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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SOCIAL VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES
Author(s) -
PULLMAN MADELEINE E.,
MALONI MICHAEL J.,
CARTER CRAIG R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of supply chain management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.75
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1745-493X
pISSN - 1523-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-493x.2009.03175.x
Subject(s) - sustainability , business , environmental economics , environmental resource management , quality (philosophy) , environmental sustainability index , environmental impact assessment , sustainability organizations , social sustainability , environmental planning , economics , ecology , environmental science , philosophy , epistemology , biology
Sustainable supply management research generally focuses on environmental practices. We show through an analysis of the food industry that sustainability requires an expanded view to encompass both environmental and social elements. We interviewed and surveyed food and beverage producers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to both validate expanded sustainability elements in the industry and assess subsequent performance outcomes. A path analysis reveals that food industry managers perceive both direct and mediated impacts of sustainability programs on performance. Specifically, the results indicate that sustainability program effects are limited to the impact of conservation and land management environmental practices on overall environmental performance and human resources practices on quality performance. However, environmental performance improvements lead to improved quality performance, which in turn improves cost performance. The results highlight the complexity of sustainability impacts on performance and suggest that performance benefits from sustainability programs may be difficult to recognize.