From sustainability commitment to performance: The role of intra- and inter-firm collaborative capabilities in the upstream supply chain

Abstract

Organisations increasingly see sustainability as an important element of their business strategies, and the role of purchasing and supply functions is critical in translating sustainability commitment into performance. Yet, the impact of sustainability commitment on purchasing processes and routines, as well as the effect of such capabilities on performance, remains empirically under-explored. From a Resource-Based perspective, we argue that commitment to sustainability leads purchasing and supply functions to develop intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities, and that in turn these capabilities deliver improved performance. Based on survey data from 383 procurement executives in ten European and North American countries, we use structural equation modelling to empirically test our hypotheses. Our results provide strong support for the hypothesised links between sustainability commitment and both intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities; and between inter-firm collaborative capabilities and environmental and social, and cost performance. Conversely, our data do not support the hypothesised links between intra-firm collaborative capabilities and both aspects of performance. In our discussion, we reflect on both confirmatory and conflicting findings in relation to theory and practice, before examining the study's limitations and opportunities for future research.

Innovative Financial Approach for Agricultural Sustainability: A Case Study of Alibaba

“…In this approach, farmers are guided to abandon cheap but contaminated fertilizers and pesticides they used in the past when they were strapped for cash and turn to environmentally friendly products such as Chia Tai fertilizer for planting and breeding. This outcome shows that SCF is an effective incentive to enhance supply chain cooperation and improve the environmental performance of the entire supply chain [39].…”

“…Although an increasing number of organizations take sustainability as a crucial part of their business strategy [1,37,39], the analysis of sustainable operations focuses mainly on individual dimension sustainability, whereas complex sustainability perspective is insufficient [38,40].…”

“…Collaboration improves the performance of financial solution adopters and their upstream/downstream supply chain [55]. In addition, increased inter-firm collaborative capabilities improve the three pillars of sustainable performance in a supply chain [37,39]. Motivated by sustainable objectives, agricultural finance adopters hope to improve the sustainability of the entire supply chain, which requires close collaboration among all participants in the supply chain.…”

“…Committing to sustainability can lead to increased collaboration capability in the supply chain, which results in its improved sustainable performance [39]. SCF can also improve the strength of supply chain links, including great collaboration capability [39,56,72].…”

Application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to Solve Environmental Sustainability Problems: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The results of this paper found that there is a strong relationship between perceived environmental responsibility and green products purchase willingness, there is no relationship between perceived seriousness of environmental problems and undergraduate students' green product purchase willingness and there are significant relationships between students' willingness to purchase green products and their green purchase behavior. Luzzini, Brandon-Jones [264] found there is lack of focus in previous studies in relation of sustainability commitments on development of collaborative capabilities for supply functions and purchasing on sustainability performance; therefore, this study examined the relationship between sustainability commitment, collaborative capabilities and performance. The finding of this paper showed that there is a link between sustainability commitment and collaborative capabilities, cost performance and social and environmental performance.…”