The supply-side of environmental sustainability and export performance : the role of knowledge integration and international buyer involvement

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

International Business Review

Publication Date

8-2017

Volume

26

Issue

4

First Page

724

Last Page

735

Publisher

Pergamon Press

Keywords

Market-oriented environmental sustainability, Knowledge integration, International buyer involvement, Buyer-supplier relationships, Export performance

Abstract

Most of previous studies seek to understand buyer perspectives in green supply chain relationships and devote inadequate attention to the strategic role of upstream suppliers. Drawing on a market-oriented approach to sustainability, this paper examines the enabling factors and processes that underpin how export suppliers from emerging economies leverage their strategic intent to develop knowledge integration capacity for achieving improved export performance. The results from a sample of Chinese exporters show that the relational capacity of knowledge integration mediates the performance impact of market-oriented environmental sustainability, and such a mediating process of leaning is further enhanced by international buyer involvement. We reveal that relationship efforts should be directed at developing integrative capacity involving key partners for implementing proactive environmental strategy in international business-to-business (B2B) markets. This study contributes to the research of supply chain sustainability in a global context.

DOI

10.1016/j.ibusrev.2017.01.002

Print ISSN

09695931

E-ISSN

18736149

Funding Information

Financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC, 435-2016-1690). {435-2016-1690}

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Li, E. L., Zhou, L. & Wu, A. (2017). The supply-side of environmental sustainability and export performance: The role of knowledge integration and international buyer involvement. International Business Review, 26(4), 724-735. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2017.01.002

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