Exploring the Implications of Working Conditions for Corporate Sustainability in Last-Mile Delivery Platform Companies

Annachiara Longoni (), Sergio Salas (), Cristina Sancha (), Vicenta Sierra () and Frank Wiengarten ()
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Annachiara Longoni: Esade Business School – Ramon Llull University
Sergio Salas: Esade Business School – Ramon Llull University
Cristina Sancha: Esade Business School – Ramon Llull University
Vicenta Sierra: Esade Business School – Ramon Llull University
Frank Wiengarten: Esade Business School – Ramon Llull University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2025, vol. 199, issue 3, No 9, 627-651

Abstract: Abstract Last-mile delivery platforms have recently emerged as effective business models to match supply and demand, even though they have been criticized for potentially exploiting their workers. This paper investigates the corporate sustainability and socio-economic trade-offs of platform companies in relation to working conditions (i.e., work relationships, social subsystems, and technical subsystem). A survey of 392 paid-per-order workers from six food delivery platforms across Spain was conducted to validate our research framework. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of the impact of working conditions on corporate sustainability in platform companies. On the one hand, there are positive implications for both social and economic sustainability in the presence of higher earnings, rights and protections, and empowerment for workers. Conversely, prolonged work relationships between workers and platform companies are negatively related to workers’ perceived stress and individual performance. Based on these insights, we advance our understanding of how platform companies can deal with conflicting objectives regarding working conditions by adopting an instrumental approach in the case of short-term workers and an integrative approach with long-term workers.

Keywords: Social sustainability; Worker well-being; Last-mile delivery; Sharing economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05840-7

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