Agility and lean practices as antecedents of supply chain social sustainability
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 1 July 2020
Issue publication date: 2 December 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to empirically investigate whether supply chain agility and lean management practices are antecedents of supply chain social sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 311 supply chain practitioners from the Indian manufacturing sector. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to test the validity and reliability of the measures used, and a structural model was analyzed to test the hypotheses of the current study.
Findings
The results indicate that agility and lean practices are significant antecedents of social sustainability orientation as well as social sustainability performance. The results also suggest that agility has a significant indirect effect on operational performance via social sustainability orientation, basic social sustainability practices as well as agility is indirectly affecting social sustainability performance via social sustainability orientation and basic social sustainability practices.
Practical implications
The results of the present study have implications for managers that want to make their supply chain more socially sustainable.
Originality/value
The study is unique in the sense that it empirically links agility and lean practices with social sustainability orientation, social substantiality performance and operational performance in supply chains.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor of IJOPM, as their comments during the peer review process greatly improved the quality and clarity of this manuscript.
Citation
Nath, V. and Agrawal, R. (2020), "Agility and lean practices as antecedents of supply chain social sustainability", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 40 No. 10, pp. 1589-1611. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-09-2019-0642
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited