The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam

The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.The impacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration: the case of Vietnam.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH

CITY

DUONG NGOC HONG

THE IMPACTS OF SUPPLY CHAIN SOCIAL

SUSTAINABILITY ON SUPPLY CHAIN

PERFORMANCE, MEDIATING ROLE OF SUPPLY

CHAIN INTEGRATIONTHE CASE OF VIETNAM

Major : Business Administration Code : 9340101

DISSERTATION

Academic Advisors:

1 Professor Nguyen Dong Phong

2 Associate Professor Bui Thanh Trang

Ho Chi Minh City – 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

LIST OF TABLES ix

ABSTRACT 1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Problem statement 3

1.1.1 Research background 3

1.1.2 Overview of social sustainability in Vietnam 5

1.2 Research gap 7

1.3 Research objectives 10

1.4 Research questions 10

1.5 Research methodology and data collection 11

1.6 Research contribution 12

1.6.1 Theoretical contributions 12

1.6.2 Practical implications 13

1.7 Research limitation 14

1.8 Research structure 15

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT .16 2.1 Current status of sustainable development in Vietnam 16

2.1.1 Vietnam’s 17 sustainable development goals 16

2.1.2 The importance of sustainable development 20

2.1.3 Supply chain sustainable development in Vietnam 21

2.2 A systematic review of recent literatures in the social sustainability domain 23 2.2.1 The systematic review process 23

2.2.2 A classification framework for analysis 25

2.2.3 Keyword analysis (co-occurrence) 31

2.3 Key concepts 37

2.3.1 Supply chain social sustainability 37

2.3.1.1 Sustainability 37 2.3.1.2 Social sustainability practices 38

2.3.2 Supply chain integration 42

2.3.2.1 Internal integration 42

2.3.2.2 Customer integration 43

2.3.2.3 Supplier integration 44

2.3.3 Supply chain risk management 45

2.3.4 Sustainable supply chain management 47

2.3.4.1 Supply chain 47 2.3.4.2 Supply chain management 48

2.3.4.3 Sustainable supply chain management 49

2.3.5 Supply chain performance 54

2.3.5.1 Supplier performance 55

2.3.5.2 Customer performance 55

2.4 Theoretical backgrounds 56

2.4.1 Stakeholder theory view 56

2.4.2 Dynamic capabilities view 57

2.4.3 Stakeholder resource-based view 58

2.5 Hypotheses development 60

2.6 Proposed research model 68

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 69

3.1 Research process 69

3.2 Pilot study 71

3.2.1 Design questionnaire 71

3.2.2 Cronbach’s Alpha testing 73

3.3 Ethics in primary research 83

3.3.1 The core principles of research ethics 83

3.3.2 The practices of research ethics 84

3.3.2.1 Research design 84

3.3.2.2 Research method 84

3.3.2.3 Incentives 85 3.3.2.4 Data collection 85

3.4 The main study 85

3.4.1 Sampling method 85

3.4.2 Sample size 86 3.4.3 Participants and data collection 87

3.4.4 The quality of the research model 89

3.4.5 PLS-SEM 90 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSIONS 100

4.1 Sample characteristics 100

4.2 Descriptive statistics 102

4.3 Reliability and discriminant validity 104

4.3.1 First-order constructs 105

4.3.2 Second-order constructs 106

4.4 Common method bias 113

4.5 Hypothesized model testing 114

4.5.1 The repeated indicators approach 115

4.5.2 The two-stage approach 118

4.6 The results of PLS-SEM 120

4.6.1 Quality testing 120

4.6.2 The direct effects 124

4.6.3 The mediation effects 125

4.6.4 Control variables 127

4.6.5 Multi-group analysis 128

4.7 Summary results of hypotheses testing 134

4.8 Discussions 139

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 147

5.1 Conclusion 147

5.2 Theoretical contributions 148

5.3 Practical implications 151

5.3.1 Implications for managers 151

5.3.2 Implications for policy-makers 152

5.4 Limitations and future research 154

PUBLICATION 155

REFERENCES 156

Appendix 1 183

Appendix 2 187

Appendix 3 189

Appendix 4 196

Appendix 5 200

Appendix 6 201

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Notation Full Definition

VRIN Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and Non-Substitutable

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - 17 sustainable development goals in Vietnam 17

