future research can be
developed. Finally, the article offers a European perspective on 2.2. Literature and strands of research
RL in extending the existing empirical research.
To illustrate the study the discussion begins by examining The literature on RL is diverse and heterogeneous. In its
the concept of RL through a review of previous research and by origins, this body of research was mainly undertaken in
presenting general motivation for RL. In support the article explorative terms. The evidence was mostly anecdotal and
outlines a model and proposes three working hypotheses, which diffused through professional publications (Carter and Ellram,
a study tests on a sample of 118 Spanish firms from the auto- 1998; Knemeyer et al., 2002). In the academic arena, it was not
motive component industry. The article concludes with a until recent years that RL became an issue of importance.
discussion of the theoretical and practical significance of the However, with the exception of a few studies (e.g., Carter and
study, its limitations, and a proposed agenda for future research. Ellram, 1998; Daugherty et al., 2001, 2002), most of the work
done intends to either develop mathematical models, focus
2. Background on reverse logistics on case studies, or simply outline broad overviews of
implementation.
2.1. The concept Dowlatshahi (2000) defines five categories of the literature
on RL: (i) studies wherein the authors attempted to provide the
Perhaps because of its rapid trajectory of significance the basic concepts and a general summary of RL (e.g. de Brito and
concept of RL has not been homogenously defined (Fernandez, Dekker, 2004; Kopicki et al., 1993; Rogers and Tibben-Lembke,
2003). We can identify definitions that exclusively consider 1999; Stock, 1992, 1998); (ii) scholarly works addressing
economic or environmental aspects of RL; and other explana- quantitative approaches (Fleischmann et al., 1997; Fleischmann
tions that capture both aspects simultaneously (Kroon and et al., 2000; Minner, 2001). The techniques and models used in
Vrijens, 1995; Rogers et al., 1999; Thierry et al., 1995). There these types of articles have enhanced different aspects of the RL
are also definitions that stress specific traits of the processes of systems; such as extending product life cycle or remanufacturing
RL; such as related activities, the materials involved, and points operations; (iii) papers dealing with more specific logistical
in the supply chain. For instance, Carter and Ellram (1998) issues such as distribution, warehousing, and transportation (e.g.
emphasized the environmental aspect of RL and defined it as the Jahre, 1995; Pohlen and Farris, 1992); (iv) examinations of
“process whereby companies can become more environmen- company profiles illustrating that some manufacturing technol-
tally efficient through recycling, reusing, and reducing the ogies have a critical role in the performance of RL systems (e.g.
amount of materials used” (p. 85). Alternatively, Rogers and Thierry et al., 1995); and (v) research into applications of RL in
Tibben-Lembke (1999) highlighted the economic aspects of goods produced, for instance, of plastics, papers, metals, and
RL. They argued that RL is “the process of planning, imple- other materials (e.g. Kroon and Vrijens, 1995).
menting, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw Although some of these authors provide a strong base to
materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related develop RL programs and their subsequent policies, an analysis
information from the point of consumption to the point of origin of the factors that affect the decision process of implementation
for the purpose of recapturing value of proper disposal” (p. 2). remains, at best, limited. Additionally, little theory-based re-
Integrating the economic and environmental viewpoints, search has focused specifically on RL (Daugherty et al., 2001).
Thierry, Salomon, Nunnen, and Wassenhove (1995) coined
the term of “Product Recovery Management”, which stresses 2.3. Motivations for reverse logistics
the recovery of economic and ecological value of discarded
materials, products and components. More recently, Guide and Earlier literature depicted three main driving forces for the
Van Wassenhove (2003) expanded the notion of the traditional use of RL: economic, corporate citizenship, and legislation (de
Supply Chain by defining the Closed-Loop Supply Chain Brito et al., 2004). Economic forces indicate that RL activities
concept, which integrates both the forward and reverse supply such as remanufacturing, reuse of materials, and product
chains. refurbishing have the potential to improve profitability through
For the purpose of this present article, we opt for a more cost minimization, access to new consumer segments, and in-
general conception of RL. In this sense, the European Working creased revenues (see Stock et al., 2002). In this context, Guide
Group on Reverse Logistics defines RL as “the process of and Van Wassenhove (2001) cited the company Recellular,
 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473 465

