A balance of economic advancement and social needs via improving supply chain traceability for future food sustainability: an empirical study from China
Xiongyong Zhou, Haiyan Lu, Zhiduan Xu
Abstract
Sustainability issues in the food industry have been witnessed to impact on public stability, human health and living standards in the past decades. Practitioners and academia have raised attention to develop supply chain traceability (SCT) in the context of Industry 4.0 technologies in order to improve operational efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Drawing on the extended knowledge-based view, this study has collected 303 questionnaire surveys to test the impact of SCT practices on improving food manufacturers’ sustainability performance, addressing on the economic, environmental and social sustainability, with consideration of knowledge integration and environmental dynamism. Our results show that: (1) SCT has a significant positive impact on the three pillars of sustainability performances among food manufacturers. (2) Knowledge integration mediates the relationship between SCT and sustainability performance; (3) Environmental dynamism plays a moderating role in the direct path between SCT and social performance. This study contributes new theoretical insights to highlight knowledge integration in support of traceback investigation for improving sustainability performance a dynamic environment. The results make substantial contributions on better implementation of sustainable food supply chain, to enhance operations and supply chain practices in the food chain, and to support government policymaking in an environmental dynamic context.