Figure 2 - Articles selection process 24

Figure 3 - SSCS articles based on the year of publication 26

Figure 4 - Classification according to publishers 26

Figure 5 - Distribution of articles based on journals 27

Figure 6 - Classification according to survey country 28

Figure 7 - Classification according to research areas 29

Figure 8 - Classification according to authors 30

Figure 9 - The keywords co-occurrence network (from 2009 – 2015) 31

Figure 10 - The keywords co-occurrence network (from 2016 – 2021) 32

Figure 11 - Sustainable Supply Chain Management 51

Figure 12 - The model of Mani et al., 2020 60

Figure 13 - Proposed research model 68

Figure 14 - Research process 70

Figure 15 - The repeated indicators approach 117

Figure 16 - The two-stage approach 119

Figure 17 - PLS-SEM Results 138

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - Existing literature reviews in SCSS domain 33

Table 2 - Definitions of Sustainable Supply Chain Management 49

Table 3 - Existing Literature Reviews relevant to Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Integration, and Supply Chain Performance 52

Table 4 - Summarization of proposed hypotheses 67

Table 5 - Pilot test 73

Table 6 - Factor analysis, Reliability test 79

Table 7 - Final questionnaire 91

Table 8 - PLS-SEM vs CB-SEM 98

Table 9 - Sample characteristics 100

Table 10 - Descriptive statistics 103

Table 11 - Outer loadings (1st order) 105

Table 12 - Outer loadings (1st order) continued 106

Table 13 - Outer loadings (2nd order) 106

Table 14 - Construct Reliability and Validity 108

Table 15 - Correlations between Research Constructs (Fornell-Larcker Criterion) 109 Table 16 - Correlations between Research Constructs (Fornell-Larcker Criterion – continued) 110

Table 17 - Correlations between Research Constructs (HTMT) 111

Table 18 - Correlations between Research Constructs (HTMT – continued) 112

Table 19 - Common method bias checking 113

Table 20 - R-Square values 120

Table 21 - f-square values 121

Table 22 - Q-square values 123

Table 23 - PLS-SEM (The direct effects) 124

Table 24 - PLS-SEM (The mediation effects) 126

Table 25 - Company’s operation time 127

Table 26 - Robust tests (Company’s operation time) 127

Table 27 - Company’s capital investment 128

Table 28 - Robust tests (Company’s capital investment) 128

Table 29 - MGA (Manufacturing vs Other industries) 130

Table 30 - Bootstrapping Results (Manufacturing vs Transportation) 131

Table 31 - MGA (Vendors vs Other industries) 132

Table 32 - Bootstrapping Results (Vendors vs Warehouses/Transportation) 133

Table 33 - Summary of hypothesis testing results 134

Table 34 - Harman’s single factor test (CMB) 200

Table 35 - Rotated component matrix 201

Table 36 - KMO and Bartlett’s Test 202

ABSTRACT

Problem: The importance of sustainability in the supply chain has steadily risen

in recent decades as a result of the growing awareness on the social issues In order toachieve sustainability successfully, set out by the 9th National Congress of theCommunist Party of Vietnam on sustainable development, the Government has issued

the “Orientation for sustainable development of the country” Reason for writing: is

to examine the relationship between supply chain social sustainability and supplychain performance, as well as explore the mediating role of supply chain integration

on this relationship Methods: PLS-SEM model is developed to identify the impacts

of sustainability on performance outcomes and the mediating role of supply chainintegration The author received 428 responses from small, medium and largecompanies located in Vietnam, and after filtering, 408 responses were used for further

analysis Results: This finding showed that sustainability impacts significantly on

integration and performance in the supply chain Moreover, the result indicates thatsupplier integration and internal integration mediate the relationship between socialsustainability practices and supply chain performance, while customer integration

mediation role was not found significant Conclusion: This result proves that social

sustainability practices can link all the stakeholders and enhance collaboration in thesupply chain In addition, performance outcomes can be increased by implementingsocial sustainability practices To maintain sustainable development, firms shouldembrace values of sustainability to improve the well-being, working condition, safetyand healthcare of their employees and their strategic partners as well as theadvancement of local society

Key-words: Supply chain social sustainability, Supply chain integration, Supply

chain performance, PLS-SEM, Vietnam

TÓM TẮT

Lý do lựa chọn đề tài nghiên cứu: Trong những năm gần đây, tại các nước

phát triển, quản lý chuỗi cung ứng bền vững đạt được sự chú ý đáng kể trong các công

ty đa quốc gia và giới học thuật Việt Nam là quốc gia cam kết mạnh mẽ trong việcthực hiện các mục tiêu phát triển bền vững thông qua việc ban hành Định hướng chiến

lược phát triển bền vững vào năm 2004 tại Đại hội đại biểu toàn quốc lần thứ IX Mục tiêu nghiên cứu: Nghiên cứu này trình bày mối liên hệ giữa phát triển bền vững về

