Customer and supplier relations for environmental performance

Abstract

This paper examines how relations between customers and suppliers affect environmental performance as indicated by waste reduction in chemical firms. Using a national survey, firm visits and phone interviews with U.S. chemical firms, this analysis suggests that a reciprocal learning process between customers and suppliers occurs as firms exchange information to set and meet environmental requirements. Firms that collaborate with customers tend to collaborate with their suppliers similarly, with the greatest successes in waste reduction occurring in firms that meet their customers' environmental standards and in turn set standards for their suppliers. © 2006 Springer-Verlag London Limited.