Sustainable Chinese manufacturing competitiveness in the 21st century: green and lean practices, pressure and performance

Abstract

Instead of focusing on economic growth, firms in the twenty-first century are paying more attention to environmental aspects in order to enhance their sustainable competitiveness. ‘Green and lean’ practices have emerged as a vital method for organisations that are seeking to become competitive and environmentally sustainable. This article aims to describe and evaluate green and lean practices, pressures and performance among various Chinese manufacturing organisations. Based on a literature review, five green and lean practice propositions are identified and summarised. This research collects data from 172 Chinese manufacturing organisations and derives groupings of green and lean practice, pressures and performance via an exploratory factor analysis. The results show that due to competition, marketing pressure and regulatory factors, Chinese manufacturing organisations have increased their environmental awareness to gain environmental competitiveness. This research establishes a foundation of green and lean practice for further investigation. It also suggests that a win-win relationship between economic growth and environment in Chinese manufacturing is possible, and can be enhanced by implementing green and lean practices.

Keywords:

• green and lean
• Chinese manufacturing
• environmental management
• stakeholder pressure
• sustainability

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Project Nos. 71571151 and 71371159), the National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science of China (Project No. 14AGL015).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant Numbers: 71571151 and 71371159]; National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science of China [Grant Number: 14AGL015].