mặt xã hội và hiệu quả hoạt động trong quản lý chuỗi cung ứng tại Việt Nam, với biến

trung gian là sự liên kết trong chuỗi cung ứng Phương pháp nghiên cứu: Mô hình

PLS-SEM được áp dụng nhằm xác định các yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến phát triển bền vững

về mặt xã hội và mối liên hệ giữa phát triển bền vững với sự liên kết và hiệu quả hoạtđộng trong quản lý chuỗi cung ứng Tác giả đã nhận được 428 câu trả lời từ nhân viên

và quản lý đến từ các công ty nhỏ, vừa và lớn tại Việt Nam; sau khi sàn lọc, 408 câu

trả lời được sử dụng để phân tích Kết quả nghiên cứu: chứng minh rằng phát triển

bền vững về mặt xã hội có tác động tích cực đến sự liên kết giữa các thành viên trongchuỗi cung ứng, đồng thời nâng cao hiệu quả hoạt động trong chuỗi cung ứng Bêncạnh đó, nghiên cứu cũng mở rộng khái niệm phát triển bền vững và nhấn mạnh tầmquan trọng của phát triển bền vững trong bối cảnh “bình thường mới” tại Việt Nam

Kết luận và hàm ý: đưa ra những khuyến nghị cho các nhà quản lý về việc lập kế

hoạch và phát triển doanh nghiệp theo hướng bền vững trong chiến lược kinh doanh

Để đạt được các kết quả trên, nhà quản lý cần phải quan tâm đến an toàn lao động, sứckhỏe, phúc lợi và điều kiện làm việc của nhân viên cũng như các đối tác

Từ khóa: Phát triển bền vững về mặt xã hội, Sự liên kết trong chuỗi cung ứng,

Hiệu quả hoạt động trong chuỗi cung ứng, PLS-SEM, Việt Nam

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter aims to introduce the research background and present researchgaps Firstly, this chapter postulates research objectives and related research questionsbased on the identified research gap Next, the research methodology and scope aredescribed Finally, expected research contributions are introduced in academic andpractical ways

1.1 Problem statement

1.1.1 Research background

The last decade has witnessed the emergence of sustainability, one of the mostcritical business concerns in a firm’s supply chain Many firms have realized that itmay go wrong if the supply chain is ignored when facing global sustainabilitychallenges (Cherrafi, Garza-Reyes, Kumar, Mishra, Ghobadian, & Elfezazi, 2018).Moreover, due to the advanced consciousness among collaborators of the local societyand environment, the importance of social sustainability in the supply chain hasregularly increased (Schmidt, Foerstl, & Schaltenbrand, 2017) According toBergman, Bergman, & Berger (2017), sustainability means satisfying today’sdemands without endangering the needs of future generations Additionally, manyresearchers have investigated whether enhancing sustainability practices in a firm’ssupply chain is essential to developing supply chain performance (Singh & Trivedi,2016; Winter & Knemeyer, 2013)

In addition, famous global brands such as Adidas, H&M, Nestle, and Coca-Colahave gradually moved forward to build a more sustainable supply chain They arecontrolling the adherence of their strategic stakeholders and developing their ability toidentify social, economic, and environmental issues in focal companies (Nicolăescu,Alpopi, & Zaharia, 2015) According to the triple bottom lines, managers shouldimprove the relationship between economic, social, and environmental activities toachieve sustainability and high performance in their supply chain (Sánchez-Hernández, Vázquez-Burguete, García-Miguélez, & Lanero-Carrizo, 2021) In otherwords, these activities mentioned above must be integrated into the company’s finalstrategies; also, managers should encourage other members in their supply chain tocontribute to the

development and wealth of their society (Schaltegger, Windolph, Harms, & Hörisch,2014) It leads to increase company outcomes As a result, policy-makers andmanagers paid much attention to the performance of sustainable supply chainmanagement over the past decades, namely, economic performance, socialperformance, and environmental performance.

