Greening logistics and its impact on environmental performance: an absorptive capacity perspective

Abstract

This study investigates the role of absorptive capacity in implementing green logistics practices and the impact of the implementation on green logistics performance (GLP). Data were collected from a survey of 279 Australian Logistics and Transport operators and analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that enhancing green logistics knowledge exploitation is important to improve GLP. This can be achieved through changing the logistics operations and incorporating new knowledge into green practices in a way that can reduce CO2 emission, fuel consumption, or the cost of environmental compliance. The findings also show that addressing environmental concerns requires a process in which environmental information, through a wide range of channels and practices, is acquired, assimilated, transformed, and exploited. The paper reports an original research that contributes to the understanding of the value of green practices and routines to the environmental performance of firms in the Logistics and Transport sector. The results provide practitioners with insights that facilitate the transformation towards greener logistics practices and routines.