Green supply chain management practice adoption sequence: a cumulative capability perspective

Corporate environmental responsibilities have expanded to include their supply chains. Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices can be extensive – including both intra- and inter-organisational environmental management practices. Selecting and sequencing GSCM practices is an important issue given resource and strategic organisational considerations. Using the cumulative capabilities theory, this study empirically explores GSCM implementation sequences, following which firms can build cumulative capabilities. Correlation, sequential test, and path analysis are used to identify GSCM practice implementation sequence from secondary data. The results show that firms should first encourage suppliers to disclose their environmental data and respond to inquiries on environmental violations by their suppliers (the order of the two is exchangeable), then encourage suppliers to comply with environmental regulations, extend practices to lower-tier suppliers, and engage in responsible recycling. This study is one of the first to apply cumulative capability theory to analyse environmental practices and provides a framework for future research on GSCM sequences. The paper also offers practical implications for firms to adjust their strategies in order to adopt GSCM more effectively and successfully.