mentioning that this firm has remanufactured over a million argument, we should consider both the internal and external
phones for almost 10 years, finding a profitable market in this factors which influence RL implementation, in order to answer
activity. Even without instantaneous profit, RL may be helpful our research question.
to generate potential intangible benefits like corporate image
improvement, legislation anticipation, or competitive advantage 3. Theoretical framework and hypotheses
creation (Stock et al., 2002; Toffel, 2004), which are expected to
secure the firm's future income. In this section the article argues that the interaction of
Corporate citizenship, also called “extended responsibility” external, organizational, and individual factors determine the
(de Brito et al., 2004), refers to the search for sustainable RL implementation. External forces stem from the varying
development from an environmental and social point of view. A degrees of pressure by stakeholders, and the strength of their
case in point is the shoe company Nike. It encourages claims' depends on their salience. The study also considers the
consumers to return their used shoes, which are then shredded availability of resources as the key organizational factor which
and made into basketballs for the less fortunate (Rogers et al., determines activities of RL. Finally, the article analyzes how the
1999). The application of certain methods of waste manipula- strategic preferences of managers impact the final decisions
tion, which is better in an environmental sense, is another good regarding the implementation of RL programs.
example of corporate citizenship.
The legislation issue refers to the norms imposed by any 3.1. A reverse logistics model
jurisdiction which dictate the legal obligations of a firm. Tradi-
tionally, Europe has been very active in this sense. For instance, 3.1.1. External pressures. A stakeholder approach
in 1991 Germany imposed the first mandatory take-back Freeman (1984) defines a stakeholder in an organization as
program with its “Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
Waste”. Within this law the manufacturer is responsible for achievement of the organization's objectives” (1984: 46). The
collecting, sorting, and recycling the packaging of their survival and success of a firm is a consequence of its capacity to
products. Several years later the European Union implemented establish and maintain a relationship with its network of
this legislation as the “Directive on Packaging and Packaging stakeholders (Clarkson, 1995; Post et al., 2002). According to
Waste.” According to this enactment a firm within a Member this view, the manager is responsible for the supervision of all
State has five years to comply with the requirements concerning stakeholders' claims and not only of the shareholders' welfare.
packaging waste. A minimum of 50% of the waste must be It is her responsibility to coordinate the constellation of com-
recovered, 25% of the total recycled, in addition to recycling at petitive and cooperative interests, which give the firm its raison
least 15% of each material type. (Toffel, 2003). d'etre (Hill and Jones, 1992).
These three forces are not mutually exclusive. Instead they are In this sense, literature on RL has stressed the importance of
very highly related and boundaries between each may be blurred different pressuring groups in the development of such pro-
(Carter and Ellram, 1998). For instance, the automotive industry's grams (e.g. Carter et al., 1998; Drumwright, 1994; Sidell, 2003;
case showed that battery returns helped to reduce waste and Smith et al., 1997). The requirements of different stakeholders
production costs, and simultaneously enhanced customer satis- like suppliers, customers, governmental agencies, NGOs
faction (Marien, 1998). Similarly, the recycling process of a firm (Carter et al., 1998; Toffel, 2003) and shareholders (Guide
may be as a consequence of an increased environmental concern and Van Wassenhove, 2001) can be seen as instigators of RL
in a society, while improving the firm's corporate image. As an implementation. In other words, stakeholders have various
example, Black and Decker's use of RL through recycling claims which the firm can satisfy through RL activities. For
generated one million dollars in revenue, and simultaneously instance, customers may claim longer periods for warranties,
enhanced its environmental performance (Andel, 1997). resulting in returns and repair activities. Recycling may satisfy
While most researchers would agree on these three general NGO's demand for responsible environmental behavior. The
motivations for RL, conclusions regarding their origins are shareholders' profit maximization goal requires cost control and
rather unclear. Do they emanate from inside the firm or from the increased profit, which may be obtained through handling
outside? For example, are proper disposal programs initiated by recalls and reuse of material. These examples help to illustrate
the firm, or are they a response to the environmental claims of the special suitability of stakeholder theory for capturing how
non-governmental-organizations (NGOs)? Alternatively, are external forces encourage RL. These ideas are graphically
they a consequence of both? represented in Fig. 1.
Another unresolved issue concerning RL is why some firms Stakeholders might achieve some of their claims through
proactively implement such programs while others do so activities of RL. Thus, the first key question is how firms
reactively. Whereas many firms wait to be regulated before identify and prioritize different stakeholders. Mitchell et al.
applying any RL programs (Daugherty et al., 2002), others (1997), after an in-depth revision of the literature, concluded
make proactive attempts to do so (Marien, 1998). This evidence that the salience of an interest group depends on the manager's
indirectly suggests that the strategic stance of the decision perception of three stakeholder attributes: power, legitimacy
makers in a firm (e.g. senior management) plays a key role in and urgency (See for an empirical demonstration in USA (Agle
determining implementation. Previously this issue has received et al., 1999), and in the Spanish context (Fernandez and Nieto,
very little attention in the literature. Following this line of 2004)). These characteristics are further defined as the power to
466 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473

