IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transe/v137y2020ics1366554519315194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Supply chain sustainability and performance of firms: A meta-analysis of the literature

Author

Listed:
  • Govindan, Kannan
  • Rajeev, A.
  • Padhi, Sidhartha S.
  • Pati, Rupesh K.

Abstract

In recent years, many studies link supply chain sustainability practices to firm performance, since more and more firms are implementing sustainable practices in their manufacturing/services supply chains. This study uses a psychometric meta-analysis to synthesize the results from 167 effect sizes, collected from 129 articles, to understand the impact of various types of sustainability practices (i.e., environmental, social, and combined) on firm performance (Financial and Operational). A sub-group analysis, using industry (manufacturing/service) and economy (developed/developing), was also performed to study the relative strength of sustainability-firm performance relationships in respective categories. The study confirms a positive association between the various aspects of sustainability and firm performance and finds that the strength of sustainability-firm performance relationships grows over time. Findings also suggest a stronger relationship between sustainability-firm performances in manufacturing industries than in service industries. This study provides interesting insights for policymakers and companies in various economies, and it augments the understanding of the impact of sustainable supply chain practices on firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Govindan, Kannan & Rajeev, A. & Padhi, Sidhartha S. & Pati, Rupesh K., 2020. "Supply chain sustainability and performance of firms: A meta-analysis of the literature," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:137:y:2020:i:c:s1366554519315194
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2020.101923
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554519315194
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tre.2020.101923?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gautam Ray & Jay B. Barney & Waleed A. Muhanna, 2004. "Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource‐based view," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 23-37, January.
    2. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    3. Sebastian Rathner, 2013. "The Influence of Primary Study Characteristics on the Performance Differential Between Socially Responsible and Conventional Investment Funds: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 349-363, December.
    4. Saberi, Sara, 2018. "Sustainable, multiperiod supply chain network model with freight carrier through reduction in pollution stock," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 421-444.
    5. Heather Dixon-Fowler & Daniel Slater & Jonathan Johnson & Alan Ellstrand & Andrea Romi, 2013. "Beyond “Does it Pay to be Green?” A Meta-Analysis of Moderators of the CEP–CFP Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 353-366, January.
    6. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Zhou, Qingji, 2018. "The effect of sustainable shipping practices on shippers’ loyalty: The mediating role of perceived value, trust and transaction cost," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 123-135.
    7. Orlitzky, Marc, 2011. "Institutional Logics in the Study of Organizations: The Social Construction of the Relationship between Corporate Social and Financial Performance," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 409-444, July.
    8. Ron Bird & Anthony D. Hall & Francesco Momentè & Francesco Reggiani, 2007. "What Corporate Social Responsibility Activities are Valued by the Market?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 189-206, December.
    9. Hong, Zhaofu & Wang, Hao & Yu, Yugang, 2018. "Green product pricing with non-green product reference," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-15.
    10. Kannan, Devika, 2018. "Role of multiple stakeholders and the critical success factor theory for the sustainable supplier selection process," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 391-418.
    11. Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2018. "Incorporating social media observations and bounded rationality into fashion quick response supply chains in the big data era," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 386-397.
    12. Weiwei Cui & Lin Li & Zhiqiang Lu, 2019. "Energy‐efficient scheduling for sustainable manufacturing systems with renewable energy resources," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 154-173, March.
    13. Arnold Tukker, 2004. "Eight types of product–service system: eight ways to sustainability? Experiences from SusProNet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 246-260, July.
    14. Sue Duval & Richard Tweedie, 2000. "Trim and Fill: A Simple Funnel-Plot–Based Method of Testing and Adjusting for Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 455-463, June.
    15. Jyoti Dhingra Darbari & Devika Kannan & Vernika Agarwal & P. C. Jha, 2019. "Fuzzy criteria programming approach for optimising the TBL performance of closed loop supply chain network design problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 273(1), pages 693-738, February.
    16. Gao, Jingzhe & Xiao, Zhongdong & Cao, Binbin & Chai, Qiangfei, 2018. "Green supply chain planning considering consumer’s transportation process," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 311-330.
    17. Axel Franzen, 2003. "Environmental Attitudes in International Comparison: An Analysis of the ISSP Surveys 1993 and 2000," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(2), pages 297-308, June.
