How does sustainable development of supply chains make firms lean, green and profitable? A resource orchestration perspective

This paper theorizes and tests the effects of sustainable development of supply chains on cost‐reduction (lean), environmental (green) and financial (profitable) performance. Based on the resource orchestration theory, we argue that internal, supplier and customer sustainable development each orchestrate different types of resource and therefore their effects vary. Structural equation modeling of data from a survey of 203 Thai manufacturers was used to test a new theoretical model. Results confirm that financial performance was achieved through cost reduction created by customer sustainable development supported by internal and supplier sustainable development. On the other hand, better environmental performance created by internal sustainable development generated no financial gains. However, internal, supplier and customer sustainable development positively affected each other, and by acting together they made firms lean, green and profitable.