Title: Do soft resources improve organisational performance? The mediating role of purchasing social responsibility

Authors: Muhammad Bilal Gulfraz; Muhammad Sufyan; Naeem Akhtar

Addresses: Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Hotel Management, Punjab House Campus, Kohsar University Murree, Punjab, Pakistan ' Department of Marketing and International Business, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Rehtorinpellonkatu 3, 20500 Turku, Finland; Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan ' Institute of Business and Management, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract: The paper examines the impact of software resources (e.g., top management support and a sustainability-oriented organisational culture) on purchasing social responsibility and organisational performance using the dynamic capabilities theory. To validate the hypothesised relationships, we conducted 237 surveys across Pakistan's 12 manufacturing industries. For analytical purposes, structural equation modelling and AMOS plugins are applied to substantiate the direct and mediating relationships. The findings indicate that top management support enables the development of sustainable organisational culture and the adoption of sustainable purchasing and procurement practices. Additionally, the findings indicate that a sustainable organisational culture and PSR act as a buffer between top management support and organisational performance. The study contributes to the debate on resource-based perspectives within the PSR domain by utilising insights from dynamic capabilities. By doing so, it emphasises the importance of using core strategic management theories to understand the different aspects of PSR.

Keywords: purchasing social responsibility; PSR; triple bottom line; TBL; top management support; sustainability-oriented organisational culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2023.132581

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2023 Vol.18 No.1, pp.82 - 104

Received: 22 Sep 2021
Accepted: 06 Mar 2022
Published online: 30 Jul 2023 *

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