Ephrem Negash Shebeshe and Dhiraj Sharma
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on both competitive advantage (CA) and organizational performance (OP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on both competitive advantage (CA) and organizational performance (OP) in the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the study were collected from a sample of 221 manufacturing companies operating in the four manufacturing groups/sectors in Ethiopia. In addition, data analysis was performed using the partial least squares method, which is a variance-based Structural Equation Modeling approach in the Smart-PLS software version (SmartPLS 4.0).
Findings
Based on the statistical analysis of the collected data, it demonstrates that SSCM has a significant and positive impact on both competitive advantage and organizational performance. Furthermore, statistical findings offer proof of the clear connection between competitive advantage and organizational performance. Moreover, competitive advantage indirectly mediates the relationship between SSCM and OP.
Research limitations/implications
The primary limitation of this research is its reliance on a cross-sectional design. The generalizability of the findings obtained from the present study may be hindered. The variable under investigation in this research assessed organizational performance, a concept that is widely acknowledged to be extremely dynamic.
Practical implications
The study provides managers and researchers with valuable information on Sustainable Supply Chain Management strategies and how they influence competitive advantage and organizational performance in commercial and industrial environments.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the body of knowledge by providing new data and empirical insights into the relationship between SSCM practices and the performance of manufacturing companies in Ethiopia.
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Wael Hassan El-Garaihy, Tamer Farag, Khalid Al Shehri, Piera Centobelli and Roberto Cerchione
Nowadays, a prominent research area is the development of competitive advantages in companies, due to their environmental commitment and orientation. Based on resource-based view…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, a prominent research area is the development of competitive advantages in companies, due to their environmental commitment and orientation. Based on resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory (InT), this paper aims to investigate the influence of internal and external orientation on businesses' sustainable performance while considering the effect of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 351 manufacturing companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been collected and analysed through structural equation modelling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method.
Findings
The results indicated that both internal and external environmental orientation have important effects on SSCM practices, which in turn have a considerable beneficial effect on environmental, social and economic performance.
Originality/value
Although SSCM is constantly gaining ground in the literature, most SSCM research and models examine its effects, antecedents or motivation, mainly adopting a qualitative approach. Research on the topic adopting a large-scale empirical approach is still limited. In this context, this study contributes to the SSCM management literature by exploring the role of environmental orientation in facilitating the adoption of SSCM practices and improving companies' performance.
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Aleksandr M. Kitsis and Injazz J. Chen
Drawing on multi-theoretical lenses and a combination of supply chain and business ethics literature, this study aims to investigate the role of motives in driving sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on multi-theoretical lenses and a combination of supply chain and business ethics literature, this study aims to investigate the role of motives in driving sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices and sustainable performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 205 supply chain companies in the USA, the authors apply structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to empirically test the proposed model and seven hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Results of the study underscore the critical role of moral motives, while highlighting that all three types of motives (instrumental, relational and moral) are robust in driving SSCM practices and achieving improvement in all three dimensions of sustainable performance–economic, environmental and social.
Research limitations/implications
This research can help supply chain scholars develop a more robust subfield of motivation-based SSCM research to gain a deeper understanding of how motives may differentially predict sustainable supply chain practices and performance.
Practical implications
The results of this study demonstrate the critical links between moral motivation and the triple bottom line (TBL) performance and suggest that managers pay more attention to moral motives in their decision-making.
Originality/value
This study bridges gaps in the extant literature by incorporating motivation-based antecedents, expanding the scope of SSCM practices, including the social dimension of sustainability and investigating the mediating effects of SSCM practices on the links between motives and the TBL performance.
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Injazz J. Chen and Aleksandr M. Kitsis
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework and propositions to advance research and practice in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Performance indicators…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework and propositions to advance research and practice in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Performance indicators (economic, environmental, and social) identified in the paper aim to facilitate empirical testing of a range of theoretical models derived or extended from the stated propositions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study of SSCM is truly complicated, and there is no one theory that applies in all instances. The authors analyzed over 200 critical articles published in major supply chain management and sustainability-based journals and grounded the proposed framework in a multi-theoretical perspective.
Findings
SSCM implementation entails linking stakeholder pressures, moral motives, and management commitment with relational practices. The paper further elucidates how relational practices, when bundled together, can create a set of relational capabilities, which in turn transform stakeholder pressures into sustainable outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The research framework contributes to SSCM theory building insofar as it can be expanded into various theoretical models, allowing researchers to empirically test the links among SSCM drivers, management commitment, and relational capabilities, along with their individual or collective impact on supply chain performance.
