The Effect of Supply Chain Sustainability Practices on Romanian SME Performance
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsFirst of all, congratulations to the authors for their excellent work and accomplishment in producing a high-quality manuscript.
The paper "The Effect of Supply Chain Sustainability Practices on Romanian SME Performance" explores the relationship between supply chain sustainability practices and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania. The study uses a sample survey conducted among Romanian enterprises, represented by supply chain managers and practitioners, to assess the dimensions of supply chain sustainability and their impact on business performance. The research employs Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS) and multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) to test hypotheses and validate the proposed construct model.
The abstract succinctly summarizes the key findings, indicating a positive and significant relationship between supply chain sustainability practices and business performance. It highlights the importance of focusing on economic, social, and environmental sustainability within the supply chain to maximize performance. Also, the abstract underscores the originality of the study and its implications for Romanian enterprises.
In the introduction, the article provides context by discussing recent disruptions faced by global supply chains, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and climate change. It emphasizes the impact of these disruptions on Romanian industries and the necessity for sustainable supply chain practices to mitigate future challenges. The introduction effectively sets the stage for understanding the significance of the study and its relevance to contemporary issues. The subsequent sections outline the objectives, methodology, results, and implications of the study. The literature review provides a comprehensive overview of existing research while identifying gaps addressed by the current study. The methodology section elucidates the data collection process and analysis methods employed, enhancing the transparency and rigor of the research.
The results section presents findings from the SEM-PLS and MGA analyses, elucidating the relationship between supply chain sustainability dimensions and SME performance. The discussion interprets these findings, highlighting their theoretical and practical implications for Romanian enterprises. Furthermore, the article acknowledges limitations and suggests further research areas, demonstrating a critical reflection on the study's scope and potential areas for improvement.
Overall, "The Effect of Supply Chain Sustainability Practices on Romanian SME Performance" contributes valuable insights into the field of supply chain management, particularly in the context of SMEs in Romania. Its rigorous methodology, comprehensive analysis, and thoughtful discussion make it a significant addition to the existing literature. The study's findings offer practical guidance for Romanian managers seeking to enhance their supply chain sustainability practices and improve business performance in a dynamic and challenging environment.
In my opinion, there are only two minor revisions that need to be made for the article to be accepted for publication:
- I suggest paying more attention to formatting and copyediting. For example, at the beginning of Section 2 (Literature Review), the authors unintentionally retained a phrase from the manuscript template: "The Materials and Methods should be described with sufficient details to allow others to replicate and build on the published results. Please note that the publication of your manuscript implies that you must make all materials, data, computer code, and protocols associated with the publication available to readers." This phrase should be removed.
- The use of self-administered questionnaires can potentially introduce a problem that may affect the relevance of the research: common method bias (CMB) (see: Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Lee, JY, Podsakoff NP. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2003; 88(5):879-903.). Such issues arise when data on independent and dependent variables come from the same respondent and the same measurement scale is used throughout the questionnaire. Authors should take steps to address common method bias (CMB). One straightforward way to assess CMB is to conduct Harman's single-factor test, where all items are loaded into one common factor. If the total variance for a single factor is less than 50%, it suggests that CMB does not significantly affect the data. This analysis can be conducted using SPSS (Dimension Reduction - Factor Analysis).
Author Response
Review Report 1
First of all, congratulations to the authors for their excellent work and accomplishment in producing a high-quality manuscript.
The paper "The Effect of Supply Chain Sustainability Practices on Romanian SME Performance" explores the relationship between supply chain sustainability practices and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania. The study uses a sample survey conducted among Romanian enterprises, represented by supply chain managers and practitioners, to assess the dimensions of supply chain sustainability and their impact on business performance. The research employs Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS) and multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) to test hypotheses and validate the proposed construct model.
The abstract succinctly summarizes the key findings, indicating a positive and significant relationship between supply chain sustainability practices and business performance. It highlights the importance of focusing on economic, social, and environmental sustainability within the supply chain to maximize performance. Also, the abstract underscores the originality of the study and its implications for Romanian enterprises.
In the introduction, the article provides context by discussing recent disruptions faced by global supply chains, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and climate change. It emphasizes the impact of these disruptions on Romanian industries and the necessity for sustainable supply chain practices to mitigate future challenges. The introduction effectively sets the stage for understanding the significance of the study and its relevance to contemporary issues. The subsequent sections outline the objectives, methodology, results, and implications of the study. The literature review provides a comprehensive overview of existing research while identifying gaps addressed by the current study. The methodology section elucidates the data collection process and analysis methods employed, enhancing the transparency and rigor of the research.
