Balancing coercive and non-coercive powers to enhance green supplier integration: do relationship commitment and closeness matter?
ISSN: 1359-8546
Article publication date: 4 June 2020
Issue publication date: 20 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Although the importance of green supplier integration (GSI) has been recognized, the knowledge of how it can be enhanced is still limited. Using insights from transaction cost and resource dependence theories, this paper aims to explore how to balance coercive and non-coercive powers to enhance GSI and the mediating role of relationship commitment and the moderating role of relationship closeness.
Design/methodology/approach
To validate the hypotheses, this study conducted hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping using the survey data collected from 206 Chinese manufacturers.
Findings
The results indicate that coercive power undermines normative commitment, while non-coercive power promotes normative and instrumental commitments. Both normative and instrumental commitments enhance GSI. Normative commitment mediates the impacts of coercive and non-coercive powers on GSI, while instrumental commitment only mediates the impact of non-coercive power on GSI. Moreover, supplier trust and dependence negatively moderate the positive link between instrumental commitment and GSI.
Practical implications
Executives should carefully balance coercive and non-coercive powers to encourage firms to maintain good relationships with suppliers and develop common environmental values under different mediating effects of normative and instrumental commitments. However, they should also be aware that high level of trust and dependence can affect the impacts of powers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to GSI literature by opening the “black box” between power and GSI and verifying its boundary conditions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor, Beverly Wagner, and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments. This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71702148 and No. 71732006), Taishan Scholar Project (tsqn201909154), Science and Technology Program for Innovation of Shandong Universities (2020RWG003), and Social Science Planning Research Project in Shandong Province (19CGLJ03).
Citation
Zhang, Q., Pan, J., Xu, D. and Feng, T. (2020), "Balancing coercive and non-coercive powers to enhance green supplier integration: do relationship commitment and closeness matter?", Supply Chain Management, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 637-653. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-03-2019-0140
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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