Examining the paths from servitization of manufacturing to corporate sustainable performance

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the role of lean production and sustainable supply chain practices in the relationship between servitization and corporate sustainable performance(including economic and environmental performance). Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey method is adopted to collect empirical data from 231 Chinese manufacturing firms. Multiple regression analysis and the bootstrap approach are applied to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings suggest that servitization is positively associated with both economic performance and environmental performance. Lean production mediates the relationship between servitization and corporate sustainable performance. Besides, lean production and sustainable supply chain practices play a chain mediating role in the association between servitization and corporate sustainable performance. Originality/value This study advances the servitization – sustainability literature by developing a conceptual framework grounded on the natural resource-based view (NRBV) that integrates servitization, lean production, sustainable supply chain practices and sustainable performance. Additionally, our findings suggest that lean production and sustainable supply chain practices act as chain mediators in the relationship between servitization and sustainable performance.