The adoption of sustainable practices : A supplier's perspective

Liu, Lingxuan and Zhang, Min and Ye, Weili (2019) The adoption of sustainable practices : A supplier's perspective. Journal of Environmental Management, 232. pp. 692-701. ISSN 0301-4797

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Abstract

Suppliers' adoption of sustainable practices plays a critical role for global companies to improve environmental performance. Based on the absorptive capacity theory, this study empirically explores how suppliers' knowledge bases and power relationships influence their adoption of sustainability practices. A longitudinal case study with eight suppliers has been conducted. We find that the adoption of leading sustainable practices requires a supplier's good knowledge base whereas a supplier can adopt imitating and toddling sustainable practices even if it has a limited knowledge base. Both the power of internal sustainability teams and external buyers enhance the effects of suppliers' knowledge bases on the adoption of sustainable practices. Suppliers choose the strategy used in adopting sustainable practices according to the configuration of internal and external power. The results enhance the current understandings of the mechanisms through which knowledge bases and power relationships affect the adoption of sustainable practices. The findings can also help global companies improve the effectiveness of their supplier development efforts and enhance the environmental performance of supply chains.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Environmental Management
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Environmental Management. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Environmental Management, 232, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.11.067
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2305
Subjects:
?? sustainable supply chain managementsupplier developmentknowledge basepowerabsorptive capacityenvironmental engineeringmanagement, monitoring, policy and lawwaste management and disposal ??
ID Code:
129723
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
04 Jan 2019 13:30
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
01 Oct 2024 00:29