Abstract
Building upon the exploratory study, this study conducted the main study in order to evaluate the drivers of corporate and supply chain level sustainable performances across the flight catering supply chain, by integrating eight drivers on the basis of corporate legitimacy theories and theoretical foundations underpinning SCM. The main study was conducted by adopting a semi-structured in-depth interview technique. 23 respondents from the companies (i. e. airlines, caterers, logistics companies and suppliers) producing 22 interviews were recruited through a snowball sampling. Then, the main study was analysed with the aid of NVivo. This research has identified corporate environmentally sustainable performances including reducing emissions, conserving natural resources, waste reduction & recycling and packaging. On the other hand, corporate socially sustainable performances have consisted of: people within the company and people outside the company. It has been found that ‘partial influencers’, ‘external drivers’ and ‘firm led drivers’ lead to corporate sustainable performances with some impacts associated with cost. Whilst firm led drivers have been the main driver, geography has placed some moderating impacts between some of the drivers and sustainable performances. In addition, supply chain level environmentally sustainable performances were concerned with greening the supply chain and product based green supply, whereas spreading socially responsible standards included implementing responsible practices, with human rights issues receiving attention to a lesser extent. The drivers of supply chain level sustainable performances were concerned with: ‘supply chain dynamics’, ‘external factors’ and ‘cost’. Importantly, cost has been identified not only as a driver but also as a hindrance to both corporate and supply chain level sustainable performances. Building upon empirical findings, this research has made major contributions to understanding the drivers of sustainable performances in three ways: at the corporate and the supply chain level, and effect of cost along the supply chain.