Supply chain sustainability: the key role of trust and suppliers’ performance

Does sustainable supply management (SSM) (i.e., supplier monitoring and collaboration) contribute more to supply chain sustainability compared to sustainable process management (SPM) (i.e., management system and certifications)? Does the improvement of suppliers’ sustainability performance contribute significantly to a firm’s sustainability performance? Does trust have significant implications for supply chain sustainability? To provide an answer a conceptual framework has been developed and tested by applying the PLS methodology on a sample of 71 firms. Results show that SPM enables SSM and impacts firms’ sustainability performance. Further, in presence of trust, SSM impacts suppliers’ sustainability performance and, indirectly, a firm’s sustainability footprint.