Fig. 1. Stakeholders' claims and firm's responses.

influence the firm, the legitimacy of the stakeholders' claims, implementation of business opportunities. This factor is of
and the urgency of the stakeholders' demands as related to the special importance to this research since RL is resource intensive
organization. Consequently, the notoriety of stakeholders (Daugherty et al., 2001; Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 2001).
improves as they acquire power, legitimacy and urgency, and Economic funds are vital for the development of RL systems.
as the manager perceives these attributes (Mitchell et al., 1997). Estèe Lauder, for instance, needed $1.3 million for its RL system
In other words, as the importance of stakeholder increases, their of scanners, business-tools and data warehouse (Caldwell, 1999).
level of influence on the firm's behavior also increases. Availability of resources can be approached through the
Furthermore, stakeholder salience is issue-based (Buysee and concept of organizational slack. Organizational slack is the
Verbeke, 2003), implying that some stakeholders may have excess of actual or potential resources which help an
more influence on certain topics. As a result, the present article organization to overcome internal or external pressures
expects that claims toward RL activities of salient stakeholders (Bourgeois, 1981). The slack stems from the amount of
will have a positive impact on the decision of the firm in resources in excess of the minimum necessary to achieve a
implanting RL systems. Based on this logic, this study presents given level of production (Nohria and Gulati, 1996). This slack
the first hypothesis. improves the firm's capacity of adaptation to the environment
(Meyer, 1982). At the same time, this excess enhances the
Hypothesis 1. Stakeholder salience in terms of RL has a
innovative capacity of firms (Cyert and March, 1963; Sharma,
positive influence on the probability of firms to implement RL
2000) and their proactive strategies (Chakravarthy, 1982).
systems.
The organizational slack concept seems particularly appro-
priate for systems of RL. These systems require the organiza-
3.1.2. Organizational factors. Availability of resources tion's labor, time, material, machinery, and external services.
The previous section establishes the importance of stake- New technologies, techniques, transportation, and information
holders in RL, and how their claims influence the firm to adopt systems may also be necessary to launch the program. As a
these types of systems. However, the intensity of the consequence, this study expects that as the organizational slack
stakeholders' pressure is not enough to reach a final conclusion increases and the resources for RL are more abundant, the
regarding whether the firm will take specific action (Ullmann, likelihood of such activities being implemented increases. This
1985). Organizational and individual factors might be determi- idea is depicted by the following hypothesis:
nant in the final decision of implementing RL programs.
Hypothesis 2. Organizational slack will have a positive
Aspects such as the allocation of resources to RL (Daugherty
influence on the probability of firms to implement RL systems.
et al., 2001) and the strategic posture of the manager vis à vis
RL (Kopicki et al., 1993) are relevant in the decision to
implement RL activities. 3.1.3. Individual factors. The strategic stance of the decision
According to conventional thought, the availability of maker
resources (March and Simon, 1958; Ullmann, 1985) is a key As the final part of the model, the article considers the
organizational factor that determines the pursuit and successful individual strategic preference of the decision maker as an
 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473 467