Moreover, much of the current literature on sustainability pays attention todeveloped economies (Gerner, 2019) where social values and norms are differentcompared to developing economies (Ashby, Leat, & Hudson‐Smith, 2012) Supplychain social sustainability has been examined in many multinational corporations indeveloped countries, especially in Europe and Northern America (Walker, Seuring,Sarkis, & Klassen, 2014; Yakovleva, Sarkis, & Sloan, 2012) Some works of literaturehave examined this topic in developing economies and found that sustainability cansupport and enhance a firm’s competitiveness and supply chain performance (Sodhi,2015; Mani, Jabbour, & Mani, 2020; Mani, Gunasekaran, & Delgado, 2018; Mani,Gunasekaran, Papadopoulos, Hazen, & Dubey, 2016)

To deal with the diversity and complexity of global sustainability problems, one

of the main aspects of tension is whether firms consider supply chain integration(Kiron, Kruschwitz, Haanaes, & Reeves, 2015) There are three main components ofsupply chain integration: internal, customer, and supplier integration (Shou, Li, Park,

& Kang, 2018) If firms can enhance collaboration with their strategic members(suppliers, customers, and stakeholders), they will effectively and efficiently achievetheir goals (Ataseven & Nair, 2017) It also means that better supply chain integrationwill lead to better performance Although there have been many studies on sustainabledevelopment in recent years, there is limited research on how companies and theirstrategic stakeholders work together to accomplish their shared goals and objectives.Hence, some research has examined this issue and identified the important role ofsupply chain integration in achieving performance outcomes in the supply chain(Huang, Yen, & Liu, 2014)

Furthermore, supply chain social sustainability may play an essential role inenhancing the overall performance of the supply chain The link between social

sustainability and supply chain performance could be explained by how a companyoperates in ways that enhance society and the environment; thus, it will improve itssupply chain performance Some authors have investigated how an organization canapply supply chain integration practices to develop performance outcomes andimprove its sustainability activities (Gelhard & Von Delft, 2016; Brown, 2015).Besides, the relationship between supply chain integration and sustainability practices

is still unclear in the previous studies (Kaliani Sundram, Rajagopal, Bahrin, &Subramaniam, 2018; Fernandes, Sampaio, Sameiro, & Truong, 2017) As a result, ourresearch realizes the necessity for further study about the impacts of supply chainsocial sustainability on firms’ supply chain performance with the mediating role ofsupply chain integration, particularly in developing economies

1.1.2 Overview of social sustainability in Vietnam

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature declarationabout Environment and Development, Vietnamese Government issued the “NationalPlan on Environment and Sustainable Development 1991 – 2000” (IUCN, 1991) Thesystem of legal documents and the state management system on environmentalprotection was later promulgated, especially the Law on Environment, creating apremise for the sustainable development process in Vietnam

At the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (2001-2010),Vietnamese authorities declared the socio-economic development strategy as

“Bringing the country out of under-development; markedly improving the standard ofliving people’s material, cultural and spiritual lives; creating a foundation forVietnam to basically become an industrial country by 2020” Human resources,scientific and technological capacity, infrastructure, potential economic forces,national defense and security have been strengthened; a socialist-oriented marketeconomic institution has been basically formed; the country’s position in the globalmarket has been enhanced The development perspective in the above strategy isaffirmed as “Fast, effective and sustainable development, economic growth coupledwith progress, social justice and environmental protection”; “Socio-economicdevelopment is closely linked with the protection and improvement of theenvironment, ensuring the harmony between the

artificial environment and the natural environment, preserving bio-diversity”(Government News, 2022).

The objective goal of sustainable development is to achieve material adequacy,spiritual and cultural wealth, equality of citizens and social consensus, and harmonyamong people and the environment Sustainable development must closely,reasonably, and harmoniously combine three aspects, namely economic development,social development, and environmental protection (Ministry of Industry and Trade,2021)

Firstly, the objective of economic sustainable development is to achieve stablegrowth with a reasonable economic structure, meet the requirements of improvingpeople’s living standards, avoid future recession or stagnation, and avoid leaving alarge debt burden on future generations (Tran, 2019)

Secondly, the goal of social sustainable development is to achieve high results inthe implementation of social progress and justice, to ensure that the people’s regimeand quality of health care are increasingly improved People will have the opportunity

to study and get a job, reduce poverty and narrow the gap between the rich and thepoor between classes and social groups, reduce social evils, and improve the level ofequity in rights and interests In addition, the Vietnamese government should maintainand promote diversity and national cultural identity, and constantly improve the level

of civilization in terms of material and spiritual life (Lam, 2014)

Finally, the objective of environmentally sustainable development is to rationallyexploit, economically, and effectively use natural resources; effectively prevent, stop,and control environmental pollution, well protect the living environment; protectnational parks, nature reserves, biosphere reserves and conserve biodiversity;overcome degradation and improve environmental quality To achieve the goalssuccessfully, set out by the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam

on sustainable development, the Government has issued the “Orientation forsustainable development of the country” (Vietnam’s Agenda 21)

The United Nations 2030 Agenda covers all areas, such as hunger eradication,poverty reduction, health care, and education This is an opportunity for manycountries

to demonstrate their commitment to achieving the goal of improving people’s lives,ending poverty, protecting the planet as well as maintaining peace and prosperityglobally However, from 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected thehealth and lives of people and all aspects of socio-economic life in many countries.Besides this, the world situation continues to be complicated In Vietnam, sustainabledevelopment has been identified by the Government as a key strategy in all socio-economic development policies, associated with the realization of social progress,justice, protection, ensure the harmonious, taking care of the material and spirituallife, and bringing a prosperous and happy life to the people (Government News,2022).

