Yeşil Tedarik Zinciri Yönetimi Uygulamaları ile Performans Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi: Bir Meta-Analiz Çalışması
Yasin Kılıçlı, Emrullah KıpçakGünümüzde işletme faaliyetlerinde çevrenin korunmasına yönelik yaklaşımların benimsenmesi giderek daha önemli bir konu haline gelmektedir. Özellikle yeşil tedarik zinciri uygulamaları (YTZY), enerji tüketimini ve malzeme kullanımını azaltarak, paydaş katılımını geliştirerek, maliyetleri düşürerek ve ürün kalitesini artırarak işletmelerin performansını etkileyebilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’de gerçekleştirilmiş olan YTZY uygulamaları ile işletme performansı (çevresel, ekonomik ve operasyonel performans) arasındaki ilişkiyi inceleyen çalışmaların meta-analitik bir yaklaşımla irdelenmesidir. 2010-2021 yılları arası Türkiye’de faaliyet gösteren işletmelere ilişkin İngilizce ve Türkçe olarak yazılmış 19 bağımsız çalışma araştırma kapsamına dâhil edilmiştir. YTZY uygulamaları ile işletme performansı arasındaki ilişkiyi inceleyen çalışmalarda, etki büyüklüğü olarak Pearson korelasyon (r) katsayısı ele alınırken, genel etki büyüklüğünün yorumlanması için rastgele etki modeli kullanılmıştır. Analizler comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) yazılımı aracılığıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, YTZY uygulamaları ile çevresel, ekonomik ve operasyonel performans arasında pozitif, güçlü ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu tespit edilirken, yeşil tedarik zinciri yönetimi uygulamaları ile toplam işletme performansı arasında da olumlu ve anlamlı bir ilişkinin olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır.
Examining the Relationship Between Green Supply Chain Management Practices and Performance: A Meta-Analytic Study
Yasin Kılıçlı, Emrullah KıpçakAdopting environmental protection approaches in business activities has become an increasingly important issue these days. In particular, green supply chain management (GSCM) practices can affect the performance of businesses by reducing energy consumption and material use, improving stakeholder participation, reducing costs, and increasing product quality. This research aims to examine studies that have examined the relationship between GSCM practices and business performance (environmental, economic and operational performance) carried out in Turkey with a metaanalytic approach. From a total of 4,412 independent study samples, 19 that were written in English and Turkish regarding businesses operations in Turkey between the 2010-2021 were included in the scope of the research. The Pearson correlation (r) coefficient was used for the effect size in studies examining the relationship between GSCM practices and business performance, while a random effect model was used to interpret the overall effect size. Analyses were performed using comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA ) software. As a result of the study, a positive, strong, and significant relationship has been determined to exist for GSCM practices with environmental, economic, and operational performance, and a positive and significant relationship to also exist between GSCM practices and overall business performance.
GSCM practices involve the incorporation of environmental practices into supply chain activities to ensure a sustainable supply chain and continue to have inconsistent and mixed effects on business performance with regard to different industries, countries, and continents (Acquah et al., 2021, pp. 267–268). Increasing global awareness of the environmental impacts of production processes has placed increased pressure on manufacturers not only in developed countries but also in emerging economies such as Turkey. In order to respond to these pressures, businesses have invested in developing and improving their supply chain activities. GSCM practices related to the sustainability of ecological balance are at the forefront of these investments. These environmental practices can affect businesses’ corporate sustainability performance by reducing energy consumption and material use, improving stakeholder engagement, reducing costs, and increasing product quality.
Due to studies on the relationship between GSCM and performance having been mostly conducted in developed countries, a gap can be said to exist in this field regarding developing countries such as Turkey (Çankaya & Sezen, 2019, p. 98). Contributing to eliminating this gap and having more information about the relationship between the performance of Turkish enterprises and their performance have been a source of motivation for this study. From this perspective, the study aims to reveal the relationships the GSCM practices of enterprises operating in Turkey have with their performance using a meta-analytic approach.
Meta-analysis is an analytic method that summarizes the results of experimental studies in the social, behavioral, and health fields and is used to apply statistical analyses to the findings obtained from studies (Karadağ et al., 2015, p. 81; Yıldırım & Şen, 2020, p. 1). Meta-analysis is a quantitative analytical method that is used to reduce the results of many studies into a single result (Yıldırım & Şen, 2020, p. 2). The present research has attempted to access studies that have examined the relationship between GSCM practices and business performance in companies operating in Turkey using national and international online academic databases such as ProQuest, EBSCOHost, Google Scholar, Elsevier Science Direct, Springer Link, JSTOR Journals, Emerald Insight, Ulakbim Keşif, YÖK National Thesis Center, and DergiPark. The search of these databases includes articles published in refereed and non-refereed journals, all published master’s and doctoral theses, papers presented in congresses and symposiums, and full texts. While searching online databases, studies that have examined the relationship between GSCM practices and business performance that also covered the first six months of 2010 and 2022 have been included in the meta-analysis to ensure up-to-date results.
Correlational data are needed to calculate the effect size between two continuous variables in a meta-analysis (Field, 2001; Yıldırım & Şen, 2020, p. 27). From this point of view, this study uses correlational (r) data to determine the relationship between GSCM practices and business performance. As a result of the search, a total of 19 studies containing correlational data as well as the numerical data that were used to calculate the correlational data (number of samples, t-test values, and standardized regression [β] coefficients) were included in the analysis. The study performed the necessary statistical analyses in line with the meta-analytic process using the program CMA (ver. 3). The program Microsoft Excel 2016 was used to create the form for encoding the data coding from the studies. Cochran’s Q test and the I2 statistic are frequently used in the literature and have thus been used here to determine heterogeneity among the studies included in the metaanalysis. Field (2001) suggested using the random effects model to be more appropriate in meta-analytic studies in the field of social sciences. In addition, many researchers have stated the random effects model to produce more realistic results compared to the fixed effects model (Ades et al., 2005). In line with the explanations that were made, the random effects model was used in this study’s meta-analysis. This study also used Orwin’s (1983) fail-safe N in addition to the funnel plot and Rosenthal’s (1979) fail-safe N to detect publication bias.
As a result of the analysis, no publication bias was detected in this study, and the data show heterogeneous distribution. As a result of the study, a positive, strong, and significant relationship has been determined between GSCM practices and business performance. This result supports the common hypotheses and salient findings in the literature. In addition, positive and significant relationships were observed for other business performance indicators (i.e., environmental, economic, operational) with GSCM practices. Positive and significant relationships were found for all GSCM practices with environmental and economic performance. However, six GSCM practices were shown to have a significant relationship with operational performance, while environmental management systems appeared to have an insignificant relationship with operational performance.