Pressures affecting green supply chain performance

Purpose – This study aims to empirically investigate the relationship between the directions of pressures affecting green supply chain management (GSCM) and supply chain (SC) performance. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on a survey because there is no archival database providing detailed information on GSC practices and performance. A survey questionnaire was developed to collect research data, based on the GSC literature and a pilot study in the field. The authors developed hypotheses based on two theories: institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the hypotheses with SPSS (16.0) and AMOS (5.0). Findings – The results confirmed the importance of implementing environmental SC practices to sustain organizations' competitive advantage and performance. Increased SC flexibility helped reduce resources, through decreased cost factors and improved output. Enterprises with environmental SC policies tended to increase SC flexibility and, hence, enhanced profits. Originality/value – This paper applies organizational theories to GSCM by extending the institutional-versus-internal-pressure construct to the way enterprises implement GSC strategies for sustainable SC.