Sustainability drivers and national culture in buyer-supplier environmental practices: an institutional perspective
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how sustainability drivers interact with national culture to explain the adoption of buyer–supplier environmental sustainability practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on Institutional Theory, this study proposes three sets of hypotheses focused on the role of key cultural dimensions: uncertainty avoidance, power distance and institutional collectivism. It uses a sample of 284 manufacturing plants across three industries and 14 countries to test these hypotheses, using regression analysis.
Findings
Findings suggest that national culture matters in the adoption of buyer–supplier environmental practices; however, its effect is contingent upon the particular combination of cultural dimensions and drivers analyzed.
Originality/value
This study enhances the understanding of the drivers behind buyer–supplier environmental practices by offering a novel examination of their interaction with national culture. This helps explain the heterogeneity in environmental sustainability adoption across countries.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded and conducted within the frameworks of the following projects: PID2020-115018RB-C31 and (AEI/FEDER, UE) research project financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Funds; PID2019-105001GB-I00 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-Spain), ECO 2017–86305-C4-4-R (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad).
Funding: This study was supported by European Commission, European Regional Development Fund (AEI/FEDER, UE), Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos y Transformación Digital, Gobierno de España (ECO 2017–86305-C4-4-R), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (PID2020-115018RB-C31) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-105001GB-I00).
Citation
Ahmadi-Gh, Z., Bello-Pintado, A., Bortolotti, T. and Boscari, S. (2024), "Sustainability drivers and national culture in buyer-supplier environmental practices: an institutional perspective", European Business Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-06-2023-0183
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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