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Analysis of the Relationship between Responsible Supply Chain Management and Social Performance

Responsible supply chain management (RSCM) as a growing sub-field of supply chain management (SCM) has gathered increasing consideration from both practitioners and academics for the past two decades. Even though manufacturing firms have implemented RSCM behaviors throughout this period, there exist some concerns as to whether these RSCM behaviors are being applied for the effect they have on social performance outcomes. In recent times, various debates have been opened concerning this RSCM paradox, throwing doubt on whether an investment in the implementation of RSCM behaviors certainly comes with a corresponding social and safety performance outcomes and, therefore, the commercial benefits of responsibility management in the context of SCM remain open for interrogation. This study aims to explore the impact of responsible supply chain management behaviors on social performance among pharmaceutical companies in China. And also, investigate the intervening roles of process innovation (PI) and supply chain integration (SCI) as mediating and moderating constructs, respectively. The research hypothesis was formulated following an extensive study of relevant literature and was based on resource and capability-based theories such as the resource-based view, the natural resource-based view, and the stakeholder theories. The design of the study was descriptive with a confirmatory reach, applied to 123 Chinese pharmaceutical firms selected across Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Guangdong provinces. The proposed theoretical model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The empirical findings of the study confirmed that a practical application of RSCM behaviors, process innovation, and supply chain integration initiatives positively and significantly improves social performance outcomes. This confirms the position of existing literature that there is a positive relationship between RSCM behaviors and social performance. It also validated the belief that process innovation and supply chain integration positively mediates and moderates the relationship between RSCM and social performance, respectively. Therefore, the findings herein can be considered as complementary to the existing body of knowledge in the field. The practical implications derived from this study will contribute to sustainable development and expand knowledge both in industry and in academia.