In brief, sustainable development is both an urgent need and an inevitable trend

of the social development process in Vietnam The Government has synchronouslyimplemented many solutions to promote sustainable development and gained someachievements such as stable macroeconomics, and economic growth However,Vietnam needs to invest heavily in social sustainability For example, the authoritiesshould focus on increasing the quality of life, gender equality, working condition,health & safety, and well-being of people as committed to human development Themain prioritizes serving people and maximizing the human factor in each developmentstrategy Vietnam aims to be in the leading group of high-middle-income countries by

2030 and become a modern industrialized, socialist-oriented country by 2045(Banking Review, 2020) As a result, the author realizes the necessity for further studyabout social sustainability, especially in Vietnam

1.2 Research gap

While attention to social sustainability practices has been increasing over theglobe recently, many researchers point out that there are limited studies on the Asiancontext in this domain (Karam, & Jamali, 2017) Many focal companies are located indeveloping countries, particularly in Asia Social issues in the supply chain areconsidered one of the most discussed topics in these countries; however, managers didnot pay much attention to understanding and addressing these issues Furthermore,applying social standards to measure environmental, financial, and social performance

is hardly practiced, especially in supply chains (Torugsa, O’Donohue, & Hecker,2013;

Cheung, Kong, Tan, & Wang, 2015) Also, social manners are complex and diversebased on a particular country’s social development Therefore, many scholars suggestthat this domain needs further research to explore and identify these issues.

In this study, the author examines the subject of social sustainability practices,which the author describes as an organization's capacity to handle social concernslinked with the safety and wellbeing of individuals in developing markets This groupincludes not only consumers, suppliers, employees, and staff throughout the supplychain, but also the community served by the supply chain Consequently, theauthor employs the concepts of a stakeholder resource-based view to investigate howsocial sustainability practices may contribute to performance results in developingmarkets The company's supply chain (suppliers/customers/partners) resources anddynamic capacities concerning social sustainability are essential to deliveringperformance advantages and overall sustainable development Indeed, academics andpractitioners have increasingly highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of theimpact of social sustainability on supply chain performance (Shafiq, Johnson, Klassen,

& Awaysheh, 2017; Mani et al., 2018a, b)

As a result, this study has been conducted for various reasons Firstly, asmentioned above, our research recognizes the necessity for further study about theimpacts of supply chain social sustainability on supply chain performance with themediating role of supply chain integration, particularly in developing economies.Recently, as a responsible member of the United Nations, Vietnam has been activelydeveloping and implementing strategies to promote green growth and sustainabledevelopment There have been several policies and programs to raise awareness,support, and encourage businesses to apply sustainable business models

Therefore, our research examines these main subjects: (1) How do supply chainsocial sustainability influence supply chain integration and supply chain performance?(2) How does supply chain integration (internal integration, supplier integration, andcustomer integration) enhance supply chain performance? and (3) How do theintegrations between supply chain members mediate the relationship between supplychain social sustainability and supply chain performance? Through examiningthe

subjects mentioned earlier, our research will gain the following contributions in thecontext of developing economies.

The second reason for conducting this research is to examine the concept ofsocial sustainability practices It clearly explains how sustainability can enhanceperformance outcomes in the supply chain Thirdly, our research is perhaps the firststudy investigating the relationship between supply chain social sustainability andsupply chain integration in developing economies, particularly in Vietnam Inprevious studies, many authors stated that supply chain integration is positively related

to supply chain social sustainability (Kang, Yang, Park, & Huo, 2018; Huq,

Chowdhury, & Klassen, 2016; Koberg & Longoni, 2019; Gelhard & von Delft, 2016).

