Sustainable Success: Mediating effect of Agile strategy between Practices of Green Supply Chain Management and Environmental Performance

Abstract

Purpose: In the contemporary information era, firms are trying to sustain their market position to achieve a competitive edge through organisational environmental legitimacy. However, one way to achieve sustainability is to adopt green supply chain management practices. As a result, achieving intended environmental performance depends significantly on green ecological supply chain management practices. The primary purpose of the current study is to explore how green supply chain management practices can play their sustainable role in environmental performance. As well as how agile strategy can mediate between green supply chain management practices and the environmental performance of organisations. Green eco-design, Cooperation with customers and green purchase are taken as green supply chain management practices and their impact on environmental performance.

Methodology: To conduct this quantitative study, an online survey strategy was used for data collection purposes, in which the researcher's interference was minimal because of a non-contrived setting. The study population is the managers working in small and medium enterprises of Pakistan, and out of these, 401 are taken as a sample. Managers as individuals are considered the unit of analysis in this cross-sectional study. Simple random sampling is applied to select the firms from the list of small and medium enterprises located in the industrial zones of major business cities of Pakistan, like Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Hattar and Rawalpindi.

Findings: Each practice of green supply chain management (green eco-design, Cooperation with customers, and green purchasing) positively and significantly impacts environmental performance. Agile strategy mediates between all three practices of green supply chain management (green eco-design, Cooperation with customers, and green purchasing) and environmental performance.

Originality/value: The integration of agile strategy significantly impacts the environment's performance. Therefore, businesses should be able to set up procedures to create value through relationships with suppliers. Their selection and evaluation procedures can help analyse supply chain strategy. Organisations should prioritise their capabilities and strategies in daily operations, and the capabilities and strategies they need.