Dr Chris Lo (left) and Dr Di Fan (right).
Dr Di Fan and Dr Chris Lo are the recipients of the 2020 Jack Meredith Best Paper Award, which is awarded by the Journal of Operations Management (JOM), a flagship journal in operations management. The editor-in-chief of JOM first submits the list of nominees. Then all of the departmental editors, who are world-renowned scholars from top business schools, vote for the award recipients.
The findings of their study, Deviations from aspirational target levels and environmental and safety performance: Implications for operations managers acting irresponsibly, are featured in international media outlets, including the Guardian (International Edition), Sydney Morning Herald, The Age (Melbourne), and Yahoo! UK & Ireland. The article was a Wiley top downloaded paper (2018-2019) and a featured article in JOM.
Deviations from aspirational target levels and environmental and safety performance: Implications for operations managers acting irresponsibly examines how financial performance affects corporate social responsibility and explores how human aspirations play a role in this relationship. It is found that anxieties lead poor performing firms to cut corners in employee safety and environmental protection, whereas hubris leads profitable corporate giants to ignore using resources to abide with laws. The findings imply that both underperforming and overperforming firms tend to tolerate unethical behaviours, while firms closer to the norm behave better.
Drs Lo and Fan explain, “Our research aims to advance understanding of the underlying reasons of corporate irresponsibility. Since human emotions are behind such behaviours, we call for more scientific research on the corporate business decision making process to inhibit these cognitive biases. Regulators, creditors and investors can play a key role in promoting sustainable practices, with extra attention on both ends. Sustainability is the most critical issue for today’s fashion industry.
All in all, we are very grateful for this opportunity to feature ITC research work beyond the fashion industry and being recognized in the global business and management research communities.”
The Journal of Operations Management is the most prestigious journal in the field of operations management. It is listed among the 24 leading journals of the UT Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management database and the 50 journals used in The Financial Times research rank. It is also ranked top on the Australian ABDC journal quality list (A*), the UK ABS journal list (4*), and Chinese Academy of Sciences JCR ranking (Q1).
Read more about the work of Drs Lo and Fan in the Journal of Operations Management: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joom.1032
Wiengarten, F, Fan, D*, Pagell, M, Lo, CKY. Deviations from aspirational target levels and environmental and safety performance: Implications for operations managers acting irresponsibly. J Oper Manag. 2019; 65: 490– 516.
