Supply chain slack and sustainable development performance: The “fit–adjust” effect of objective and perceived environmental uncertainties

Slack has been argued to have “double‐edged sword” effects; hence, whether it contributes to sustainable development remains questionable. This study examines the relationship between supply chain slack and sustainable development performance based on information processing theory. To test the hypotheses, this study collected 1017 panel data of 102 Chinese listed companies in the agricultural and food industry from 2010 to 2019. Results show that supply chain slack exerts a positive effect on sustainable development performance, with objective environmental uncertainty positively moderating this direct effect. However, this positive moderating effect is weaker when there is a higher level of perceived environmental uncertainty from the perspective of metacognition. Results indicate that supply chain slack generates a higher level of sustainable development performance when managers acquire more information that they can use to adjust the fit “bias” regarding objective environmental uncertainty in support of the underlying “fit–adjust” logic.