Identifying the Relationships of Green Drivers, Initiatives and Performance in the Third-Party Logistics Industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The growing level of attention towards global warming, non-renewable resources reduction, and pollution reduction force the firms to implement sustainable green initiatives into their supply chains. The green supply chain concept is introduced to alleviate environmental degradation and control air, water, and waste pollution through the adoption of green practices in business processes. In the last few decades, sustainability issues have gained the increasing interest of society. Further, the corporate world has taken sustainable development as a promising criterion for achieving a wealthier world in which natural resources and the environment are preserved for future generations. Despite increasing interest in environmental issues, most industries have considered and addressed green supply chain management and practices. However, a comprehensive and updated assessment of the third-party logistics industry in the literature is still missing. The main objective of this study is to identify the Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) drivers, initiatives, and performances which have a vital impact on reducing the adverse effect on the environment. To implement the GSCM initiatives, a survey was carried out with the experts in the third-party logistics companies in Sri Lanka. This study emphasizes that some factors of green drivers strongly influence the driver-initiative relationship, and the initiative factors strongly influence the initiative-performance relationship. The findings of this study are useful for managers in the supply chain and logistic domain and for policymakers, who could be inspired by the role of drivers in the implementation of GSCM initiatives, and then the initiatives on the level of performance achievable and thereby reduce the global warming and reduce the pollution to the environment.