Buyer-supplier dyad on performance and sustainability
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
ISSN: 1741-038X
Article publication date: 3 May 2022
Issue publication date: 6 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how the configuration of a supplier’s sustainable operations practices (SOPs) with a high sustainable performance affects a buyer’s organizational performance in the buyer-supplier dyad.
Design/methodology/approach
This study first identifies the key SOPs using bibliometric and content analyses. Then, the research hypotheses are proposed using complexity theory and the resource-based view. This study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 74 buyer-supplier dyads in China to explore the configurations of a supplier’s SOPs that may attain a high sustainable performance. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to test the effects of these configurations on a buyer’s financial and operational performance.
Findings
The empirical findings inform that six configurations of a supplier’s key SOPs lead to a high sustainable performance, and are linked to a buyer’s operational and financial performance. A buyer’s financial performance is highest when its supplier adopts a combination of SOPs corresponding to the defensive, accommodative, and proactive sustainability strategies. A buyer’s operational performance is relatively high when its supplier adopts a combination of SOPs corresponding to the defensive and accommodative sustainability strategies.
Originality/value
This study is the first to draw on complexity theory and the resource-based view as complementary frameworks to analyze how the configuration of a supplier’s SOPs with a high sustainable performance affects a buyer’s organizational performance in the buyer-supplier dyad.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Editor and anonymous reviewers who have provided valuable inputs which have helped to improve the quality of this manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 71671139, 71601155; Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China, Grant/Award Number: 2020JM-124.
Citation
Hao, Z., Goh, M., Jiao, J. and Liu, C. (2022), "Buyer-supplier dyad on performance and sustainability", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 1171-1189. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-06-2021-0215
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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