An empirical examination of the relationship between business strategy and socially responsible supply chain management

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the effect of business strategy on socially responsible supply chain management (SR-SCM).Design methodology approach - This study draws on data from 178 UK-based companies, and 340 buyer-supplier relationships. A novel data collection approach is used, which mini...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of operations & production management 2013-01, Vol.33 (5), p.589-621
Main Authors: Hoejmose, Stefan, Brammer, Stephen, Millington, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Awards & honors
Bias
Business
Competition
Competitive advantage
Footwear industry
Global marketing
Logistics
Management
Production management
Regression analysis
Social responsibility
Strategy
Strontium
Studies
Suppliers
Supply chain management
Supply chains
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Summary:Purpose - This paper aims to explore the effect of business strategy on socially responsible supply chain management (SR-SCM).Design methodology approach - This study draws on data from 178 UK-based companies, and 340 buyer-supplier relationships. A novel data collection approach is used, which minimizes social desirability and common methods bias, to capture socially responsible supply chain management. The data are analysed through a set of OLS regressions.Findings - Business strategies significantly influence socially responsible supply chain management. Low-cost producers largely neglect their social responsibilities in the supply chain. In contrast, firms pursuing differentiation strategies are considerably more engaged with these issues, partly because they have better supply chain processes.Practical implications - Practitioners should carefully consider the fit between strategic position and level of engagement with SR-SCM, since our results emphasise the relationship between SR-SCM and business strategy. Proactive engagement with SR-SCM, however, also implies sound supply chain processes, which must also be aligned with business strategy. Policy-makers should consider the low engagement with SR-SCM of low-cost producers and the implications for SR-SCM in cost sensitive and competitive global markets.Originality value - This is the first systematic cross-sectional study of the relationship between business strategy and socially responsible supply chain management (SR-SCM). These results suggest that there is a clear relationship between the strategic position of the firm and their SR-SCM practices. These results contribute to the on-going debate on relationships between strategy and supply chain management, and the emerging debate on the relationships between strategy and SR-SCM.
ISSN:0144-3577
1758-6593
DOI:10.1108/01443571311322733