Towards a sustainability paradigm; the nexus between lean green practices, sustainability-oriented innovation and Triple Bottom Line

Abstract

Sustainable development has become a prerequisite for any organization that ensure environmental, economic, and social sustainability during the production process. However, how lean manufacturing helps to achieve each of the three dimensions of sustainability was not adequately considered by prior studies, since one type of sustainability or the concept of sustainability as a whole has been investigated. Moreover, few studies investigated the combined effect of lean practices and Sustainability-Oriented Innovation (SOI) on each type of sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of lean manufacturing practices on Triple Bottom Line (TBL) by taking SOI as a mediator. Data of 392 managers from different manufacturing organizations in Jordan was collected through well-structured questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to check the relationship between latent and observed variables. The results reveal that both lean practices and SOI has significant and positive effect on TBL. Although lean manufacturing focus on efficiency while sustainability-oriented innovation promotes responsiveness to customers. Besides, SOI plays a partial mediating role between lean manufacturing and sustainable development. This study provides evidence that either lean practices or SOI and their combination significantly assure sustainability. The findings will assist decision-makers, supply chain managers and academicians to understand the importance of lean practices and SOI to achieve sustainability.