Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 29, Number 3
Summer 1998
Interorganizational Determinants of Environmental Purchasing:
Initial Evidence from the Consumer Products Industries
Craig R. Carter
University of Maryland at College Park, The Robert H. Smith School
of Business, College Park, MD 20742-1815, email: ccarter@mbs.umd.edu
Joseph R. Carter
Arizona State University, Supply Chain Management Program, Tempe,
AZ 85287-4706, email: carter@asu.edu
Abstract: Environmental purchasing consists of the
purchasing function’s involvement in activities that include
reduction, recycling, reuse, and substitution of materials. Despite
the potentially important role that the purchasing function can
play in a firm’s environmental activities, little research
has been performed to date that examines the factors that impact
environmental purchasing. The authors develop and empirically
test a theoretical model that examines how interorganizational
factors both drive and constrain purchasing’s involvement
in environmental activities. The empirical findings suggest that
environmental purchasing activities will be facilitated through
increased coordination with suppliers as well as downstream members
of the supply chain, including retailers. The results also suggest
the need for increased coordination within the firm, particularly
between the purchasing function on the inbound side and marketing
and distribution functions on the outbound side.
Subject Areas: Distribution Channels, Distribution/Logistics,
Environmental Purchasing, Structural Equation Models, and Supply
Chain Management. |