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Integrating Behavioral Decision Theory and Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Prioritizing Economic, Environmental, and Social Dimensions in Carrier Selection
Author(s) -
DavisSramek Beth,
Thomas Rodney W.,
Fugate Brian S.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of business logistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.611
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 2158-1592
pISSN - 0735-3766
DOI - 10.1111/jbl.12181
Subject(s) - sustainability , supply chain , selection (genetic algorithm) , empirical research , business , supply chain management , multiple criteria decision analysis , dimension (graph theory) , environmental economics , industrial organization , marketing , economics , computer science , operations research , engineering , ecology , philosophy , mathematics , epistemology , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics , biology
Carrier selection is a specialized sourcing decision with sustainability impacts in every supply chain. This research tests the effects of a transportation carrier's economic, environmental, and social sustainability performance on a shipper's carrier selection decision. Underrepresented experimental methods are used to test an a priori hypothesis derived from behavioral decision theory logic. Results contradict commonly held win–win, trade‐off, and ecological perspectives of sustainable supply chain management by finding that the economic dimension of sustainability has the greatest effect on carrier selection. Our research highlights this managerial preference and offers a theoretically grounded explanation for selection behaviors. This is one of the first empirical studies to simultaneously consider all three dimensions of sustainability. It also moves beyond an internal focal firm focus to evaluate sustainability effects through the eyes of external supply chain members. Our unique approach and findings offer managerial opportunities for differentiation and resource allocation as well as policy implications for the broader transportation system.