additional explanatory factor in RL implementation. Both 4. Methods

theoretical (Cyert and March, 1963; Child, 1972; Hambrick and
Mason, 1984) and empirical research (Aragon-Correa et al., 4.1. Sample and data
2004; Chaganti and Sambharya, 1987; Wiersema and Bantel,
1992) have arrived at the same conclusion: organizational The research analyses firms from the auxiliary automobile
strategic profiles reflect the individual preferences of senior industry in Spain. A deep study of the industrial activities
management. Because managers reside at the strategic apexes of classified in the SIC codes (Appendix A shows the final list of
their firms, their personal views are very likely to influence the selected activities) was carried out to determinate firms that
strategic decisions of the firm. belong to auxiliary automobile industry. Previous research
In general terms, the manager and the senior manager team related to supply chain management in general and RL in
can adopt two opposite strategic attitudes. At one end is the particular provides evidence that the sector is well-suited for this
manager with a progressive attitude and standing opposite the analysis. For instance, Benton and Maloni (2005) show that,
manager with a conservative attitude. The progressive attitude is within the automobile industry, supplier satisfaction is mainly
characterized by an active search for the satisfaction of driven by the type of buyer–supplier power relationship rather by
stakeholders' claims, a permanent control of the environment, a their performance. Similarly, Daugherty, Richey, Hudgens, and
continuous pursuit for competitive advantage and business Autry (2003), conducted their study in the automobile
opportunities, and less aversion to risk. This attitude is associated aftermarket industry and found that the trust and commitment
with proactive pattern of behavior. In contrast, the conservative relationships improve the reverse logistic performance.
attitude is associated with greater aversion to risk, a commitment The starting point is the 1150 biggest firms (in terms of sales)
to maintain the status quo and therefore with a reactive pattern of in the Spanish auxiliary automobile industry. From this
behavior (Bantel and Jackson, 1989; Crant, 2000; Gupta and population, the study drew a random sample of 200 companies.
Govindarajan, 1984; Karake, 1995; Wiersema and Bantel, 1992). The most conservative estimate of p (0.50) was used in the
Earlier literature has identified these polar stances in regards to sample size calculation for a single proportion. The confidence
RL. Firms with a passive posture will only implement RL level was set at 95%. The maximum tolerable error was equal to
activities as a consequence of external or internal pressures, which 6, 3%, a value that is considered more than acceptable. This study
are difficult to elude and lead to reactive execution of programs develops a questionnaire and uses the financial statements to
(Kopicki et al., 1993). A passive posture, in some firms, could be gather information regarding the different theoretical constructs.
due to what Rogers and Tibben-Lembke (1999) referred to as The process of designing the questionnaire consists of two
“management inattention” (pp. 14), that is, the management's lack stages. The first one includes an extended literature review,
of interest in RL. These authors argued that management wherein the study analyses previous studies which measure the
inattention is one of the main barriers in adopting programs of same theoretical construct. The initial questionnaire takes into
RL. On the other hand, a proactive firm does not wait for account results of this literature review, as well as discussions
unavoidable pressures before implementing RL systems (Kopicki with colleagues and experts. The second stage comprises four
et al., 1993). Rather, the decision maker takes the lead on this type meetings with auxiliary automotive managers, taking the draft
of activity. Hart (1995) provides a good example of a proactive questionnaire as the guide. The aim of these interviews is to
RL initiative. The German automobile company BMW started a ensure that items selected are accurately understood and that
design-for-disassembly program in 1990, which was oriented they adapt to the common practice in the industry. Interviews
towards the recovery and recycling of car components. BMW help to modify some items and incorporate new ones in
anticipated a proposed governmental take-back policy and created collaboration with the targeted public. After developing the
an exclusive network with the few sophisticated dismantler questionnaire, 158 out of the 200 possible questionnaires were
companies in Germany. By being the precursor in the industry, completed through personal interviews with the Chief Execu-
BMW not only anticipated the future policy but also gained a cost tive Officers (CEOs) of the firms. The survey has taken place
advantage over competitors, who were left to deal with inferior between November, 2004 and February, 2005. Data from the
recycling firms, or had to invest in their own dismantling financial statements for the years 2002 and 2003 complement
infrastructure. BMW's early move enabled its executives to the information obtained from the questionnaires. These
establish a national standard, and obligated other car companies to statements come from the Central Mercantile Register (Registro
follow this initiative, but at significantly higher costs (Hart, 1995). Mercantil Central), which is the official institution that gathers
Based on the above paragraphs, the present study argues that information from companies across the geography of Spain.
managers with a progressive strategic posture will be more Financial statements were available for 118 firms, out of the 158
willing to implement RL. Contrarily, a manager with a conser- firms that participated in the questionnaire. These firms
vative strategic posture will avoid changes and risks and, in compose this study's final sample.
turn, will be more unlikely to embark in these activities. This
argument is summarized in our third hypothesis: 4.2. Measures

Hypothesis 3. A progressive strategic posture of the manager 4.2.1. Reverse Logistics implementation (RL)
will have a positive influence on the probability of firms to This is the dependent variable. In order to obtain a valid
implement RL systems. measure of RL implementation RL has to have the same
468 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473

meaning and significance for all the interviewees. Thus, the As a consequence, the final measure for each stakeholder
questionnaire begins with the presentation of the RL program salience in terms of RL implementation is obtained using the
or system definition. In the present study, RL programs are the following formula:
return process management of raw materials, in-process inven-
tory, finished goods and/or related packaging materials with X
3
SSi ¼ ri T wk Tak :
the objective of recycling, reusing, reducing, repairing, k¼1
reselling and/or recapturing value of proper disposal for the
amount of materials used. Next, managers are asked to state Where SSi is the stakeholder salience in terms of RL for
whether or not the firm had implemented a formal program or stakeholder i, ri is the degree of satisfaction that stakeholder i
system of RL. Answers are captured in a dummy variable that would obtain with the implementation of RL, wk is the weight
assumes value 1 if the firm has implemented a RL program and for the attribute k (power, legitimacy, and urgency), and ak
0 otherwise. value of attribute k.

