The influence of supply network structure on firm sustainability.

Firms are facing increased pressure from various stakeholders to incorporate social and environmental considerations into their strategies and operations. Yet, the successful realisation and achievement of social and environmental objectives extend beyond the boundaries of one single firm. Firms more and more engage in relationships with various upstream and downstream actors across their supply chains to achieve these sustainability goals. Whilst the literature has highlighted the cruciality of the broader supply networks in driving firms’ sustainability, present literatures as a whole lacks both a synthesis of major findings and a reflection of the current development of this area. Adopting a Systematic Literature Review approach, the thesis extends the understanding of the role of network in supply chain sustainability by identifying distinct network attributes that influence the sustainability performance in the supply chain. Specifically, relational and structural network attributes are distinguished and their individual and interactive effects on both environmental and social dimensions of sustainability in supply chains are examined. The study further adds contributions to the current discussion on the cruciality of broader supply networks in driving sustainability by investigating the interfirm connectivity patterns of a real-world and large-scale Automotive supply network. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the interconnectedness of supply networks and firms’ sustainability performance. The study also determines the moderating role of firms’ supply network structural properties in the relationship between their sustainability efforts and sustainability performance; the study shows that whereas firms’ in-degree centrality weakens the relationship between their commitment to sustainability and the extent of sustainability performance, out-degree centrality strengthens this association. The thesis further adds to the existing literature examining the role of supply network structural properties by investigating the structural properties of firms’ neighbours. Particularly, the study distinguishes between two neighbours’ structural properties: neighbours’ interconnectedness and neighbours’ centrality. Moreover, the study determines the moderating effect of firms’ bridging in sustainability controversies. In addition to the sustainability outcome, the study examines firms’ sustainability controversies as an alternative indicator of sustainability performance capturing the importance and significance of the sustainability outcomes through market sensitivities (i.e. market reactions to sustainability conflicts).