The impact of green supply chain integration on sustainable performance
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-07-2019-0373 |
| Date | 03 January 2020 |
| Pages | 657-674 |
| Published date | 03 January 2020 |
| Author | Zhaojun Han,Baofeng Huo |
| 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 |
The impact of green supply
chain integration on
sustainable performance
Zhaojun Han
Institute of Systems Engineering,
Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China, and
Baofeng Huo
College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of green supply chain integration (GSCI) on
sustainable performance which includes environmental, social and economic performance.
Design/methodology/approach –Based ondata collected from 206 Chinesemanufacturers, this studyuses
structural equation modeling with the maximum-likelihood estimation method to test the theoretical model.
Findings –The results show that different dimensions of GSCI have different outcomes. Green internal
integration lays the foundation for green supplier integration (GSI) and green customer integration (GCI), and
is related to both environmental and social performance. GSI is positively related to economic performance,
whereas GCI is positively related to social performance.
Originality/value –Believing that “how to be green”matters, this study focuses on an integrative approach
to green supply chain management (GSCM), shedding new light on how GSCI influences performance and
providing practical guidelines for different stakeholders.
Keywords Green supply chain management, Supply chain integration, Sustainable performance
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Green supply chain management (GSCM), which integrates environmental concerns into
supply chain management (SCM) (Srivastava, 2007), has emerged as an important strategy
for companies to respond to the growing public environmental awareness and the rising
government regulations (Laosirihongthong et al., 2013). Despite its prevalence, managers
and researchers are still being haunted by the question of “does it pay to be green”(Preuss,
2005; Schmidt et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2018). Previous studies have reported positive,
negative or insignificant relationships between GSCM practices and performance (Golicic
and Smith, 2013). Many efforts have tried to reconcile these inconsistent findings (e.g. Ahi
and Searcy, 2013; Geng et al., 2017; Golicic and Smith, 2013; Sarkis et al., 2011). Yet, few
studies have noted the possibility that how GSCM is implemented may make a difference.
Our study attempts to bring clarity to this ongoing debate on “does it pay to be green”by
adding a dimension of “how to be green.”
Several scholars have acknowledged that there are different approaches to GSCM
(e.g. Bowen et al., 2001; Tachizawa et al., 2015). The most common one is referred to as the
functional approach (Geng et al., 2017; Kirchoff et al., 2016; Vanalle et al., 2017), proposed by
Zhu and her colleagues (e.g. Zhu and Sarkis, 2007; Zhu and Sarkis, 2004; Zhu et al., 2005).
This approach encompasses five green practices and mainly focuses on green practices in
specific functional areas such as green purchasing or green design, and thus describes a
green transactional relationship between supply chain partners (Gunasekaran et al., 2015).
Another common approach to GSCM is the collaborative approach proposed by Vachon and
Received 10 July 2019
Revised 17 October 2019
Accepted 11 December 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 71802039,
71525005, 71431002).
The impact of
green supply
chain
integration
IndustrialManagement& Data
Systems
Vol.120 No. 4,2020
pp.657-674
©EmeraldPublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI10.1108/IMDS-07-2019-0373
657
Klassen (2006), which mainly focuses on jointly resolving environmental problems and
describes a collaborative relationship between supply chain partners.
The functional approach is the initial effort to extend green practices across supply
chains, while the collaborative approach highlights the importance of supply chain
collaboration (Wong et al., 2015). Yet, the level of supply chain involvement described in
these two approaches is too low, limiting the effectiveness of GSCM. Building on these two
approaches and the supply chain integration (SCI) literature, some recent studies propose an
integrative approach to GSCM (Song et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2015; Wu, 2013) and have
coined the term green supply chain integration (GSCI). This approach emphasizes strategic
collaboration and integration between supply chain partners in jointly managing intra- and
inter-organizational green processes (Flynn et al., 2010; Wong et al., 2015). It enables a
concerted and integrated effort of the entire supply chain (Wong et al., 2015), thereby may be
a more effective way of greening supply chains.
Though some scholars have recognized the importance of GSCI and have discussed its
implications for performance (e.g. Song et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2018), the conceptualization
and operationalization of GSCI are still ambiguous and inconsistent; the empirical evidence
on how GSCI influences performance is still scarce. To advance the understanding of this
integrative approach, our study draws on the SCI literature and the natural-resource-based
view (NRBV) to develop a theoretical framework of GSCI and investigates how different
dimensions of GSCI influence sustainable performance which includes environmental, social
and economic performance.
Achieving sustainability has become a new strategic lever and been high on the agenda of
many leading firms and supply chains (Kang, 2018). Existing GSCI studies have not paid
attention to this important facet of performance. Even in the broad field of GSCM, the
predominant focus has been on how GSCM influences environmental or economic performance
(Golicic and Smith, 2013; Li et al., 2016; Zhang and Yang, 2016; Zhu and Sarkis, 2007). Social
performance has received scant attention (De Giovanni, 2012; Pagell and Wu, 2009). Our study
tries to fill this gap and shed new light on how the integrative approach to GSCM influences
sustainableperformance.Thisisalsoimportanttothedebateon“does it pay to be green”in
that we raise the concern that economic profits should not be the only metric.
Overall, by investigating the impact of GSCI on sustainable performance, our study
contributes to the understanding of “does it pay to be green”in two ways. First, we add a
dimension of “how to be green.”Second, we propose that sustainable performance may be a
more appropriate metric.
2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development
2.1 Literature review on green supply chain integration
GSCI can be defined as the extent to whicha manufacturer buildsa strategic relationship with
its supplychain partners and collaboratively integrates environmental concernsinto the intra-
and inter-organizational processes (Lo et al., 2018; Sarkis et al., 2011; Wu, 2013). It has received
some scholarly attention. These studies demonstrate the importance of applying SCI
philosophy to GSCM (e.g. Dai et al., 2015; Wong et al., 2015). Yet, scholars are far from reaching
consensus on how GSCI should be grounded on SCI and how this integrative approach to
GSCM influences performance, leaving opportunities for further research.
The main problem of existing studies on GSCI is the incomplete conceptualization of
GSCI. Though scholars have commonly based their definitions and dimensions of GSCI on
SCI (Song et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2015), for instance, they classify GSCI into green supplier
integration (GSI), green customer integration (GCI) and green internal integration (GII), how
they conceptualize GSI, GCI and GII is rather different. Some studies view each dimension of
GSCI as an unidimensional construct (e.g. Dai et al., 2015; Lo et al., 2018; Song et al., 2017;
Wu, 2013; Yu et al., 2014), others operationalize GSI, GCI and GII as second-order constructs
IMDS
658
120,4
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