4.2.2. Stakeholder salience in terms of RL (SS) 4.2.3. Organizational Slack (OS)

In order to make this construct operational, two issues The analysis uses four indicators of organizational slack,
have to be specified: first, why the study selects some stake- taken from previous studies (see Bourgeois, 1981; Hambrick
holders and not others; and second, how the article mea- et al., 1996; Singh, 1986). Then, the paper values companies'
sures the salience in terms of RL to each stakeholder. capabilities to implement programs of RL. Concerning financial
Concerning the first issue, this approach follows Freeman's statements, the study identifies the following indicators:
(1984) lead, and selects generic stakeholder groups: custo- working capital as a percentage of sales, debt as a percentage
mers, government, owner, employees and local community. of equity, general and administrative expense as a percentage of
These stakeholders could attract much of the managers' sales, and net profits. The study assumes that all of these
attention throughout various types of firms. Agle et al. (1999) measures will have a positive effect on the probability of RL
demonstrate the relevance of these stakeholders in relation implementation, except for debt as a percentage of equity, for
to their salience in general, while Fernández-Gago and Nieto- which the study expects a negative sign. The study uses data
Antolín (2004), demonstrate such relation with regard to based on two-year averages prior to the moment when the
environmental issues, and the managers interviewed in the questionnaire takes place, that is, 2002–2003. Such averages
pretest-stage have paid specific attention to the Spanish also provide a robust view that avoids spurious effects and data
auxiliary automobile industry. fluctuations commonly observed in cross-sectional or lag
To determine the salience of the stakeholder in terms of studies (Balkin et al., 2000; Tabachnick and Fidell, 1996).
RL, the study creates an index that accounts for three main
components. First, the index considers the different theoret- 4.2.4. Manager's strategic posture (PROACTIVITY)
ical dimensions of stakeholders' salience: the degree of each The study departs from the previous section definition of
stakeholders' power, legitimacy and urgency (Mitchell et al., manager's progressive or conservative attitude and proactive–
1997). These attributes are captured by adapting to the passive behavior of firms. Then, the article considers a set of
Spanish context the scale as developed by Agle et al. (1999). five different items which managers in the pretest-stage helped
Second, the index takes into account the relative importance to create with the aim to encapsulate the construct strategic
of these attributes for each stakeholder. Previous research has posture of the manager. Since this construct owns a cognitive
assigned equal weight to these components. However, the and behavioral dimension, two items illustrate the concept of
relevance of these attributes is likely to be different and vary progressive and conservative attitude, while the other three were
across the stakeholder group. The study constructs weights for measure the proactive and passive behavior of companies (see
each attribute and for each stakeholder, based on the study of Appendix B). The items are valued using a Likert scale
Agle et al. (1999), with the main purpose to identify these (1 = strongly disagree–7 = strongly agree), leaving the use of the
differences and by adopting an ethic approach (Malhotra average of the five items for subsequent analysis.
et al., 1996) as characterized by the presence of universals.
Lacking a better measure, this article assumes that this 4.2.5. Control variables
approximation is superior to simply assigning equal weights. Similar to standard controls in much of the academic re-
This approach coincides with the recommendation of previous search, the study controls for firm size, and economic perfor-
studies for cross-cultural research (Gupta and MacMillam, mance. The firm's total employees on a log scale represent Size,
2004; Javidan and Carl, 2004). Finally, the research takes into and return on equity (ROE) represents economic performance.
account the relationship between the fulfillment of the
stakeholders' demands and the implementation of RL 4.3. Data analysis and model specification
activities from the managers' point of view. To capture this
component, the study has explicitly created an item to be To test the hypotheses, the study uses probit analysis due to
subrogated in the role of the RL to satisfy the stakeholders' the binary nature of the dependent variable. Probit models
exigencies. All the items are valued using a Likert scale assume normality in the distribution of errors. Although the
(1 = strongly disagree–7 = strongly agree). normality assumption should only be taken as an approximation,
 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473 469