However, this study proves that firms that adopt social sustainability practices canincrease the integration with their strategic stakeholders As a result, it will lead tohigh-performance outcomes in the supply chain

Besides this, the Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected global socio-economiclife In Vietnam, supply chains have been halted, many service sectors had to closeand stop providing for a while The development level in some provinces is not thesame, lagging behind many countries In addition, the awareness and capacity of thewhole system (people, infrastructure, finance, and institutions) are still low, makingold habits in production and management Furthermore, the general knowledge andunderstanding of the sustainable development of many enterprises, institutions, andcitizens are incomplete and inconsistent Socio-economic policies are only focused oneconomic growth and social stability but have not paid enough attention tosustainability when exploiting and using natural resources, in association with theprotection of natural resources This study proves the importance of supply chainsocial sustainability and why managers must be aware of sustainable development inthe supply chain

Last but not least, this study investigates three dimensions of supply chainintegration, the collaboration between external integration and internal integration, andthe influence of supply chain integration on performance outcomes in the supplychain The final reason is to broaden other research on supply chain integration byincluding literature on the collaboration between supply chain integration andperformance This

research also examined managerial implications and theoretical contributions based onthe results and findings.

1.3 Research objectives

The general objective of this research is to extend previous findings of (Mani,Gunasekaran, & Delgado, 2018; Mani, Gunasekaran, Papadopoulos, Hazen, & Dubey,2016; Mani, Jabbour, & Mani, 2020) about the importance of supply chain socialsustainability in developing economies Accordingly, the specific objectives of thisresearch are:

Objective 1: Identifies the relationship between supply chain social sustainability

and supply chain performance, mediating role of supply chain integration

Objective 2: Examines the impact of social sustainability on three dimensions of

supply chain integration: internal, customer, and supplier

Objective 3: Identifies the influence of supply chain integration on customer

performance, supplier performance, and supply chain performance

1.4 Research questions

Our research tries to examine the following research questions:

RQ1 How does social sustainability enhance supply chain performance,

mediating role of supply chain integration?

RQ2 How does social sustainability influence internal integration, supplier

integration, and customer integration in the supply chain?

RQ3 How do the three dimensions of supply chain integration affect supplier

performance, customer performance, and supply chain performance?

In addition, the author uses three main foundation theories to answer the researchquestions, explain the hypotheses development and develop the research model: (1)Stakeholder theory view explains the relationship between social sustainability andsupply chain integration (Barney & Harrison, 2020; Mohammed & Muhammed,2017),

(2) Dynamic capabilities view examines the relationship between supply chain

integration and supply chain performance (Laaksonen & Peltoniemi, 2018;Schoemaker, Heaton, & Teece, 2018), and (3) Stakeholder resource-based viewidentifies the relationship between social sustainability and supply chain performance(Kull, Mena, & Korschun, 2016; Freeman, Dmytriyev & Phillips, 2021).

1.5 Research methodology and data collection

This study is divided into two main parts: the pilot study and the main study.Firstly, the pilot study is carried out to re-examine the questionnaire with respect tologic, wording structure, and appropriateness Secondly, the main study focused ontesting the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of constructmeasurements and the proposed hypotheses The author adopted and revised themeasurement items from previous studies and used a 7-point Likert scale (rangingfrom Strongly disagree to Strongly agree) for these measurement items The supply

chain social sustainability was adapted from the research of Mani et al., (2016) and

Mani and Agrawal (2015) In addition, the measurements from a prior study by Jajja,Chatha, & Farooq (2018) were used to measure Supply Chain Integration, includingSupplier Integration (4 items), Internal Integration (4 items), and Customer Integration(4 items) For the Customer performance (2 items), Supply chain performance (3items), and Supplier performance (3 items), the author used items from Mani, Jabbour,and Mani (2020)

The author delivered online and offline surveys to executive staff and managers

of companies located in Vietnam This study’s data were from April to October 2021;the survey subjects are small, medium, and large companies in the South of Vietnam,particularly in HCMC, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Mekong Delta Rivers The totaltime for collecting the data from respondents will be approximately six months Allcompanies have at least 4 to 5 years of operating The author applied these criteria toensure all the companies are mature in operations and have enough knowledge ofsocial sustainability practices In total, 428 responses were received

1.6 Research contribution

1.6.1 Theoretical contributions

By examining these primary questions, this research will contribute to the socialsustainability domain Firstly, the empirical result shows that supply chain integrationplays an integral part in accomplishing supply chain performance To achieve a firm’sgoals effectively and efficiently, it is necessary to integrate collaboration betweenfirms and their strategic suppliers in the supply chain Hence, this study supportsprevious research on supply chain integration (Liu, Jia, Jia, & Koufteros, 2021; Raut,Priyadarshinee, Gardas, Narkhede, & Nehete, 2018) Through the development ofinternal integration, information and data can be exchanged and delivered quickly andsufficiently (Xian, Sambasivan, & Abdullah, 2018) This leads to the addition ofmutual understanding across departments within an organization In addition, thisstudy has revealed that when companies actively keep in touch and share informationrelated to inventory management and inventory status with their suppliers, theproduction progress will be ensured once the raw materials and goods are supplied ontime at a reasonable price (Li, Yu, Wang, & Yan, 2017)

