This article addresses certain gaps highlighted in the literature relating to the investigation of supplier selection through a theoretical lens, based on contextual factors, institutional pressure, and industrial features. Consequently, this article sheds light on how a government's strategic plans can drive organisations to incorporate elements of social sustainability into their supply chains. A successful case from Oman which demonstrates the social dimension of sustainability in selecting suppliers in the oil and gas sector is presented, along with the government's role and the mechanisms it has applied. A survey of purchasing, procurement and supply chain managers in Oman's major oil and gas organisations was conducted, along with interviews. The results of this research were further analysed through the lens of institutional theory, addressing a genuine research gap. It was found that: (a) coercive governmental pressure is not sufficient to truly develop socially sustainable practices in organisations if the organisations themselves do not show initiative, as this leads to compliant rather than innovative practice; and (b) policy makers need to be aware that coercive pressure alone does not lead to continuous improvement of social sustainability performance, due to the ceiling effect, i.e. organisations meeting only the minimum governmental requirements.

Purpose -The majority of the environmental impacts in a typical supply chain can arise beyond the focal firm boundaries. However, no standardised method to quantify these impacts at the supply chain level currently exists. The aim of this work is to identify the quantitative methods developed to measure the environmental performance of supply chains and evaluate their key features. Design/methodology/approach -A systematic literature review is conducted at the intersection of performance measurement and green supply chain management fields, covering 78 publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. The literature is reviewed according to several perspectives, including the environmental aspects considered, the main purpose of measurement, model types and the extent of supply chain covered by performance measurements. Findings -Adopted environmental metrics show a low degree of standardisation and focus on natural resources, energy and emissions to air. The visibility and traceability of environmental aspects are still limited: the assessment of environmental impacts does not span in most cases beyond the direct business partners of the focal firms. A trade-off was observed between the range of environmental aspects and the extent of the supply chain considered with no method suitable for a holistic evaluation of the environmental supply chain performance identified. Three major streams of research developing in the field are identified, based on different scope. Originality/value -This paper is the first attempt to examine in detail what tiers of the supply chain are actually involved in green performance assessment, ultimately contributing to clarify the scope of the supply chain dimension in green supply chain management performance measurement research. The work also recognises which methods are applicable to extended supply chains and explores how different methodologies perform in terms of supply chain extent covered.

Organisations currently face increasing pressure from multiple stakeholders to improve their environmental performance. The majority of environmental impacts in a typical supply chain usually arise beyond the focal firm boundaries or even its direct suppliers. However, no method to assess the extended supply chain environmental performance that is designed to use real-life data currently exists.The aim of this work is to facilitate quantitative assessment of the environmental performance of extended supply chains by introducing an innovative eco-intensity based method that relates the environmental performance of the supply chain to its economic output. The method is the first to allow assessing the environmental sustainability performance of extended supply chains based on real life data, while respecting the multiple-organisation nature and non-collaborative characteristics of the majority of real life supply chains. This is achieved through the adopted decentralised approach, materialised through a recursive mechanism to pass eco-intensity values from one tier to the next, which does not require visibility of the extended supply chain by any single member, thus enhancing the applicability of the method.The method is demonstrated through a numerical example with secondary data for four representative supply chains with different design features, to showcase its applicability. The CO2 emissions and water eco-intensities are calculated. The findings enable both benchmarking the ecointensity performance of the extended supply chains and comparison of the eco-intensity indicators of the individual organisations, offering a basis to guide operational improvement and to support external reporting. The method has the potential to change the way organisations approach their environmental sustainability by facilitating understanding of the wider supply chain impact.

An integrative approach to assess environmental and economic sustainability in multi-tier supply chains Multi-tier supply chain sustainability is paramount to achieve corporate sustainability, due to the significant impacts from organisations beyond the focal firm boundaries and its direct suppliers. However, including environmental considerations within the dominant profit-centric logic of supply chain related decisions is prone to generate sustainability tensions. This work aims to support organisations address tensions between sustainability dimensions by adopting an integrative approach for sustainable supply chain management performance assessment thanks to an innovative eco-intensity based performance assessment method, which achieves a balanced consideration of environmental and economic performance in a weak sustainability perspective. The method, using primary data sourced from actual practice and featuring an indirect multi-tier approach with decentralised responsibilities across organisations, is applied to a case study of a machinery supply chain. The proposed integrative approach can support addressing sustainability tensions in the area of sustainable supply chain management, facilitate sustainable supplier evaluation and identify supply chain hotspots for operational improvement.

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