The impact of relationship quality and supplier development on green supply chain integration: A mediation and moderation analysis

Abstract

This study aims to understand how relationship quality (top managementsupport and relational governance) influences upstream Green Supply ChainIntegration (GSCI) through supplier development. It also examines whether green drivers (customer and cost drivers) moderate the relationship between supplier development and upstream GSCI. The data used in this study are part of the international survey of high-performance manufacturing. Structural equation modeling is applied to 285 samples collected from ten countries. The results show that supplier development fully mediates the relationship between top management support and upstream GSCI and partially mediates the relationship between relational governance and upstream GSCI. Additionally, both cost and customer drivers are found to significantly moderate the relationship between supplier development and upstream GSCI. This study contributes to theory and practice by combining and balancing the interests of suppliers in green integration, examining the enablers of upstream GSCI, and testing the contingent effect of supplier development on upstream GSCI.