Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to highlight the drivers of corporate environmentally and socially sustainable performance among different players including airlines, caterers, suppliers and logistics companies in the flight catering supply chain. Research design, data and methodology: Based on a qualitative research approach this study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews exploring the drivers of corporate sustainable performance with management from major in-flight catering stakeholders (n=23) from the perspective of constructivism. Using the snowball sampling approach, interviewees were carefully chosen to represent a diverse range of supply chain contexts (airlines, catering, non-food suppliers, and logistics companies). Results: By focusing on the complex context of multiple supply chain partners, the study identified a range of complex relationships between the drivers of sustainable performance in the supply chain: firm-led drivers, factors influencing firm-led drivers, partial influencers, and additional factor, cost. Conclusions: This study emphasizes that some drivers do not play an absolute role and has highlighted that there is a need for companies to change the attitude, that is to pay more than ‘lip service’ to improving sustainable performance. This study develops a theoretical framework of the drivers of corporate sustainable performance, along with its practical industry implications.