Management practices and performance of international suppliers : an examination of exporting firms in China
Abstract
Knowledge has been upheld as the key resource to create sustainable advantage in the strategic management field. In the quest for sustainable performance, theorists in the environmental management domain advocate taking the learning route. However, the extant studies examined only the direct effect of environmental management practices on a firm’s competitiveness and performance and hence ignored the intervening learning processes. Framed within the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm, the current inquiry investigated into environmental management practices as a kind of resource inputs accounting for an international supplier firm’s relational learning to address its international buyers’ environmental concerns, and competitive outcomes deriving out of such a kind of relational learning. This study makes a significant contribution to the strategic management literature by demonstrating the importance of firm-specific resources and relational capabilities for enhancing organizational performance.