Decision and coordination of sustainable supply chain considering CSR implementation and channel leadership

¹ School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
² College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
³ Postdoctoral Station for Agricultural and Forestry Economic Management, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
⁴ Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK

^* Corresponding author: duancaiquan@neau.edu.cn

Received: 27 January 2024
Accepted: 14 February 2025

Abstract

To achieve the ultimate objective of multi-dimensional sustainable development of the supply chain system, this paper examines the decision and coordination of the sustainable supply chain (SSC) from the dimensions of environment, society, and governance. Based on a dual-channel collecting structure, this study constructs six supply chain decision models considering two corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementers and three channel leadership structures. The findings reveal that in the SSC with a channel leader, it is most beneficial for the game follower to implement CSR from the perspective of maximising the total benefit to the supply chain and social welfare. The selection of the optimal channel leadership hinges on the trade-off between the collecting cooperation fees and the degree of the member’s CSR implementation. Finally, this research proposes a revenue-responsibility sharing contract to achieve the perfect coordination of the SSC. Our results can function as guidelines for establishing an environmental-friendly SSC system.