Secondly, the finding indicates that customer integration does not significantlyinfluence customer performance; it turns out to be contrary to previous studies (Lee,2016; Schoenherr & Swink, 2012) This conflict conclusion can be explained due tothe differences in respondents’ perceptions which are probably influenced byemployee positions, job tenure, and managerial knowledge Empirical results haverevealed that customer integration does not weigh the same significance as internalintegration and supplier integration, especially in some aspects This finding is similar

to a previous study by (Wiengarten, Pagell, Ahmed, & Gimenez, 2014; Duong & Ha,2021b; Duong & Ha, 2021a) which that means when it comes to cost and innovationperformance, the effect of customer integration on customer performance is weakerthan the others

In addition, this study proves that supply chain social sustainability is positivelyrelated to supply chain integration It turns out to be contrary to previous research.Many authors stated that supply chain integration is positively related to supply chain

social sustainability (Wilding et al., 2012; Huq et al., 2016; Klassen and Vachon,

2003;

Gelhard and von Delft, 2016) It can be explained when supply chain managers payattention to sustainable development, they will increase the integration with theirstrategic partners (customers and suppliers) and their employees Hence, supply chainintegration will improve, then lead to enhance the performance outcomes In otherwords, social sustainability practices are very important to achieve a firm’s goalseffectively and efficiently.

Last but not least, through perceiving social sustainability in emerging markets,this study attempts to fill the current research gap by interpreting different dimensions

of supply chain social sustainability (Mani, Gunasekaran, et al., 2016) This result is

also similar to previous studies about the link between supply chain socialsustainability practices and supply chain performance (Bai, Satir, & Sarkis, 2019; Bai

& Sarkis, 2017) The finding indicates that companies frequently contribute to thelocal community and support their employees, which helps firms improve theircorporate reputation and credibility Customers are also willing to purchase productsand services from these firms that perform social sustainability commitments to thewhole community While implementing these sustainable and responsiblecommitments, companies should call for the collaboration of their strategic customers

to participate in these meaningful campaigns

1.6.2 Practical implications

Firstly, firms’ managers should emphasize supply chain integration, includingsupplier integration, customer integration, and internal integration Furthermore, itproves that different forms of integration influence different aspects of performance inthe supply chain As a result, it provides many helpful guidelines for managers toincrease supply chain integration in a specific situation following firms’ objectives.Secondly, the results help managers solve social issues responsively in severalaspects It encourages managers to enrich employees’ welfare and working conditionsand contribute interests to the local community Moreover, this study provides criticalguidance to the firms’ managers toward sustainable development by emphasizing theimportance of social sustainability motives and their impact on facilitating supplychain performance

Thirdly, to control and manage risks in the supply chain, managers should applyrisk management practices As a result, managers can predict and recognize risksquickly and effectively after the post-Covid-19 period Based on the findings, theauthors suggested that collaborative practices within organizations and the firm’sstrategic partners are highly recommended to control risks and increase the firm’sperformance.

In addition, managers should better understand the importance of sustainabilitypractices and how they could contribute to supply chain performance This studysuggests that managers should be more actively collaborating and encouraging theirpartners, including upstream suppliers and downstream customers, to act responsiblyand contribute to the community As a result, the supply chain performance will besignificantly enhanced

Besides this, the government must continue to improve the legal framework forsustainable environmental development The government should diversify thecountry's resources and exploit the private sector’s potential in the development ofsustainable goals The authorities must pay more attention to improving citizens’health systems The state needs more support for provinces with a healthy low-levelsystem In addition, they should reduce the income disparity between cities and ruralareas Hence, it leads to stability in life and helps economic-socio growth moresustainable

Last but not least, the government should continue to invest in the educationsystem to improve the qualifications of citizens in Vietnam This strategy cannot beachieved immediately but will positively impact the long term, thereby ensuring moresustainable economic growth Besides, the states have to open policies to attractforeign direct investment It will contribute to the sustainable development of thecountry As a result, the government can solve social issues, ensuring a better life forpeople

1.7 Research limitation

Although our findings contribute both theoretical and practical aspects, this studyhas some limitations Firstly, the participants have different job positions, fromexecutive employees to top managers Therefore, the perception and viewpoint of the

interviewees are different in terms of the work role, years of experience, andknowledge about supply chain social sustainability Secondly, the social manners indeveloping countries are distinct from developed countries Hence, this study mayonly apply in the context of emerging economies In addition, this research uses datagathered from a single country (Vietnam); therefore, it may affect the generality of thesample Lastly, there are three main pillars of sustainable development, includingeconomic (profit), environment (planet), and society (people) In this research, theauthor only examines the social aspect.

