Tensions in sustainable supply chain management
In his PhD thesis, Chengyong Xiao applied three theoretical perspectives to develop a thorough understanding about tensions in Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). Xiao studied the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and corporate financial performance. He found that firms in countries with higher levels of sustainability performance generally find it more difficult to capitalize on corporate sustainability performance than their counterparts in countries with relatively low levels of sustainability performance.
Xiao also explored the effect of institutional pressures in driving firms to overcome temporal tensions in SSCM. He found that in countries with low levels of sustainability performance, firms with considerable slack resources are more responsive to stakeholder pressures than their peers with limited slack resources. In contrast, in countries with high levels of sustainability performance, there are no significant differences between firms with and without considerable slack resources in their responsiveness to stakeholder pressures.
Alternative response
In the last chapter Xiao delved into the buying firm and applied the paradox theory to explore how purchasing and sustainability managers are coping with the tensions in SSCM in an emerging-market context. While he found strong evidence for a persisting instrumental perspective (in which financial goals are given higher priority over social and/or environmental goals) in both the sensemaking and practices of purchasing and sustainability managers, Xiao also observed an alternative response, taken primarily by sustainability managers that he labelled as ‘contextualizing’.
More information
See also the full thesis: Tensions in sustainable supply chain management: instrumental, institutional, and paradoxical perspectives
________________________________________________
> More news from the Faculty of Economics and Business
> FEB experts in the media
Last modified: | 29 February 2024 10.02 a.m. |
More news
-
02 May 2024
Johan Remkes te gast in podcast Leiderschap in Onzekere Tijden Live
Oud-minister en oud-informateur Johan Remkes is op 15 mei te gast in de Podcast Leiderschap In Onzekere Tijden. In de liveopname van de podcastaflevering gaat hij met FEB-hoogleraren Janka Stoker en Harry Garretsen in gesprek over de huidige...
-
29 April 2024
The Maddison Project: New 2023 Update Illuminates Origins of Modern Economic Growth
In a new update of the renowned Maddison Project Database, economic historians shed new light on the genesis of modern economic growth.
-
29 April 2024
Royal Decoration awarded to Gerard van den Berg
The Faculty of Economics and Business is very proud to announce that Professor Gerard van den Berg has been appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. The decoration was presented to him by Mayor Koen Schuiling of the Municipality of...