the probit model provides a useful descriptive model for the acceptable given the early stage of research with some of
binary event that a firm implement RL programs. The general these constructs (Nunnally, 1978; Smith et al., 1991). Table 1
specification captures the effect of each stakeholder salience (SS) also shows that customers are the stakeholders with the highest
in terms of RL, organizational slack (OS), and the strategic score in salience, followed by shareholders and employees.
posture of managers (PROACTIVITY) on the probability of Table 2 reports means, standard deviations, and correlation
implementing RL programs (RL). As a consequence, the article between variables analyzed in the present study.
considers the following probit model: Table 2 shows 28% of the firms in the sample have
implemented a formal RL system. Analysis of the correlation
PrðRLi ¼ 1Þ ¼ UðX VbÞ: matrix shows that saliencies of all stakeholders are positive and
Where Φ is the cumulative normal distribution function and significantly correlated with RL implementation, providing
( ) follows this specification: initial support for Hypothesis 1. Two of the measures of
organizational slack (Expenditures/Sales and Net profit) have the
X
5 sign as predicted in Hypothesis 2, but are insignificant. The other
PðRLi Þ ¼ b0 þ b1 Size þ b2 ROE þ b2þk SSi two measures have opposite expected signs and are also trivial.
k¼1 Furthermore, a progressive strategic posture of the manager is
X
4
þ b7þk OSi þ b12 PROACTIVITY: highly associated with RL implementation, suggesting prelimi-
k¼1 nary support for Hypothesis 3.
Table 3 summarizes the results for RL implementation, based
In terms of the significance of the coefficients, Hypothesis 1 on the probit regressions. The specification in column A
holds whenever β3–β7 are positive, while Hypothesis 2 works if includes the control variables. Column B adds variables
coefficients β8, β10, β11 are positive, and β9 is negative. Finally, proxying for the salience of each stakeholder. Columns C and
Hypothesis 3 is confirmed when β12 is positive in the D replace the latter set of variables describing the firm's
specification. resources and the executive progressiveness, respectively.
The construct validity in the present study rests in the process Finally, column E is the broadest model, which includes the
whereby the measurements are developed: extracting the scales sets of variables examined in A through D.
and measurement of the previous literature and consulting with Column A captures the impact of control variables on the
members of the population studied to adapt these items or develop dependent variable. It shows that the size of the firm has a
new ones in agreement with the reality in Spain. Notwithstanding positive but minor impact on the probability of implementing
scales, Cronbach's alpha coefficients are calculated to value the RL programs, while financial results have a negative influence
internal validity of the items analyzed in the questionnaire. On the on this possibility, suggesting that RL programs may be imple-
other hand, in relation to the discriminant validity the study mented after a period of poor performance. These results are
considers that where the correlation between two scales is lower constant throughout all models.
than the reliability of each scale, the degree of validity is Column B shows the coefficients for stakeholder salience
acceptable (Chan and Cui, 2004; Daugherty et al., 2003; Gaski and their individual impact on the likelihood of implementation.
and Etzel, 1986; Gaski and Nevin, 1985). The article finds that the coefficients for customer, employees,
and government salience are positive and significant. The
5. Results results are confirmed in the full model (column E), where the
customer salience has the biggest coefficient of all stakeholders'
Table 1 reports reliability and shows Cronbach's alpha and the most significant (p b 0.001), followed by employees
coefficients for the measures of stakeholder salience and (p b 0.01), and government (p b 0.05). These results support
PROACTIVITY. Hypothesis 1. However, contrary to the study expectations, the
Table 1 shows that in every case the coefficient alpha is impact of shareholder salience is negative and marginally
higher than its correlation with the rest of the scales. In addition, significant (p b 0.1), whereas community salience is not sig-
relating to reliability, the alpha coefficients fluctuate from 0.65 nificant, providing no evidence to the first hypothesis. Overall,
to 0.82. These reliability coefficients can be considered results provide mixed support for Hypothesis 1.

Table 1
Evidence of items reliability and discriminant validity a
Construct Items Mean Sad. 1 2 3 4 5 6
PROACTIVITY 5 5.01 0.82 (0.67)
Customer-salience 3 4.29 1.43 0.146 (0.71)
Government-salience 3 3.37 1.42 −0.26 0.21⁎ (0.66)
Shareholder-salience 3 4.89 1.50 0.231⁎ 0.52⁎ 0.19⁎ (0.73)
Employees-salience 3 3.98 1.27 0.252⁎ 0.34⁎ 0.17⁎ 0.45⁎ (0.65)
Community-salience 3 2.16 1.43 −0.13 0.18⁎ 0.40⁎ 0.19⁎ 0.21⁎ (0.82)
n = 158 (full sample). Values calculated with the reduced sample (n = 118) did not change significantly.
⁎Correlations are significant at 0.1 level.
a
The quantities in the main diagonal are the coefficient alphas.
470 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473

−.02
Table 3
12
Results of probit analysis on reverse logistic implementation a
Variable Dependent variable

− .09
− .09
11

Reverse logistics implementation

A B C D E

− .13
− .06
− .06
10

Controls
Economic − .66† − 1.48⁎ − .66† −.63† −1.65⁎

− .15†
.12
− .04
− .07
performance
Size .09 .38 .09 .09 − .01
9

Stakeholder salience
.05⁎⁎⁎ .07⁎⁎⁎
− .14
.07
− .03
.07
− .01
Customer
Employee .03† .04⁎⁎
8

