Improving Green Market Orientation, Green Supply Chain Relationship Quality, and Green Absorptive Capacity to Enhance Green Competitive Advantage in the Green Supply Chain

Abstract

This study examines the influences of market orientation, supply chain relationship quality, and absorptive capacity on competitive advantage in green supply chains. We examine the intensity of these relationships in a green supply chain context. This study aims to figure out the effects of green market orientation (GMO), green supply chain relationship quality (GRQ), and green absorptive capacity (GAC) on green competitive advantage (GCA) in a supply chain. We find a significant positive association between these constructs. It highlights the importance of antecedents such as GMO, GRQ, and GAC on improving GCA. We jointly investigate the effects of GMO, GRQ, and GAC on green supply chain competitive advantage. This study uses Process Macro 2.15 to test the mediation effect between GMO and GCA. The result shows that GRQ and GAC completely mediate the relationship between GMO and GCA and that the effect sizes are 0.11 and 0.20, respectively. This study also reruns the model to clarify whether competing models are better than our model. However, the performance of such a competing model is poor. Finally, we accept our model instead of the competing model. GMO and GRQ among team managers and employees appear to contribute positively to GCA. Although GAC does not directly influence GCA, GMO has a significant total effect on GCA when intervened by GRQ and GAC. The key contribution is that green market orientation, i.e., the employee culture and the emphasis on being environmentally responsible, is a key antecedent to GRQ, GAC, and GCA. Managerial implications of the findings are listed.