Sustainable procurement and role of multiple stakeholders in advancing sustainable performance of the palm oil supply chain
The purpose of this study was to determine if sustainable procurement carried out by the buyers of palm oil would improve the sustainable performance of the palm oil supply chain, and examine the role of the multiple stakeholder initiative, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in facilitatin...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70772/1/FEP%202017%204%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to determine if sustainable procurement carried out by the
buyers of palm oil would improve the sustainable performance of the palm oil supply
chain, and examine the role of the multiple stakeholder initiative, Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in facilitating the buying firms to carry out sustainable
procurement. To achieve the purpose, three research questions were formulated to
identify the triggers and enablers that will cause the firms to carry out sustainable
procurement strategies and practices, evaluate the governing role of RSPO and
determine if the strategies and practices of the firms improve the sustainability
performance of the chain. To answer these questions, nine latent constructs were
developed, underpinned by three broad-based theories; stakeholder theory (stakeholder
pressure, sustainability related risk, sustainability oriented people) transaction cost
economic (supply chain transparency) and institutional theory (stakeholder integration,
stakeholder salience, sustainability performance). A quantitative study by way of webbased
survey was undertaken and the sampling frame consisted of RSPO members and
non-RSPO members. The sampling method was non-probability purposive sampling
method. The findings revealed that stakeholder theory which supported the constructs
sustainability related risks and sustainability oriented people positively impacted the
procurement strategies but found no support for the construct stakeholder pressure. The
supply chain transparency also positively impacted the strategies as predicted by
transaction cost economics arising from reduced of opportunistic behavior. The
stakeholder theory also supported the positive relationship between sustainable
strategies and practices. The role of multi-stakeholder RSPO was tested as a mediating
factor on two aspects; stakeholder integration to mediate the firm’s strategy and practice
and stakeholder salience to mediate the practice of the firm and its impact on the
sustainability performance of the supply chain. And as predicted by the institution
theory, the mediating roles of RSPO were affirmed. The institutional theory also
supported the positive relationship between sustainable procurement practices and
sustainability performances. This study made three theoretical contributions: firstly the
dual role of multi-stakeholder; a role in the firms as the firms translate the strategies into implementable practices and a role in the chain as the multi-stakeholder bring firms that
share common interest together to improve the sustainability performance of the chain.
Secondly, sustainability performance of the chain can only be improved with the
adoption of relevant strategies and practices by the firms and thirdly, the categories of
governance would also include non-state market driven voluntary initiatives. From a
policy perspective, continuing engagement with multi-stakeholders would benefit
governments and non-governments as they strive towards improving the sustainability
of the palm oil supply chain, a critical commodity which forms the economic backbone
of some countries. This study is also important for improving our understating of the
role played by the salient multi-stakeholder in the wake of the proliferation of these
initiatives. |
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