Purchasing’s involvement in environmental issues: a multi-country perspective

Purchasing and supply chain management have a critical role, and significant influence, in a firm’s environmental performance. This study explores the extent of involvement that purchasing managers in Germany, the UK, and the USA have in environmental issues, versus the level they believe they should have. The environmental issues addressed in this paper are: hazardous materials, investment recovery, product design, and supply chain relationships. Overall findings suggest that purchasing managers want greater levels of participation in these environmental issues. The study also describes differences according to country. Future research is suggested to explore how purchasing managers can influence the supply chain to improve corporate environmental performance.