Practical implications
The framework provides a roadmap for firms to develop and nurture relational capabilities while dealing with growing stakeholder pressures. Moral motives strengthen top management commitment, which helps channel stakeholder pressures toward the proactive development of relational capabilities.
Originality/value
The paper fulfills a call for utilizing multiple theoretical lenses to examine complex SSCM phenomena and, ultimately, to create a coherent theory of SSCM.
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Ravindra Baliga, Rakesh Raut and Sachin Kamble
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a model for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) that integrates the antecedents, practices and performance measures of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a model for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) that integrates the antecedents, practices and performance measures of sustainability. It also examines if lean management (LM) and supply management (SM) are antecedents of SSCM.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of literature was undertaken across multiple streams, including operations management, SCM, sustainability, business ethics and performance management. Articles relevant to SSCM published over a span of 31 years (1988–2018) were searched using keywords and specific selection criteria.
Findings
From the literature, three dependent constructs – motivators of sustainability, LM and SM – and three independent constructs – environmental practices in SCM, social practices in SCM and SSCM performance – are identified and defined. Linkages between these constructs are hypothesized to develop a theoretical framework called the “integrated lean/supply management with sustainability motivators, practices and performance model.”
Research limitations/implications
Built on the principles-practices-outcomes framework proposed earlier, this model is comprehensive in its coverage of sustainability antecedents, practices and performance. Further, it covers the SCM triad – the supplier, the focal firm and the customers – as well as the roles they play in sustainability performance.
Originality/value
By identifying LM and SM as additional antecedents of SSCM, this study suggests that sustainability may be realized through LM and SM principles. Further, the proposed model presents a novel integration of literature from diverse domains.
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Vishal Sharma, Rajesh Kumar and Kirti Sood
The purpose of the present study is to synthesize and organize the existing literature on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) challenges and potential solutions to overcome…
Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to synthesize and organize the existing literature on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) challenges and potential solutions to overcome these challenges. The four-step research method has been used to collect and analyze pertinent literature, define the unit of analysis, select the classification context, collect publications, and evaluate the material. The study found 10 prevalent SSCM challenges and 18 potential solutions to overcome these challenges. By implementing these solutions, organizations can implement SSCM practices and contribute to achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study significantly contributes to stakeholder theory, triple bottom-line theory, and resource-based view theory. The current study provides insights to managers working in supply chain management on SSCM implementation. Furthermore, the study also has practical implications for academicians and policymakers. This study is the first of its kind to amalgamate the SSCM challenges and solutions to overcome these challenges in a single framework by reviewing the literature.
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Ravindra Baliga, Rakesh D. Raut and Sachin S. Kamble
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a relatively new sub-field of supply chain management (SCM). The performance of SSCM is based on the triple bottom line approach…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a relatively new sub-field of supply chain management (SCM). The performance of SSCM is based on the triple bottom line approach encompassing people-planet-profit, hence being defined not in only in social and environmental terms, but also the economic. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated study which uses antecedent-practices-performance principles in order to determine the drivers of SSCM practices, and the impact of these practices on sustainable supply chain performance. The importance of the study lies in the fact that the Indian Government is making significant efforts to boost the manufacturing sector, and sustainability is among the significant imperatives for Indian manufacturing to be competitive globally.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model based on the antecedents-practices-performance principles was developed, and included six constructs identified from the literature: the drivers being the motivators of sustainability, lean management (LM) and supply management (SM), the practices were the environmental and social practices in the supply chain and, finally, the sustainable supply chain performance; eight hypotheses were conceived in the model development process. The survey instrument was conceptualised from an in-depth study of literature and was employed to conduct a survey of 211 operations and supply chain managers and functional heads from the Indian manufacturing industry. The scales were validated by employing the confirmatory factor analysis, followed by structural equation modelling to develop the structural relationships between the constructs using Amos 20.0.
Findings
The results of the SEM suggest that the antecedents, i.e. motivators, LM and SM, have a significant bearing on environmental and social practices in the SCM; these practices, in turn, also have a positive relationship with SSCM performance (except the relationship between LM and social practices in SCM) with acceptable goodness-of-fit measures. Thus out of the eight hypotheses, seven can be said to statistically significant.
Research limitations/implications
In addition to the motivators of sustainability, the study based on extant literature has considered LM and SM among the drivers of sustainability in SCM. The study has also identified that in earlier studies, the focus has been on environmental practices, and this integrated study has also included social practices in the supply chain.