The results section presents findings from the SEM-PLS and MGA analyses, elucidating the relationship between supply chain sustainability dimensions and SME performance. The discussion interprets these findings, highlighting their theoretical and practical implications for Romanian enterprises. Furthermore, the article acknowledges limitations and suggests further research areas, demonstrating a critical reflection on the study's scope and potential areas for improvement.
Overall, "The Effect of Supply Chain Sustainability Practices on Romanian SME Performance" contributes valuable insights into the field of supply chain management, particularly in the context of SMEs in Romania. Its rigorous methodology, comprehensive analysis, and thoughtful discussion make it a significant addition to the existing literature. The study's findings offer practical guidance for Romanian managers seeking to enhance their supply chain sustainability practices and improve business performance in a dynamic and challenging environment.
In my opinion, there are only two minor revisions that need to be made for the article to be accepted for publication:
- I suggest paying more attention to formatting and copyediting. For example, at the beginning of Section 2 (Literature Review), the authors unintentionally retained a phrase from the manuscript template: "The Materials and Methods should be described with sufficient details to allow others to replicate and build on the published results. Please note that the publication of your manuscript implies that you must make all materials, data, computer code, and protocols associated with the publication available to readers." This phrase should be removed.
Response: The authors removed the paragraph below from the content of the study.
- The use of self-administered questionnaires can potentially introduce a problem that may affect the relevance of the research: common method bias (CMB) (see: Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Lee, JY, Podsakoff NP. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2003; 88(5):879-903.). Such issues arise when data on independent and dependent variables come from the same respondent and the same measurement scale is used throughout the questionnaire. Authors should take steps to address common method bias (CMB). One straightforward way to assess CMB is to conduct Harman's single-factor test, where all items are loaded into one common factor. If the total variance for a single factor is less than 50%, it suggests that CMB does not significantly affect the data. This analysis can be conducted using SPSS (Dimension Reduction - Factor Analysis).
Response: To address a potential issue related to Common Method Bias (CMB), the Harman single-factor test was applied. The result showed that the total variance for a single factor was 38.63 %, below the maximum acceptable threshold of 50%[62].
|
Total Variance Explained |
||||||
|
Factor |
Initial Eigenvalues |
Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings |
||||
|
Total |
% of Variance |
Cumulative % |
Total |
% of Variance |
Cumulative % |
|
|
1 |
6.759 |
42.245 |
42.245 |
6.181 |
38.630 |
38.630 |
|
2 |
1.562 |
9.764 |
52.009 |
|
|
|
|
3 |
1.124 |
7.027 |
59.036 |
|
|
|
|
4 |
1.102 |
6.886 |
65.923 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
.862 |
5.384 |
71.307 |
|
|
|
|
6 |
.740 |
4.625 |
75.932 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
.641 |
4.008 |
79.940 |
|
|
|
|
8 |
.520 |
3.252 |
83.192 |
|
|
|
|
9 |
.512 |
3.198 |
86.390 |
|
|
|
|
10 |
.479 |
2.993 |
89.382 |
|
|
|
|
11 |
.373 |
2.332 |
91.715 |
|
|
|
|
12 |
.371 |
2.322 |
94.037 |
|
|
|
|
13 |
.332 |
2.074 |
96.111 |
|
|
|
|
14 |
.260 |
1.625 |
97.736 |
|
|
|
|
15 |
.236 |
1.474 |
99.210 |
|
|
|
|
16 |
.126 |
.790 |
100.000 |
|
|
|
|
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. |
||||||
- Podsakoff, P. M.; MacKenzie, S. B.; Lee, J.-Y.; Podsakoff, N. P. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2003, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879.
Thank you.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear author(s),
Your wirk makes a good contribution to theory but the clarity could be further improved. Please find bekow some comments that could assist you to improve your work:
Introduction
The introduction should be more focused on context instead of theory. The shortcomings and limitations should also be focused more on theory rather than context.
Restructure the first paragraph of your introduction as follows:
- What we know theoretically about the effect of sustainability practices in the value chain on SME performance.
- What do not know theoretically about the topic
- How your study fills this gap
- Why it is important
- Then comes your research question.
The second paragraph can describe the context some more and relate this to theory.
The third paragraph can focus on your contribution which should be more to theory than context. I like your development of your new construct model so do keep that.
So in summary, you do contribute to theoretical and empirical research on sustainable management of supply chain in secondary emerging countries.
Conceptual Development
The Conceptual development is very thorough and comprehensive and arranged in logical sequence. You can however end this with sentences that highlight how you build up on these studies to contribute to extant research. Your hypothesis are commendable.
Methodology
Your methodology section is sufficiently rigorous and validates your hypothesis. Well done! Yu also use two methods of analysis that are robust.
Conclusions and Discussion
Your conclusions and discussions sections are very insightful.
