Purpose – This study aims to empirically investigate the relationship between the directions of
pressures affecting green supply chain management (GSCM) and supply chain (SC) performance.
Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on a survey because there is no archival
database providing detailed information on GSC practices and performance. A survey questionnaire
was developed to collect research data, based on the GSC literature and a pilot study in the field. The
authors developed hypotheses based on two theories: institutional theory and the resource-based view
(RBV). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test
the hypotheses with SPSS (16.0) and AMOS (5.0).
Findings – The results confirmed the importance of implementing environmental SC practices to
sustain organizations’ competitive advantage and performance. Increased SC flexibility helped reduce
resources, through decreased cost factors and improved output. Enterprises with environmental SC
policies tended to increase SC flexibility and, hence, enhanced profits.
Originality/value – This paper applies organizational theories to GSCM by extending the
institutional-versus-internal-pressure construct to the way enterprises implement GSC strategies for
sustainable SC