Originality/value
This study suggests that sustainability performance may also be realised through lean and SM principles; an integrated perspective has been adopted with the consideration of both environmental and social practices. Further, the proposed model represents a novel integration of literature from diverse domains such as environmental management, business ethics and corporate social responsibility as well as performance management.
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Zobaida Khanam and Ratan Ghosh
The aim of the study has been performed to investigate the relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices and the cost performance of manufacturing…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study has been performed to investigate the relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices and the cost performance of manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. Moreover, this paper highlights the key environment-friendly approaches and their association with financial performance in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper empirically assesses sustainable supply chain performance using four major supply chain practices, including sustainable procurement, sustainable production, sustainable distribution and investment recovery, and compares it with the cost performance. Twenty-four variables were identified through different literature and distributed as a structured questionnaire among the managers appointed in different manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. An empirical study was conducted using the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to examine the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The results find a positive relationship in two variables of sustainable supply chain practices, including sustainable procurement and investment recovery, while sustainable distribution negatively impacted cost performance. In addition, sustainable production found no effect on cost performance.
Research limitations/implications
The paper emphasizes the financial perspective of a sustainable supply chain without explicit consideration of sustainability's environmental and social dimensions.
Practical implications
This study has implications for the literature on the SSCM approaches of manufacturing firms in the least developed economies. In addition, this study could work as a guideline for some manufacturing industries that prefer a policy or standard to alter their traditional supply chain management system to a sustainable supply chain.
Originality/value
The paper provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating the coordinated effect of SSCM practices on cost performance where variables of four specific activities of SSCM and cost performance are adopted from different studies. Further studies could be initiated, including some other eco-friendly supply chain variables, and the effect could be evaluated from an environmental perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to delve into the intricate depths surrounding the development of sustainable supply chains by conceptualizing the elemental aspects of superior…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to delve into the intricate depths surrounding the development of sustainable supply chains by conceptualizing the elemental aspects of superior performance in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual in nature and is grounded in the theories of SSCM and knowledge-based view.
Findings
The findings outline the elemental background processes governing the implementation of SSCM practices and superior performance outcomes. The conceptualization suggests that the superior performance of a sustainable supply chain is elementally dependent on the intricate efforts – to enrich the supply chain knowledge base with perspectives on SSCM. Thereby, these intricate efforts are delineated along the arcs of supply chain leadership, supply chain learning orientation, supply chain knowledge management (SCKM) and supply chain knowledge transfer. As such, while an SSCM orientation within the supply chain leadership is helpful in offsetting the inertia among the supply chain members to channelize intricate efforts in SSCM, the SSCM-based supply chain learning orientation further orientates the SSCM efforts of supply chain members toward the excavation of new knowledge in the frame of SSCM. Subsequently, the arcs of SSCM-based SCKM and SSCM-based supply chain knowledge transfer characterize the finer spaces of knowledge excavating actions, essential for enriching the supply chain knowledge base with perspectives on SSCM.
Originality/value
This conceptualization facilitates intriguing theoretical explanations to the linkage between SSCM implementation and superior performance outcomes. Specifically, from the knowledge-based angle, it delineates the root causes governing the superior/inferior nature of SSCM outcomes.
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Maysara Sayed, Linda C. Hendry and Marta Zorzini Bell
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of institutional pressures, institutional logics and institutional complexity on Sustainable Supply Chain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of institutional pressures, institutional logics and institutional complexity on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices across mixed public and private sector supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
Multi-case study data were collected from three tiers of food and catering supply chains: the customer/consumer tier; focal public sector UK Universities; and private sector suppliers/contractors.
Findings
The findings indicate that: normative and mimetic pressures are more prevalent in focal Universities, compared to suppliers; there is typically no single dominant logic across these supply chains; and the multiplicity of institutional logics (e.g. sustainability logic versus financial logic) increases institutional complexity. Therefore, in the typical case of homogeneity in terms of institutional pressures and logics, e.g. with a dominant sustainability logic throughout the supply chain, radical change in SSCM practices is facilitated. In contrast, in the more typical case when there is heterogeneity, with competing logics at different supply chain tiers, this limits SSCM to more incremental changes in practices.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to three tiers of the food and catering supply chains of UK Universities.
Practical implications
To aid in the successful implementation of SSCM, this study suggests a need for managers to develop an initial understanding of the prevailing institutional logics and pressures at different tiers of the supply chain.
Social implications
A number of the SSCM practices studied address social sustainability.
Originality/value
No previous studies have empirically investigated the impact of institutional complexity in the context of SSCM practices across supply chains, involving both mixed public and private sector organisations.