Shareholder − .03† − .05†

.04⁎ .04⁎
.51⁎⁎⁎

Government
Community − .02 − .02
−.02
−.10
−.01
.12
.09

Organizational slack
7

Working capital − .25 − .98

Debt .08 .21
.65⁎⁎⁎
.40⁎⁎⁎

Expenditures/sales .43 5.37†

.18†
−.06
−.01
−.04

.14

Net profit 1.3e-9 1.7e-7⁎

6

Executive orientation
PROACTIVITY .39⁎⁎ .70⁎⁎
.45⁎⁎⁎
.47⁎⁎⁎
.57⁎⁎⁎

Log likelihood − 74.36 − 51.24 − 74.13 − 71.58 −44.82

−.19⁎
.01
−.02
.08
.02

Pseudo-R2 .05 .27 .05 .09 .36

7.85† 37.36⁎⁎⁎ 13.40⁎⁎ 50.23⁎⁎⁎
5

χ2 8.3
p b 0.10 ⁎p b 0.05 ⁎⁎p b 0.01 ⁎⁎⁎p b 0.001.
†
.44⁎⁎⁎
.53⁎⁎⁎
.52⁎⁎⁎
.31⁎⁎

a
Sample size n = 118.
.02
−.08
.01

.04
.11
4

Column C depicts the coefficients of the different measures

.40⁎⁎⁎
.25⁎⁎

.30⁎⁎

.22⁎
.18†

.15†

of organizational slack, all of which are insignificant. However,

− .01
.02
.02
.04

Expenditures/Sales (p b 0.1) and Net profit (p b 0.05) are

3

positive and significant in the full model. These results provide

.50⁎⁎⁎

weak support for Hypothesis 2.

− .22⁎⁎
.18†

.16†
.06
.12
.13
− .05
.05

.06
.11

Column D tests the impact of the progressive strategic posture

2

of the manager on the probability of implementing RL programs.

Parallel to the article expectations, the study finds that the
− .25⁎⁎

− .18⁎
− .15†
− .15†
.01

.05
.04
− .01
− .01

.05
− .06
.04

progressive strategic posture of the manager has a positive and

significant influence (p b 0.01) on both individual and full
1

models, providing strong support for Hypothesis 3. Finally, it

8.88
8.52
1.00

2.56
1.40
0.37

6.67
43.77

49.00
39.25
35.16
37.56

is important to note that the full model explains 36% of the total
28000
Max

variance and is highly significant (p b 0.001). High correlations

between salience measures could lead to potential multicolinear-
ity problems. In order to avoid these problems, the present study
2.00
− 3.33

1.00
1.90
1.00
0.00
0.00

1.00

− 1.24
− 3.37
0.00

3.00
−3247.4

includes a sensitive analysis that eliminates variables in different

Min

steps of the estimations. In general, results hold.

0.44
11.71

9.60
1.25
1.44

0.06
9.44

0.31
0.44

0.77
12.57
10.82

6. Discussion and conclusion

2971.2

values are presented in thousands of Euros.

p b 0.10, ⁎p b 0.05, ⁎⁎p b 0.01, ⁎⁎⁎p b 0.001.
S.D.

Values are presented in thousands of euros.

This article has investigated the antecedents of RL implemen-

Descriptive statistics and correlations

tation. Based on stakeholder theory, the concepts of manager's

17.90
0.28

17.61
14.93
0.29

12.59

8.37

0.09
3.32

0.14
0.60

5.14
Mean

672.9

strategic stance and organizational slack, the study suggests that

the probability of firms implanting RL systems depends on the
stakeholder salience, the availability of resources of the firm, and
7. Government salience
6. Shareholder salience

8. Community salience

11. Expenditures/sales
3. RL implementation

5. Employee salience

a progressive strategic posture of the manager. Overall, the study

4. Customer salience

13. PROACTIVITY
9. Working capital

validates the theoretical contention. Customers, employees, and

1. Performance

12. Net profit a

the government salience in terms of RL activities have a

significant influence on the final decision of implanting programs
10. Debt

n = 118.
Table 2

2. Size

of RL. Conversely, shareholder salience impacts negatively. One

possible explanation is that RL programs often require long-term
†
a
 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473 471

