Sustainable Procurement Practice: The Effect of Procurement Officers’ Perceptions

Daniel Etse (), Adela McMurray () and Nuttawuth Muenjohn ()
Additional contact information
Daniel Etse: Kumasi Technical University
Adela McMurray: Flinders University
Nuttawuth Muenjohn: RMIT University College of Business

Journal of Business Ethics, 2023, vol. 184, issue 2, No 11, 525-548

Abstract: Abstract Effective implementation and committed practice of sustainable procurement remain a significant challenge for many organisations across the globe. This paper sought to understand the extent to which employees’ perceptions influence the practice of sustainable procurement in the context of a developing country where sustainability awareness is low. Drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation theory, procurement officers’ perceptions of sustainable procurement were examined relative to the attributes of complexity, compatibility and relative advantage. Empirical data from 322 Ghanaian organisations were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling to determine the nature of procurement officers’ perceptions of sustainable procurement and the effects of the perceptions on relevant organisational practices. The findings indicate that whereas perceptions of relative advantage did not significantly influence the practice of sustainable procurement, perceptions of compatibility had a significant positive effect, and perceptions of complexity had a significant negative effect on sustainable procurement. This study offers insights into the link between employees’ perceptions and organisational sustainable procurement practice, thereby providing a conceptual basis for effective management of the pertinent relationships with implications for enhanced ethical practices in procurement and supply chain management.

Keywords: Sustainable procurement; Procurement officers’ perceptions; Diffusion of innovation theory; Developing countries; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-022-05150-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:184:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05150-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10551/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05150-w

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Ethics is currently edited by Michelle Greenwood and R. Edward Freeman

More articles in Journal of Business Ethics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().