Social Supply Chain Practices and Companies Performance: An Analysis of Portuguese Industry Industry

Purpose: This research aims to study the internal and external social practices of supply chain management along with economic and social performance of eight Portuguese companies from different industrial sectors. Through empirical data derived from eight case st udies, five research proposit ions are suggested and tested. Research, design, data and methodology methodology: The data was collected through 22 semi semi-structured interviews with general, procurement, and environmental/safety managers from eight companies from different industrial sectors. Secondary data was collected from reports, websites, and comp anies’ internal documentation. ResultsResults: The analysis identifies the most important social practices considered by managers, as well as the performance measures that are most appropriate and most widely used to evaluate the influence of social practices on corporate econom ic and social performance. The results support four of the five propositions of this research. Companies’ economic and social performance are affected by th the implementation of social practices into the supply chain, namely the internal social practices. Co nclusionsnclusions: The findings confirmed that there is a positive relationship between internal social practices and economic performance. Internal social supply chai n practices contribute to improve social performance. It also identifies the social practices whi ch have negative effects on focal company performance.