Green warehousing, logistics optimization, social values and ethics and economic performance: the role of supply chain sustainability

• Pages: 549-574
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-10-2019-0275
• Date: 21 August 2020
• Published date: 21 August 2020
• Author: Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah,Esther Ahenkorah,Ebenezer Afum,Essel Dacosta,Zhongxing Tian
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

Green warehousing, logistics

optimization, social values and

ethics and economic performance:

the role of supply

chain sustainability

Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah

Transportation Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China

Esther Ahenkorah

Regent University College of Science and Technology, Accra, Ghana

Ebenezer Afum

Transportation Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China

Essel Dacosta

Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China, and

Zhongxing Tian

Transportation Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China

Abstract

Purpose –This study primarily explores the influence of green warehousing,logistics optimization and social

values and ethics on supply chain sustainability and economic performance. The study further examines the

mediating role of supply chain sustainability between economicperformance and green warehousing, logistics

optimization and social values and ethics.

Design/methodology/approach –The study employs a quantitative research approach where survey data

are collected from 200 managers of manufacturing companies in Ghana. The dataset is analyzed using partial

least square structural equation modeling software (PLS-SEM) SmartPLS 3.

Findings –Theresults showthat green warehousing and logistics optimization negatively influence economic

performance but improves economic performance through supply chain sustainability. It is further discovered

that social values and ethics have a positive influence on supply chain sustainability and economic

performance.

Originality/value–This paper proposesand tests atheoretical modelthat explores the relationshipsbetween

green warehousing, supply chain sustainability, economic performance, logistics optimization and social

values and ethics through the resource dependency theory (RDT) in the manufacturing firms in Ghana.

Keywords Supply chain sustainability, Green warehousing, Logistics optimization, Social valuesand ethics,

Performance, Resource dependency theory

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Supply chain activities of firms have led to environmental pollution, global warming and

climate change and termination of human lives through the emission of greenhouse gases,

improper waste management, production of non-biodegradable products, the inappropriate

keeping of hazardous and explosive substances and excessive use of resources (Khan, 2019;

Dekker, 2012;Feng et al., 2018;Khan et al., 2018). Firms are adopting green and social

practices into their supply chain to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment,

ensure societal safety, improve efficiency, gain competitive advantage, meet stakeholders’

demand and access new markets (Agyabeng-Mensah et al., 2020a,b,c,d). These socially and

The role of

supply chain

sustainability

549

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0957-4093.htm

Received 19 October 2019

Revised 25 January 2020

14 March 2020

21 April 2020

14 June 2020

Accepted 30 June 2020

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 31 No. 3, 2020

pp. 549-574

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-10-2019-0275

environmentally inclined practices are adopted to ensure the safety and welfare of employees

and other needs of stakeholders through less emission of greenhouses gases, waste

reductionandresourceandenergyconsumption(Longoniet al., 2018;Khan et al., 2018;Zaid

et al., 2018). Nonetheless, the implementation of these socially and environmentally friendly

practices face challenges due to their confusing and inconsistent influenceon sustainability

performance (Zaid et al., 2018;Adomako et al., 2019;Green et al., 2019a,b;Agyabeng-

Mensah et al., 2020a,b,c,d). Many studies have been conducted into the relationship

between green practices and environmental conservation (Nilsson, 2013;Gotschol et al.,

2014), continuous improvement (Carrizo-Moreira, 2014), financial performance (Liu et al.,

2012;Sarkis et al., 2011) and social performance (Zaid et al., 2018;Agyabeng-Mensah et al.,

2020a,b,c,d). Agyabeng-Mensah et al. (2020a,b,c,d) and Baah et al. (2020) found a positive

relationship between green logistics practices and financial performance. Green et al.

(2019a,b) suggest that green and lean practices combine to advance environmental

sustainability among manufacturing firms in the US. Zaid et al. (2018) established a positive

relationship between green practices and sustainability performance among Palestinian

manufacturing firms. Longoni et al. (2018) discovered that green practices improve

financial performance among firms in Italy, while Feng et al. (2018), which was conducted in

the Chinese automobile manufacturing companies, foundthat green supply chain practices

harm sales, profit margin and return on assets. Despite the extensive studies into green

practices, scholars continue to root for more studies into the potency of green practices in

the achievement of supply chain sustainability. Dubey et al. (2017a,b) and Tseng et al.

(2019) further established that there is relatively less sustainability literature from the

emerging economy perspective especially, in Africa. Besides, Eriksson et al. (2015) urge

future studies to look into the role of social values and ethics and moral responsibility in

supply chain sustainability.

Moreover, Bartolini et al. (2019) suggest that there is inadequate literature, which

considers green warehousing as a standalone variable. The aforementioned gaps have

motivated us to conduct this study to advance the course of sustainability literature and

practice. The study uses the resource dependency theory (RDT) to explore the influence of

logistics optimization, green warehousing, social values and ethics on supply chain

sustainability and economic performance.

Further, the paper explores the indirect influence of logistics optimization, social values

and ethics and green warehousing on economic performance through supply chain

sustainability. This leads us to answer the research questions;

(1) Do logistics optimization, green warehousing and social values and ethics directly

influence supply chain sustainability and economic performance?

(2) Does supply chain sustainability mediate the relationship between logistics

optimization, social values and ethics, green warehousing and economic

performance?

The study will deepen the understanding of green supply chain practices from the developing

economy’s perspective to strike a balance between literature since this study responds to the

call from the social and green supply chain management literature (Eriksson et al., 2015;

Dubey et al., 2017a,b;Tseng et al., 2019) to conduct empirical studies into the constructs used

in this research. The study’s empirical model will serve as a blueprint for future study since it

is among the few, if not the first empirical study that tests the link between green

warehousing, social values and ethics, logistics optimization, supply chain sustainability and

economic performance. Besides, it will provide evidence for practitioners to push for green

supply chain practices as a strategy for achieving sustainability objectives. The first part of

the study contains the introduction. The literature review forms the second part while

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