Managerial perspectives on drivers for and barriers to sustainable supply chain management implementation: Evidence from New Zealand

• Published in: Business strategy and the environment Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 592 - 604
• Main Authors: Sajjad, Aymen, Eweje, Gabriel, Tappin, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Wiley Periodicals Inc 01.02.2020
• Subjects: barriers; Companies; Customers; drivers; Ethical standards; Implementation; integrative stakeholder theory; Management; New Zealand; Public relations; Regulation; Reputation management; Senior managers; Supply; Supply chain management; Supply chain sustainability; Supply chains; Sustainability; sustainable supply chain management; Top management; New Zealand
• ISSN: 0964-4733; 1099-0836
• DOI: 10.1002/bse.2389

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that drive or prevent companies' implementation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices. To this end, we interviewed 29 senior managers from 23 New Zealand‐based companies. The key reported drivers were customer expectation, top management commitment, moral and ethical values of managers, reputation management, and economic and operational benefits. Conversely, cost concerns, strategic and structural restraints, supplier and customer issues, and a lack of effective regulations were cited as critical obstacles to SSCM implementation. Thus, the evidence from our findings provides support for both instrumental and normative logics for SSCM implementation. The findings further indicate that, in general, instrumental and normative logics are congruent; however, varied tensions arise when managers seek to simultaneously address competing yet desirable SSCM aspects. Accordingly, we argue that it is imperative to understand, work through, and manage such tensions as balancing divergent sustainability aspects holds considerable potential for successful SSCM implementation.