investments, which are likely to hinder short-term profits. As a Moreover, there is a common belief among various researchers,
consequence, shareholders may be reluctant to engage in that the maximization of the benefits for the shareholders is the
investments with uncertain pay-offs. Relatedly, the study finds principal driver of the RL process. This study suggests that both
that past economic performance has a negative impact on the odds governmental and some market stakeholders like customers and
of implementing RL programs. This suggests that managers may employees are likely to influence the firm in terms of RL.
opt to implement RL programs in order to satisfy the claims of the Nevertheless, it seems that RL initiatives are not being directly
customers or the community as a way to gain legitimacy with used to meet the shareholders needs. As previously recognized,
them when shareholders are negatively affected, that is, after a the study cannot generalize based on its results. However, it is
period of poor economic results. This reinforces the idea of RL as important for managers to identify in their environment which
an important strategic issue for managers. stakeholders demand RL activities, and to take a proactive
Some measures of organizational slack increase the odds of approach to make these activities profitable. RL programs can be
implementing such programs. However, the magnitude and the of assistance in providing better services to stakeholders, such as
significance of organizational slack depend crucially on the customers, who increasingly demand warranties, take-backs, and
measure used. These differences might be explained considering repairs. Systems of RL can help in complying with regulations,
the multidimensional nature of the concept and the consequent and environmental laws. Consequently, RL may act as a valuable
difficulty in choosing an accurate measure (Dutta et al., 2005). tool in achieving stakeholder satisfaction of the firm and should
Finally, the results confirm anecdotal evidence of previous studies be taken into account by managers in their strategic agenda.
(Kopicki et al., 1993) that the strategic stance of executives is
relevant in deciding whether to implement programs of RL. Acknowledgements

6.1. Implications for research Authors wish to thank Fundación BBVA and the project
“Estrategias en las empresas europeas internacionales y med-
The contribution of the study to existing literature is ioambiente: análisis de recursos humanos, producción y negocio”
threefold. First, we present a theoretical model that simulta- for supporting this research. They also acknowledge the help of
neously captures the external, organizational, and individual Prof. Dr. Carlos Larrinaga in providing access to financial
factors. Originally, studies in RL were descriptive and based on statements. They are indebted as well to the Spanish Minister of
anecdotal evidence. More recently, scholars have noted the Education and Science and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid
relevance of conducting RL research based on theoretical basis which have provided financial support under the research projects
(Daugherty et al., 2002; Guide and Van Wassenhove, 2003; entitled “Diseño e implantación de las estrategias medioambien-
Toffel, 2004). Extending this line of inquiry, the study suggests tales de aprovisionamiento, fabricación y comercialización:
a stakeholder approach as a promising framework in which to relación con el rendimiento organizativo” (sec2001-1578-c02-
conduct future research. Second, the article provides empirical 01), “La dirección de operaciones y las teorías de stakeholders y
evidence from a European perspective since the sample is de recursos y capacidades. Implicaciones estratégicas en la
composed of Spanish firms. Europe has been traditionally more gestión del ciclo de vida de los equipos informáticos” (SEJ04-
active on issues like environmental activities and regulation 07877-C02-02),. “Efectos de los distintos tipos de relaciones entre
(Toffel, 2003). Consequently, an interesting future line of las empresas y sus mercados: prácticas de marketing, orientación
research would be conducting similar analysis from a US al mercado y resultados económicos”, and “ Innovación versus
perspective to see if the model is applicable outside Europe. imitacón: un test de la capacidad innovadora de las empresas de la
Third, this work provides empirical results based on a large- Comunidad de Madrid “. First author wishes to thanks Prof. Dr.
scale study, enhancing the limited evidence of the RL issue. The Martin Natter, Strothoff-Stiffungsprofessur für BWL, insbes.
main limitation, however, is the fact that the research is centered Handel, at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am
in one industrial sector and, as a consequence, the generaliza- Main, Germany. Third author is also grateful for the FPI training
tion of the conclusions is limited. Subsequent research could programs of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Ministry of
explore whether our theoretical contention is suitable for other Education and Science).
contexts. The study exclusively considers whether firms
implemented RL programs or not. Thus, the article does not Appendix A
delve into aspects such as the performance of these programs or
their impact on organizational dimensions, as in business-to- Activities selected to the present study
business relationships. These topics are left for future research.
SIC Activity

6.2. Implications for practice 3465 Automotive stampings

3519 Internal combustion engines
3537 Tractors, trailers and stackers
An open debate in the RL literature is related to which 3647 Vehicular lighting equipment
stakeholder exerts more pressure on firms to adopt RL activities. 3694 Electrical equipment for internal combustion engines
While some have suggested that most programs of RL are the 3711 Motor vehicles and passenger car bodies
results of governmental regulations, others have argued that 3713 Truck and bus bodies
customers and suppliers are likely to stimulate such activities. (continued on next page)
472 M.J. Álvarez-Gil et al. / Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 463–473

(continued)A (continued )
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