Sustainability along the Value Chain: Collaborative Approaches and their Impact on Firm Performance

Abstract

Heeding the call for a deeper understanding of the key differences in corporate approaches to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and their impact on performance, we collect and analyse data on a sample of 91 Italian firms in the consumer product industry engaged in upstream and downstream sustainability initiatives. Results show that companies differ in the extent to which sustainability is shared along the chain. Yet, the more companies collaborate through a strong sustainability orientation, the higher the impact on supply-chain related performance, with companies adopting a proactive attitude to SSCM being able to benefit the most from it.

Keywords

• sustainable supply chain management
• corporate social responsibility
• collaborative approach
• stakeholder management