This research studies how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can implement supply‐management practices for poverty alleviation. The research inductively builds a theoretical framework from a nested case study, which includes one NGO and six firms implementing supplier development (SD) programs. The framework suggests a set of resources that enhance the social sustainability of the supply chain without creating trade‐offs between economic and social performance. This study has implications for decision‐makers in firms and NGOs about the type of resources they need to develop, and the characteristics they should seek when choosing partners for undertaking collaborative initiatives in social sustainability.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of information technologies (IT) in the impact of environmental practices on environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data from the fifth (2009) round of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) which includes responses from manufacturing plants within the manufacturing industry in Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary and USA. The authors use multiple regression analysis to test the relationship between environmental practices and environmental performance and the moderating effect of IT. Findings The paper finds evidence that IT strengthens the relationship between environmental practices and environmental performance. The IT construct is operationalized through IT-enabled control and IT-enabled coordination. The results confirm the established relationship between environmental practices and environmental performance and show that IT-enabled coordination moderates the relationship between environmental practices and environmental performance. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature of green operations in the following ways: First, this paper offers an alternative explanation about the role of IT; the authors provide evidence that existing IT resources that support the coordination between product design and manufacturing strengthen the effect of environmental practices. Second, this paper provides evidence that environmental practices can take advantages of the IT resources embedded in daily plants’ routines to enhance plants’ environmental performance. Overall, this research provides suggestions to managers about the role that IT plays in the implementation of environmental practices.