Sustainable supply chain management and performance outcomes: supply chain practice view and mediated moderation perspectives

Manufacturing supply chains face an ever-increasing risk of failing to address contentious social issues and achieve financial stability. Regrettably, previous studies highlight resources that provide few leaders in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) with a competitive advantage over many other firms. As a result, it remains unclear how firms across manufacturing supply chains leverage imitable sustainability practices for economic and social benefits, particularly in emerging markets with resource constraints. To address this issue and extend this research stream, we draw on supply chain practice view theory to introduce two imitable SSCM practices—basic SSCM practices and advanced SSCM practices—and propose that they play a crucial role in shaping the social and economic performance of firms across manufacturing supply chains. Using cross-sectional survey data from 262 managers of firms across manufacturing supply chains in Ghana, our results reveal that basic SSCM practices are a prerequisite for advanced SSCM practices. Additionally, the results demonstrate an indirect impact of advanced SSCM practices on economic performance via community-focused performance. Unlike hypothesised, our study's results do not identify basic SSCM practices as a boundary condition affecting the relationships between advanced SSCM practices and community- and employee-focused performances. By theorising and revealing a more nuanced understanding of how significantly imitable practices contribute to manufacturing supply chains' social and economic performance, we enhance the existing body of knowledge on the antecedents, boundary conditions and performance implications of SSCM practices.