Buyer-supplier dyad on performance and sustainability

Purpose: This paper investigates how the configuration of a supplier’s sustainable operations practices (SOPs) with a high sustainable performance affects a buyer’s organizational performance in the buyer-supplier dyad. Design/methodology/approach: This study first identifies the key SOPs using bibliometric and content analyses. Then, the research hypotheses are proposed using complexity theory and the resource-based view. This study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 74 buyer-supplier dyads in China to explore the configurations of a supplier’s SOPs that may attain a high sustainable performance. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to test the effects of these configurations on a buyer’s financial and operational performance. Findings: The empirical findings inform that six configurations of a supplier’s key SOPs lead to a high sustainable performance, and are linked to a buyer’s operational and financial performance. A buyer’s financial performance is highest when its supplier adopts a combination of SOPs corresponding to the defensive, accommodative, and proactive sustainability strategies. A buyer’s operational performance is relatively high when its supplier adopts a combination of SOPs corresponding to the defensive and accommodative sustainability strategies. Originality/value: This study is the first to draw on complexity theory and the resource-based view as complementary frameworks to analyze how the configuration of a supplier’s SOPs with a high sustainable performance affects a buyer’s organizational performance in the buyer-supplier dyad.