This study aims to examine the relationships among lean manufacturing practices (LMPs), green supply chain management practices (GSCMPs) and the three dimensions of corporate sustainable performance (CSP), while also highlighting the mediating role of GSCMPs between LMPs and each dimension of CSP, along with the moderating effect of organizational green culture (OGC) between GSCMPs and social and environmental performance.
Adopting a purely quantitative approach, the authors collected data from 136 manufacturing companies in Tunisia using a survey questionnaire and analyzed/validated the research hypotheses using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach.
The study results revealed that (1) the adoption of LMPs promotes the implementation of GSCMPs, (2) GSCMPs positively impact firms’ social and environmental performance (but have an insignificant impact on their economic performance), (3) LMPs significantly enhance economic performance but do not substantially influence social and environmental outcomes, (4) GSCMPs significantly mediate the relationship between LMPs and firms’ social and environmental performance and (5) a non-significant moderating effect of OGC on the relationship between GSCMPs and social and environmental performance.
This study contributes to the existing literature on lean manufacturing, GSCM and CSP. It shows the importance of implementing GSCMPs alongside LMPs to ensure better sustainable performance for industrial firms in developing countries.
