Greening the supply chain: an investigation of environmental pressures, practices, barriers, and performance measures in Australian dairy businesses

Greening the supply chain: an investigation of environmental pressures, practices, barriers, and performance measures in Australian dairy businesses

Green supply chain practices (GSC) are becoming more significant due to increased legislation to reduce emissions. While there are several benefits to pursuing environmental sustainability, the most notable are better financial returns, minimized legal risk, enhanced company image, reduced pollution, and improved quality of life. In addition, GSC research is crucial, not only to improve business processes but also, to improve business costs and protect the environment. The thesis evaluates current GSC practices, drivers, barriers, and pressures and the influence on environmental performance in Australian dairy industry, as well as the focus on GSC and the institutional theory. The general methodology features a mixed-methods design, which incorporates qualitative research in the first phase and quantitative research in the second phase, otherwise known as exploratory design. The first stage incorporated semi-structured interviews to dairy business and the second stage incorporated a survey, to generalise the findings from the first study. Thematic analysis was implemented in the first stage whilst statistical analysis was implemented in the second stage. These statistical analysis techniques incorporated descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing and a decision-making (predictive) model for GSC practices. Furthermore, the thesis also highlights an insightful viewpoint referred to as dairy industry voice. The overall provides recommendations, which can act as a guideline for future research and demonstrate practical implications, for dairy businesses seeking to improve environmental practices in their supply chain process.

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