Antecedents and performance outcomes of circular procurement: an empirical study in China

Farooque, M., Zhang, A. , Choi, T.-M., Hartley, J. L. and Liu, Y. (2023) Antecedents and performance outcomes of circular procurement: an empirical study in China. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, (doi: 10.1016/j.pursup.2023.100882) (In Press)

Abstract

Traditional procurement approaches and their prescribed business-as-usual practices are no longer sufficient in the face of society’s grand environmental and resource challenges. In response, this research presents circular procurement, which is grounded in the circular economy (CE) philosophy, as a business-not-as-usual approach to firm and supply chain level purchasing decisions. Drawing on institutional theory and the practice-based view of strategy, a conceptual model is developed that maps the antecedents as well as performance outcomes of circular procurement practices in terms of the environmental and economic (i.e., cost and financial) dimensions of performance. Survey data from 255 Chinese manufacturers is then analyzed alongside qualitative data from two post-survey case studies to achieve better interpretation of survey results. The findings indicate that coercive pressures and integrated management systems (IMS) are key antecedents of circular procurement practices among Chinese manufacturers. Furthermore, circular procurement practices show a significant and positive effect on environmental, cost, and financial performance. Interestingly, the association between environmental performance and circular procurement is relatively weak in comparison to economic performance. This research provides empirical evidence of the performance outcomes of circular procurement and contributes to the literature by advancing our understanding of its theoretical foundations. It further provides important practical and policy guidelines that can help to enhance the development of circular procurement.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Dr Abraham Zhang acknowledges partial funding support from the 2020 Endeavour Fund, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment of New Zealand (Project title: Āmiomio Aotearoa - A Circular Economy for the Wellbeing of New Zealand). Dr Yanping Liu acknowledges the funding support from the Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 23YJC630131) and Asia Research Center in Nankai University (Grant No. AS2316).
• Keywords: Circular economy, circular procurement, green procurement, sustainable procurement, circular supply chain management, performance.
• Status: In Press
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Zhang, Dr Abraham

Creator Roles

Zhang, A.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Project administration, Supervision

• Authors: Farooque, M., Zhang, A., Choi, T.-M., Hartley, J. L., and Liu, Y.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1478-4092
• ISSN (Online): 1873-6505
• Published Online: 24 November 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
• First Published: First published in Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy