The Role of Green and Traditional Supplier Attributes on Business Performance

José Mendoza-Fong,Jorge García-Alcaraz,José Díaz-Reza,Juan Sáenz Diez Muro,Julio Blanco Fernández

doi:10.3390/su9091520

José Mendoza-Fong, Jorge García-Alcaraz + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091520

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Abstract

Supplier evaluation and selection are fundamental tasks since they are part of the production process and even initiate the supply chain (SC). Despite their importance in the production system, supplier evaluation and selection may be challenging activities to be performed if companies look at the wide range of available evaluation techniques and methodologies, which now seek to integrate both traditional and green attributes. In addition, companies may refuse to take into account green attributes during the supplier selection process, because they do not know their impact on commercial benefits. To overcome this limitation, this study examines the Mexican manufacturing sector and measures the impact of supplier traditional attributes and green attributes on business performance, namely production process benefits and commercial benefits. As data collection instrument, we administered a survey to 253 supplier evaluators and selectors; then, using the gathered data, we constructed a structural equation model. The model includes four variables to determine the impact of traditional and green attributes on business performance: green attributes, traditional attributes, production process benefits, and commercial benefits. The results indicate that all the latent variables have positive direct effects on one another. For instance, process benefits show the largest effects on commercial benefits, but the most significant effect is caused by traditional attributes on commercial benefits through green attributes and production process benefits.

Highlights

Supplier selection is a key to the successful development of a supply chain (SC) [1] and promotes effective buyer–supplier collaboration
By means of a structural equation model, we demonstrate in this research that relying on suppliers with competitive attributes is useless if such attributes cannot be converted into a competitive strategy during the production process
The fact that the fourth model hypothesis was rejected because Traditional Attributes alone have no significant effects on Commercial Benefits demonstrates that traditional supplier attributes are nowadays insufficient to evaluate providers

Summary

Introduction

Supplier selection is a key to the successful development of a supply chain (SC) [1] and promotes effective buyer–supplier collaboration To ensure this effective partnership and guarantee appropriate integration levels, companies pay careful attention to the vendors they select [2]. As a response to public environmental concerns and the growing use of sustainable practices along SCs, the concept of green supply chain management (GSCM) emerged as a philosophy to help organizations reduce their ecological footprint and increase environmental efficiency without failing to obtain the desired business benefits [5,6]. GSCM has had a significant and positive impact on companies as it allows compliance with government regulations It contributes to a greener corporate image and improves performance, which in turn helps to reap benefits that can later translate into greater financial or economic benefits [7,8,9]. GSCM is a competitive advantage for companies [11] and improves the SC [12]

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