Customer-driven supply chain sustainability in the digital economy: identifying the role of customer firms’ digital transformation on supplier ESG performance in China

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between customer companies’ digital transformation and the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance of suppliers from a supply chain sustainability perspective. Building on stakeholder and legitimacy theories, the research explores the moderating effects of suppliers’ innovation capability and financial slack, together with the mediating effect of analyst attention on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis focuses on companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets between 2018 and 2022. Data is sourced from the China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) database, text mining, the China Research Data Services (CNRDS) database and the Wind database. Hypotheses are tested using fixed-effects models by Stata 17.0.FindingsResults show that (1) customer companies’ digital transformation significantly enhances suppliers’ ESG performance; (2) suppliers’ innovation capability strengthens the positive relationship between customer digital transformation and ESG performance, while financial slack weakens this relationship and (3) analyst attention partially mediates the relationship between customer digital transformation and suppliers’ ESG outcomes.Originality/valueDrawing on stakeholder and legitimacy theories, the study offers empirical evidence and strategic insights for policymakers, supply chain managers and investors, deepening the understanding of how digital transformation influences supply chain management. It further contributes to the literature by expanding knowledge on the relationship between digital transformation and supply chain sustainability.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management

• Publication date

  2025-04-10

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1108/ijppm-11-2024-0799
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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