I thin one limitations and future research direction that could be added to this sub-section is the consideration of the unique role and characteristics of the actors that make them effective and efficient in the supply chain performance.
Good work overall, Good luck in your revisions!
Author Response
Review Report 2
Dear author(s),
Your work makes a good contribution to theory but the clarity could be further improved. Please find below some comments that could assist you to improve your work:
Introduction
The introduction should be more focused on context instead of theory. The shortcomings and limitations should also be focused more on theory rather than context.
Restructure the first paragraph of your introduction as follows:
- What we know theoretically about the effect of sustainability practices in the value chain on SME performance.
- What do not know theoretically about the topic
- How your study fills this gap
- Why it is important
- Then comes your research question.
The second paragraph can describe the context some more and relate this to theory.
The third paragraph can focus on your contribution which should be more to theory than context. I like your development of your new construct model so do keep that.
So, in summary, you do contribute to theoretical and empirical research on sustainable management of supply chain in secondary emerging countries.
Response: The reviewer's recommendation included the paragraphs below in the introduction section.
“In recent years, the discourse on sustainability has evolved from being a mere corporate social responsibility initiative to a fundamental driver of business strategy and performance. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in the global economy, contributing significantly to job creation, innovation, and economic growth. As awareness of environmental and social issues continues to rise, SMEs increasingly recognize the importance of integrating sustainability practices into their operations and value chains. This shift is not only driven by ethical considerations but also by the growing recognition of the tangible benefits that sustainability can bring to business performance.
Sustainable practices in the supply chain can lead to the development of unique resources and capabilities that offer competitive advantage to SMEs. By integrating sustainability into their operations, SMEs can enhance resource efficiency, reduce costs, improve product quality, and strengthen their reputation among stakeholders, ultimately leading to improved financial performance. On the other hand, engaging in sustainable practices can improve relationships with stakeholders, build trust, and generate goodwill, which can positively influence SME performance through increased customer loyalty, enhanced supplier relationships, higher employee morale and productivity, and reduced regulatory risks. Institutional pressures, such as societal norms, regulations, and industry standards, can shape organizations' adoption of sustainability practices. SMEs may adopt sustainable practices in response to institutional pressures to meet societal expectations, comply with regulations, or gain legitimacy in the market. Aligning with institutional norms and expectations can enhance SME reputation, reduce risks, and open market access and financing opportunities, thereby positively impacting performance.
While theoretical frameworks provide valuable insights into these potential effects, there are several aspects that require deeper exploration. For example, many theoretical models simplify the relationships between sustainability practices and SME performance. In reality, these are highly complex and multifaceted, influenced by socio-demographic factors such as industry, firm size, geographical location, and organizational culture. Many theoretical frameworks briefly address how elements such as innovation and product design, emerging technologies like AI, Internet of Things, and automation, value creation for stakeholders, and economic visibility contribute to improving SME performance. The theoretical understanding of how the implementation of worker rights and fair employment practices, promotion of human rights, engagement in partnerships and social projects, and cultivation of fair relationships with supply chain stakeholders lead to increased SME performance remains insufficient. Furthermore, how initiatives aimed at minimizing resource consumption, optimizing material resource efficiency, promoting energy efficiency, managing water resources, reducing harmful emissions, efficiently managing waste, promoting responsible recycling and disposal, and optimizing packaging design along the supply chain influence SME performance have not been adequately addressed in existing models. Additionally, moderating and mediating factors such as organizational capabilities, market conditions, regulatory environments, and stakeholder involvement can variably influence the effectiveness of sustainability practices. Identifying and understanding these contextual factors can contribute to a better understanding of how specific practices translate into performance outcomes. It should not be forgotten that both sustainability practices and performance outcomes evolve over time, influenced by changes in the micro and macro-environments. Therefore, dynamic perspectives should be incorporated into theoretical models to better capture the iterative process of adoption, implementation, and adaptation of sustainability practices in SME value chains.
Our study aims to fill a gap in existing literature by developing a new construct model that emphasizes the interconnection of economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. By incorporating sustainability practices into their supply chain activities, SMEs can create value not only in terms of financial performance but also in terms of environmental management and social responsibility. Addressing this theoretical gap can contribute to enriching the understanding of the complex relationship between sustainability practices and SME performance, informing both academic research and practical decision-making in enterprises striving for sustainable development.
