Sustainable procurement practices and sustainable performance: evidence from small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in an emerging economy

Abstract

This study investigates the explanatory link between sustainable procurement practices (SPPs) and sustainable performance dimensions (SuP) [environmental (EP), social (SP), and economic (EcP) performance]. Using a structured questionnaire, valid data were collected from 180 Ghanaian food manufacturing SMEs. The IBM SPSS Statistics (v. 26) and SmartPLS 3 software were used for data processing and analysed using the partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) tool. This study found that SPPs (GPP, LPP, and EPP) significantly improve EP, SP and, EcP. However, LPP had no significant influence on EcP of the food manufacturing SMEs. The outcomes would also help owners/managers to improve existing sustainable procurement policies and practices to achieve SuP objectives. In this study, generalisation of findings is limited to food manufacturing SMEs in Ghana, a developing economy, with particular focus on firms within the Accra, Kumasi and Tema metropolises. This study establishes whether the adoption of key sustainable practices (green, lean and ethics) throughout procurement processes affect the sustainable performance of food manufacturing SMEs within a developing economy notably Ghana.