The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of supply chain integration (SCI) in improving sustainability management practices (SMPs) and performance.
Based on data collected from 931 manufacturing firms in multiple countries and regions, the authors conducted a structural equation modeling analysis to test the proposed hypotheses.
The findings suggest that supplier and customer integration are vital enablers for both intra- and inter-organizational SMPs. The results also reveal that both intra- and inter-organizational SMPs are significantly and positively associated with sustainability performance (i.e. economic, environmental and social performance) and function as complements to jointly enhance environmental and social performance.
This study incorporates SCI into the sustainability literature, providing a new perspective on sustainability and supply chain management research.