    18. Shi Chen & Qinqin Zhang & Yong‐Pin Zhou, 2019. "Impact of Supply Chain Transparency on Sustainability under NGO Scrutiny," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 3002-3022, December.
    19. Omar Bentahar & Smaïl Benzidia, 2018. "Sustainable supply chain management: Trends and challenges," Post-Print hal-02511038, HAL.
    20. Dong, Ciwei & Liu, Qingyu & Shen, Bin, 2019. "To be or not to be green? Strategic investment for green product development in a supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 193-227.
    21. Ali Quazi & Alice Richardson, 2012. "Sources of variation in linking corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(2), pages 242-256, June.
    22. Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2013. "Local sourcing and fashion quick response system: The impacts of carbon footprint tax," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 43-54.
    23. María del Mar Miras‐Rodríguez & Amalia Carrasco‐Gallego & Bernabé Escobar‐Pérez, 2015. "Are Socially Responsible Behaviors Paid Off Equally? A Cross‐cultural Analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 237-256, July.
    24. Fahimnia, Behnam & Jabbarzadeh, Armin, 2016. "Marrying supply chain sustainability and resilience: A match made in heaven," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 306-324.
    25. Zhu, Qinghua & Sarkis, Joseph & Cordeiro, James J. & Lai, Kee-Hung, 2008. "Firm-level correlates of emergent green supply chain management practices in the Chinese context," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 577-591, August.
    26. Rondinelli, Dennis A. & Berry, Michael A., 2000. "Environmental citizenship in multinational corporations: social responsibility and sustainable development," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 70-84, February.
    27. Dai, Jing & Montabon, Frank L. & Cantor, David E., 2014. "Linking rival and stakeholder pressure to green supply management: Mediating role of top management support," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 173-187.
    28. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    29. Gavronski, Iuri & Klassen, Robert D. & Vachon, Stephan & Nascimento, Luis Felipe Machado do, 2011. "A resource-based view of green supply management," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 872-885.
    30. Karl Widerquist, 2018. "The Bottom Line," Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee, in: A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, chapter 0, pages 93-98, Palgrave Macmillan.
    31. Chiou, Tzu-Yun & Chan, Hing Kai & Lettice, Fiona & Chung, Sai Ho, 2011. "The influence of greening the suppliers and green innovation on environmental performance and competitive advantage in Taiwan," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 822-836.
    32. T. Russell Crook & David J. Ketchen & James G. Combs & Samuel Y. Todd, 2008. "Strategic resources and performance: a meta‐analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1141-1154, November.
    33. Lo, Chris K.Y. & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2012. "The impact of environmental management systems on financial performance in fashion and textiles industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 561-567.
    34. Geng, Ruoqi & Mansouri, S. Afshin & Aktas, Emel, 2017. "The relationship between green supply chain management and performance: A meta-analysis of empirical evidences in Asian emerging economies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PA), pages 245-258.
    35. Yuen, Kum Fai & Li, Kevin X. & Xu, Gangyan & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2019. "A taxonomy of resources for sustainable shipping management: Their interrelationships and effects on business performance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-332.
    36. Tan, Justin & Wang, Liang, 2010. "Flexibility-efficiency tradeoff and performance implications among Chinese SOEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 356-362, April.
    37. Wang, David Han-Min & Chen, Pei-Hua & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang & Hsiao, Chih-Yi, 2015. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on brand equity and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2232-2236.
    38. Jabbour, Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa & Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta & Latan, Hengky & Teixeira, Adriano Alves & de Oliveira, Jorge Henrique Caldeira, 2014. "Quality management, environmental management maturity, green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 39-51.
    39. Vachon, Stephan & Klassen, Robert D., 2008. "Environmental management and manufacturing performance: The role of collaboration in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 299-315, February.
    40. Shen, Bin & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Chan, Hau-Ling, 2019. "Selling green first or not? A Bayesian analysis with service levels and environmental impact considerations in the Big Data Era," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 412-420.
    41. Sheu, Jiuh-Biing & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2019. "Extended consumer responsibility: Syncretic value-oriented pricing strategies for trade-in-for-upgrade programs," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 350-367.
    42. Başak Kalkanci & Morvarid Rahmani & L. Beril Toktay, 2019. "The Role of Inclusive Innovation in Promoting Social Sustainability," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 2960-2982, December.
