Moderating effect of environmental supply chain collaboration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate environmental strategies, namely, environmental management strategy (EMS) and green product strategy (GPS), affect the competitiveness of a firm. In addition, this study investigates whether the environmental collaboration in supply chains (ECSC), namely, environmental collaboration with suppliers (ECS), and environmental collaboration with customers (ECC) moderate the environment-performance relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Survey methodology and regression modeling are adopted to assess the relationship between corporate environmental strategy and competitive performance of a company, including the moderating effects of ECSC. Findings – Competitiveness is positively affected by EMS and GPS. ECSC moderately affects the links among EMS, GPS, and competitiveness. Regarding the differences between the impacts of ECS and ECC on performance, only ECS acts as a moderator in the enhancement of EMS and GPS. Thus, ECS positively contributes to enhance competitive advantage. In contrast to perceptions, ECC directly improves firm competitiveness. Research limitations/implications – The findings support the understanding that the moderating role of ECSC may explain the conflicting results in environment-performance linkages. In particular, suppliers and customers could impact EMS and GPS in direct or interactive ways, or both, to enhance the performance of a firm. Practical implications – Significant performance improvements are influenced not only by the real environmental commitment of companies to internal green management but also by the positive relations of firms with their external cooperative capabilities in environmental relationships with chain partners. Originality/value – This research is the first to suggest and empirically test the moderating impacts of ECSC on the relationship between corporate environmental strategy and competitiveness.