Influence of sustainable supply chain leadership strategy on operational excellence and sustainable development of listed companies in South Africa

Abstract

Implementation effective sustainable supply chain leadership (SSCL) strategy at each organisation's level, positively impacts on corporation's competitive advantage and sustainable development. While fears have been acknowledged in previous literature, the benefit of designing sustainable supply chain models for operational excellence and sustainable development is a noteworthy exploration. The study collected statistical data using an online SurveyMonkey questionnaire from 46 of the top 100 JSE-listed companies to elucidate the large firms' transition from longstanding linear approaches to sustainable production and consumption to a more circular approach. A bivariate data analysis was used to generate the results in SPSS. The results indicate a positive contribution of SSCL strategy to operational excellence and sustainable development of large corporations if only the entire supply chain system is well-coordinated and implemented. This study makes a vital contribution by proposing a new SSCL model for fast-tracking corporate sustainability and enhancing corporate contributions to sustainable growth.