Structure of Green Supply Chain Management for Sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises

Today’s manufacturing-based small and medium enterprises (SME) face the need to implement green supply chains more efficiently in order to overcome environmental barriers in increasingly competitive markets and to improve financial performance. This study examines the structural relationship between environmental collaboration, green innovation capacity, and performance based on the findings of previous studies in order to identify the factors affecting the green supply chain management (GSCM) performance of Korean manufacturing-based SMEs. The study finds that environmental collaboration in the green supply chain environment is an important driver of green innovation capacity for manufacturing-based Korean SMEs. It also finds that green innovation capacity has a positive effect on financial performance through environmental performance. This study establishes a theoretical basis for the systematic study of the structural mechanisms of green supply chains and suggests strategic directions for manufacturing-based SMEs’ successful GSCM implementation.