    43. Biswas, Indranil & Raj, Alok & Srivastava, Samir K., 2018. "Supply chain channel coordination with triple bottom line approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 213-226.
    44. Ehie, Ike C. & Olibe, Kingsley, 2010. "The effect of R&D investment on firm value: An examination of US manufacturing and service industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 127-135, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shi, Xiutian & Chan, Hau-Ling & Dong, Ciwei, 2020. "Impacts of competition between buying firms on corporate social responsibility efforts: Does competition do more harm than good?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Abbas Mardani & Dalia Streimikiene & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Fausto Cavallaro & Mehrbakhsh Nilashi & Ahmad Jusoh & Habib Zare, 2017. "Application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to Solve Environmental Sustainability Problems: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-65, October.
    3. Awasthy, Prakash & Gouda, Sirish & Ghosh, Debabrata & Swami, Sanjeev, 2022. "Analyzing product greening spillovers in multi-product markets," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Samad, Sarminah & Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Almulihi, Ahmed & Alrizq, Mesfer & Alghamdi, Abdullah & Mohd, Saidatulakmal & Ahmadi, Hossein & Syed Azhar, Sharifah Nurlaili Farhana, 2021. "Green Supply Chain Management practices and impact on firm performance: The moderating effect of collaborative capability," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Mark M. Davis & Euthemia Stavrulaki & Adi Wolfson, 2018. "A Framework for Increasing Sustainability in Services," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 139-153, June.
    6. Saghiri, Soroosh Sam & Mirzabeiki, Vahid, 2021. "Buyer-led environmental supplier development: Can suppliers really help it?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    7. Ren, Da & Guo, Rui & Lan, Yanfei & Shang, Changjing, 2021. "Shareholding strategies for selling green products on online platforms in a two-echelon supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Emilio Esposito, 2018. "Environmental Sustainability and Energy-Efficient Supply Chain Management: A Review of Research Trends and Proposed Guidelines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-36, January.
    9. Manjot Singh Bhatia & Suresh Kumar Jakhar, 2021. "The effect of environmental regulations, top management commitment, and organizational learning on green product innovation: Evidence from automobile industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3907-3918, December.
    10. Cai, Ya-Jun & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2020. "A United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals perspective for sustainable textile and apparel supply chain management," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    11. Sergio Manrique & Carmen-Pilar Martí-Ballester, 2017. "Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Environmental Performance on Corporate Financial Performance in Developed and Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-30, October.
    12. Choi, Tsan-Ming & Luo, Suyuan, 2019. "Data quality challenges for sustainable fashion supply chain operations in emerging markets: Roles of blockchain, government sponsors and environment taxes," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 139-152.
    13. Veronica S Ülgen & Maria Björklund & Niklas Simm & Helena Forslund, 2019. "Inter-Organizational Supply Chain Interaction for Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-25, October.
    14. Wang, Zizhuo & Wang, Mingzheng & Liu, Weiwei, 2020. "To introduce competition or not to introduce competition: An analysis of corporate social responsibility investment collaboration in a two-echelon supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Jing-Wen Huang & Yong-Hui Li, 2017. "Green Innovation and Performance: The View of Organizational Capability and Social Reciprocity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 309-324, October.
    16. Dong, Ciwei & Liu, Qingyu & Shen, Bin, 2019. "To be or not to be green? Strategic investment for green product development in a supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 193-227.
    17. Kumar, Patanjal & Baraiya, Rajendra & Das, Debashree & Jakhar, Suresh Kumar & Xu, Lei & Mangla, Sachin Kumar, 2021. "Social responsibility and cost-learning in dyadic supply chain coordination," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    18. Hung M. Nguyen & George Onofrei & Dothang Truong & Simon Lockrey, 2020. "Customer green orientation and process innovation alignment: A configuration approach in the global manufacturing industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2498-2513, September.
    19. Chen, Lujie & Zhao, Xiande & Tang, Ou & Price, Lydia & Zhang, Shanshan & Zhu, Wenwen, 2017. "Supply chain collaboration for sustainability: A literature review and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 73-87.
    20. Dai, Jing & Montabon, Frank L. & Cantor, David E., 2014. "Linking rival and stakeholder pressure to green supply management: Mediating role of top management support," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 173-187.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:137:y:2020:i:c:s1366554519315194. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.