Purpose
In the literature on sustainable supply chain management, the social pillar of sustainability has received relatively little attention, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to test empirically the impacts of supplier development practices on suppliers’ social performance. Furthermore, the impact of suppliers’ social performance on MNCs’ social performance was investigated and corporate reputation was proposed as a potential explanation for the relationship between MNCs’ social and financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from a survey of 141 multinational companies (MNCs) in Malaysia which were listed in the Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers’ directory 2017. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show that among the four proposed practices, supplier development and supplier collaboration have significant effects on suppliers’ social performance and consequently on the multi-national companies’ social performance. According to these results, multi-national companies’ corporate reputation mediates the relationship between their social and financial performance.
Practical implications
These results will be useful in helping managers of MNCs to realize that simply monitoring suppliers and giving them incentives are not effective ways of enhancing social responsibility among suppliers; instead, supplier development and collaboration such as technical support and training are needed.
Originality/value
The results extend the literature on socially responsible supplier development practices by testing empirically the impacts of four popular practices in the literature and showing that supplier monitoring and incentives have no effect.
Purpose
The globalization of market and production activities with unequal distribution of market demand and resources has accelerated the demand for shipping services. Public concerns about environmental issues and the impacts of shipping service providers’ green shipping practices (GSPs) on the reputation and performance of multinational companies (MNCs) motivated the authors to test the impact of shipping companies’ GSPs on MNCs’ loyalty by considering timeliness and perceived value as moderators. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 141 MNCs and analyzed using the partial least squares technique.
Findings
The results show that company policy and procedure, shipping documentation, shipping equipment and shipping materials have significant effects on MNCs’ loyalty. Furthermore, timeliness positively moderates the impacts of shipping materials and shipping design on compliance, while perceived value positively moderates the effects of shipping equipment and shipping design for compliance on MNCs’ loyalty.
Practical implications
The results provide insight for shipping service providers on GSPs that may lead to MNCs’ loyalty by considering the roles of lead time and freight rate.
Originality/value
The results extend the literature by testing empirically the impacts of GSP of shipping companies on MNCs’ loyalty and also by investigating the moderating impacts of perceived value and timeliness.
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