Enhancing competitiveness, efficient risk management, market expansion, efficient resource utilization, and enhancing reputation and brand value are some of the reasons highlighting the importance of studying the effect of sustainability practices in the supply chain on SME performance. Enterprises have become increasingly aware of the need to integrate sustainable practices that can enhance their competitiveness by improving resource efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing reputation. Furthermore, these practices can also contribute to mitigating risks associated with environmental regulations, supply chain disruptions, and changing consumer preferences. By adopting these practices, enterprises can better meet stakeholder expectations and capitalize on growing market opportunities for eco-friendly products and services. Additionally, energy and water conservation, waste reduction, and recycling can improve resource efficiency and reduce operational costs for SMEs. Understanding how sustainability practices influence performance can help SMEs enhance brand image, increase customer loyalty, ensure employee satisfaction, and differentiate themselves in the market.
Given the aspects mentioned above, the following decision problem arises: What is the effect of the determinants of economic, social, and environmental sustainability on business performance? Specifically, how do these factors correlate with business performance, and what are the differences between small enterprises (SE) and medium-sized enterprises (ME) regarding these proposed correlations within the construct model?
….
This study makes valuable contributions to the field of chain management supply. First, it addresses a current topic related to relationship analysis of key elements of supply chain sustainability and performance Business Management and sustainable supply chain practices affect Business performance in different ways such as transparency, visibility, control costs, competitive advantages, risk management, flexibility of relations with parties involved, customer satisfaction and more. For example, a sustainable supply chain could help to reduce operational costs, to optimize the levels of inventory, meanwhile, minimizing waste, reducing emissions, and streamlining processes [5]. Second, the study proposes and develops a new construct model, sufficiently robust and valid that it can be expanded in the future by joining latent variables related to technology, communication, legislation, and others. Thirdly, the study contributes to theoretical and empirical research on sustainable management of supply chain in secondary emerging countries, such as Romania. In recent years, the attention of managers and researchers has generally focused on the economic sustainability of the supply chain and its effect on financial performance [6-10]. This research focuses equally on the three elements of supply chain sustainability and practices that should be improved to cope with future disruptions, but also to strengthen the performance of enterprises from this system”.
Conceptual Development
The Conceptual development is very thorough and comprehensive and arranged in logical sequence. You can however end this with sentences that highlight how you build up on these studies to contribute to extant research. Your hypothesis are commendable.
Response: The reviewer's recommendation included the paragraph below in the conceptual Development section.
“Building upon these studies, our research aims to contribute to the extant literature by addressing several gaps and expanding the understanding of economic sustainability within supply chains. Firstly, while existing studies have primarily focused on the joint integration of economic, social, and environmental sustainability elements, our research specifically emphasizes economic sustainability, filling a notable gap in the literature. By examining economic sustainability in greater depth and breadth, we aim to provide insights into the unique challenges, practices, and implications associated with preserving financial resources and achieving long-term financial stability within supply chains. Additionally, our study extends beyond traditional financial metrics, such as profit and cost reduction, to include non-financial aspects of economic sustainability, such as innovation, product design, and technology development. By incorporating these non-financial dimensions, we seek to offer a more comprehensive understanding of economic sustainability practices and their potential impact on sup-ply chain performance. Through this research endeavor, we aspire to contribute valuable insights that can inform strategic decision-making and foster sustainable business practices within supply chains.”
Methodology
Your methodology section is sufficiently rigorous and validates your hypothesis. Well done! Yu also use two methods of analysis that are robust.
Conclusions and Discussion
Your conclusions and discussions sections are very insightful.
I think one limitations and future research direction that could be added to this sub-section is the consideration of the unique role and characteristics of the actors that make them effective and efficient in the supply chain performance.
Good work overall, good luck in your revisions!
Response: The reviewer's recommendation included the paragraphs below in the conclusions section.
“Additionally, the unique role and specific characteristics of enterprises that make them effective and efficient in achieving performance within the supply chain should be considered. Our research to some extent overlooks the heterogeneity of actors within the supply chain, treating them as homogeneous entities. This simplification may fail to capture the diverse capabilities, motivations, and constraints of enterprises, leading to an incomplete understanding of their contributions to supply chain performance. Furthermore, our research adopts a static perspective, failing to account for the dynamic nature of relationships and interactions within the supply chain over time.”
“Other studies should adopt a more nuanced approach, which acknowledges the heterogeneity of enterprises and considers their unique capabilities, motivations, and constraints. This could involve using qualitative research methods, such as case studies or interviews, to capture the complexity of interactions among actors within the supply chain. Researchers should examine how relationships and interactions between enterprises evolve over time in response to changes in the business environment. Longitudinal studies and dynamic modeling techniques could provide insights into the temporal dynamics of supply chain performance. Finally, methodological advancements, such as the use of advanced analytics techniques and real-time data monitoring, could enhance the rigor and validity of research results. By addressing these future research directions, scholars can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the role and characteristics of enterprises in implementing sustainability practices and driving supply chain performance.”
Thank you.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
