Bolstering green supply chain integration via big data analytics capability: the moderating role of data-driven decision culture
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2021-0696 |
| Published date | 30 August 2022 |
| Date | 30 August 2022 |
| Pages | 2558-2582 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Yang Liu,Wei Fang,Taiwen Feng,Na Gao |
Bolstering green supply chain
integration via big data analytics
capability: the moderating role of
data-driven decision culture
Yang Liu and Wei Fang
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
Taiwen Feng
School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai),
Weihai, China, and
Na Gao
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
Abstract
Purpose –Based on organizational information processing theory, this research explores how big data
analytics capability (BDAC) contributes to green supply chain integration (GSCI) and the contingency role that
data-driven decision culture plays.
Design/methodology/approach –Using the two-wave survey data collect ed from 317 Chinese
manufacturingfirms, the authors validatethe hypotheses.
Findings –The results show that big data managerial capability has positive impacts on three dimensions of
GSCI, while big data technical capability has positive impacts on green internal and customer integration.
Moreover, green internal integration mediates the impacts of big data technical capability and managerial
capability on green supplier and customer integration. Finally, data-driven decision culture alleviates the
positive impacts of big data technical and managerial capability on green internal integration.
Practical implications –The findings suggest that firms can leverage big data technical and managerial
capability to enhance information processing capability for achieving a higher degree of GSCI. Further, the
critical role of data-driven decision culture in affecting the link between BDAC and GSCI should not be
overlooked.
Originality/value –This research contributes to literature on green supply chain management by revealing
the role of BDAC in improving GSCI.
Keywords Green supply chain integration, Big data analytics capability, Data-driven decision culture,
Organizational information processing
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
With the increasingly severe environmental deterioration and strict environmental
regulations, manufacturers have been urged to make aware of the importance of
environmental protection. Thus, it is vital for manufacturers to focus more on green
practices to gain sustainable development (Kong et al., 2021;Yang et al., 2021). In this context,
an increasing number of manufacturers have actively implemented green supply chain
integration (GSCI), which is considered the inevitable development trend to achieve
sustainable goals and obtain superior performance (Cheng, 2020;Zhang et al., 2020a).
IMDS
122,11
2558
The authors would like to sincerely thank the editor and anonymous reviewer for their insightful and
constructive comments. This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (72172040 and 72192834), Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province (tsqn201909154), and
Science and Technology Program for Innovation of Shandong Universities (2020RWG003).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
Received 30 November 2021
Revised 26 February 2022
14 July 2022
Accepted 12 August 2022
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 122 No. 11, 2022
pp. 2558-2582
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-11-2021-0696
GSCI can be defined as the degree to which a focal firm strategically collaborates with its
supply chain partners to manage both intra- and inter-organizational green practices for
improving environmental performance (Wong et al., 2015;Wu, 2013). In previous studies,
GSCI is typically classified into green internal and external integration, and green external
integration can be further divided into green supplier and customer integration (Wu, 2013;
Zhao et al., 2011). Most existing studies focus on their individual or synergetic effects on
various performance aspects, such as environmental (Han and Huo, 2020;Zhang et al., 2020a),
financial (Kong et al., 2021;Yang et al., 2020), and innovation (Kong et al., 2020;Wong et al.,
2020) performance. Despite the importance of GSCI, our understanding of its critical enablers
at firm-level and the relationships between green internal and external integration is still
limited. As a process that the focal firm strategically collaborates with its supply chain
partners, information sharing and data processing are crucial activities for GSCI (Wong et al.,
2020;Wu, 2013). This implies that the efficiency and effectiveness of GSCI is likely to depend
on the manufacturer’s capability of processing information.
To establish a more efficient and effective strategic collaborative relationship to assure
supply chain members comply with environmental regulations while reducing uncertainty,
manufacturers have to capture, analyze and transmit a large amount of information (Wu,
2013). For instance, a great number of leading firms (e.g. Apple, BMW, Dell, Samsung, and
Sony) are actively leveraging big data to optimize supply chain activities. This indicates that
the process of GSCI is characterized by extremely high information processing needs,
especially big data processing. Organizational information processing theory (OIPT)
suggests that the improvement of information processing capability can fit with the
increasing information processing requirements (Galbraith, 1974;Tushman and Nadler,
1978). Big data analytics capability (BDAC) refers to an organizational ability to obtain and
analyze data to generate new insights (Dubey et al., 2019;Gupta and George, 2016). Thus,
BDAC can help firms improve the information processing capability needed to process data
and share information in the process of GSCI (Chen et al., 2015;Yu et al., 2021b). Since
technical capability and managerial capability represent two important aspects of BDAC
(Dubey et al., 2018;Gupta and George, 2016), there is a serious necessity to investigate the
influence of two dimensions of BDAC on three dimensions of GSCI.
While firms with excellent BDAC may enhance the information processing capability
neededto effectively collaboratewith their supply chain partners,cross-functionalcoordination
within a firm is also essential to facilitate the establishment of such strategic collaboration
(Swink and Schoenherr, 2015;Wong et al., 2013). Green internal integration includes various
integration mechanisms and management systems (Wong et al.,2015), which focus on
strengthening cross-functional collaboration and communication, promoting employee
involvement in green initiatives and enhancing environmental protection capacity (Wong
et al., 2020;Wu, 2013). This implies that the capability of the focal firm to integrate with its
external partnersis likely to depend on the degree of its internal integration (Huo et al., 2016;
Zhao et al., 2011). Therefore, exploring themediating role of green internal integration will be
helpful to unpack the influence mechanism of BDACon green external integration.
In addition, big data studies have shown that organizational culture is crucial for the
effectivenessof big data related capabilities (Lavalleet al.,2011;Shamim et al.,2019), especially
the data-drivendecision culture (McAfeeand Brynjolfsson, 2012). By establishing this culture,
firms can developa systematic approach to leveraging data and delivering the insightsto the
right users (Duan et al., 2020;Shamim et al., 2019).Therefore, data-driven decisionculture can
also be deemed as an information processing capability since it enables firms to make more
reasonabledecisions and rapid responsesbased on data (Ciampi et al.,2021;Liet al., 2020). This
indicates thatdata-driven decision culturemay substitute the effect ofBDAC in the process of
GSCIto some extent (Ross et al.,2013).As a result, it is logical to expectthat data-driven decision
culture weakens the positive impact of BDAC on green internal integration.
BDAC and
green supply
chain
integration
2559
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