Exploring the technical and behavioral dimensions of green supply chain management: a roadmap toward environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability issues have become an increasing concern for enterprises and organizations due to new tendencies in climate change. Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices are growing worldwide in this context. Based on socio-technical systems and institutional theory, the present study develops a conceptual model highlighting a mediating effect between two distinct categories of GSCM dimensions, i.e., technical practices and behavioral practices, along with the moderating effect of institutional pressure on organizational performance. Data were collected from 260 Pakistani manufacturers, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to analyze the hypotheses. The classification of technical and behavioral GSCM practices and findings of this research contributes to the literature on GSCM. Empirical results reveal that behavioral practices of GSCM (top management support, supplier, and customer involvement) mediate the relationship between technical GSCM practices (eco-design, green manufacturing, and reverse logistics) and organizational performance (economic, environmental, and social). The results also demonstrate that institutional pressure positively moderates the relationship between technical practices and organizational performance. These findings suggest that organizations in developing countries must focus on the behavioral dimensions of GSCM first for the successful implementation of technical dimensions of GSCM to gain effective environmental, economic, and social performance. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-20352-5.