1.8 Research structure

This research is structured as follows

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Literature Review and Hypotheses Development

Chapter 3 – Research Methodology

Chapter 4 – Data Analysis, Results, and Discussions

Chapter 5 – Conclusion and Implications

Overall, this chapter displays the dissertation’s background to present the criticalresearch problem, the research goals, and the research questions By reviewing theexisting literature, this research proposes investigating the connection between supplychain social sustainability and supply chain performance in Vietnam, specifically, themediating roles of supply chain integration

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

This chapter will examine the literature review to clarify the research gap thatprovides related theories These existing theories will illustrate how supply chainsocial sustainability is related to supply chain performance under the influence ofsupply chain integration

In this chapter, the author also mentioned the theoretical backgrounds, including(1) the Stakeholder theory view, (2) the Dynamic capabilities view, and (3) theStakeholder resource-based view In addition, the author proposed the hypotheses andframework model for this study

2.1 Current status of sustainable development in Vietnam

2.1.1 Vietnam’s 17 sustainable development goals

Vietnam is a country that is strongly committed to the implementation ofsustainable development goals through the issuance of the Vietnam StrategicOrientation for Sustainable Development in 2004, the Vietnam SustainableDevelopment Strategy for the period 2011 – 2020; and most recently the NationalAction Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Furthermore, the United Nations and its partners in Vietnam are working toachieve the Sustainable Development Goals: 17 ambitious Goals that address themajor development challenges faced by people in Vietnam and around the world(United Nations Vietnam, 2022) The Sustainable Development Goals call for globalaction to reduce poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure thatpeople everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity These are the goals that the UnitedNations is implementing in Vietnam

Vietnam has nationalized the global 2030 Agenda into a National Action Planfor the implementation of 17 sustainable development goals and 115 specific goals inline with conditions and priorities for the development of the country On September

25th, 2020, the Government issued Resolution No 136/NQ-CP on sustainabledevelopment The resolution sets out 17 goals for Vietnam by 2030, including:

Figure 1 - 17 sustainable development goals in Vietnam.

Source: United Nations Vietnam, 2022.

- (1) No poverty: There will be no poverty in Vietnam by 2030;

- (2) Zero hunger: The Government will eliminate hunger, ensure foodsecurity, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculturaldevelopment;

- (3) Good health and well-being: Vietnam authorities ensure healthy lives andpromote well-being for people of all ages;

- (4) Quality education: The Government ensures quality, and equitableeducation and promotes life-long learning opportunities for all;

- (5) Gender equality: This goal sets to achieve gender equality; empoweringand creating opportunities for women and girls;

- (6) Clean water and sanitation: Vietnam authorities will provide adequate andsustainable management of water resources and sanitation for all;

- (7) Affordable and clean energy: People in Vietnam can access affordable,reliable, and sustainable energy for all;

- (8) Decent work and economic growth: The Government will maintainsustainable, comprehensive, and continuous economic growth; fullemployment, productivity, and decent work for all;

- (9) Industry, infrastructure, and innovation: Vietnam authorities buildresilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization, and fosterinnovation;

- (10) Reduced inequalities: There will be no in-equality in society;

- (11) Sustainable cities and communities: The Government pays attention tosustainable and resilient urban and rural development; ensures a safe livingand working environment, and reasonably allocates population and labor byregion;

- (12) Responsible consumption and production: Both local and foreigncompanies must increase sustainable production and consumption;

- (13) Climate action: Vietnam authorities must respond to climate change andnatural disasters immediately and effectively;

- (14) Life below water: There will be more conservation and sustainable use

of oceans, and marine resources for sustainable development;

- (15) Life on land: The Government should protect and develop forests,biodiversity, and ecosystem services, prevent degradation and restore landresources;

- (16) Peace, justice, and strong institutions: Vietnam authorities will promote

a peaceful, democratic, fair, equal, and civilized society for sustainabledevelopment, creating access to justice for all, building effective,accountable, and participatory institutions at all levels;

- (17) Partnerships for the goals: The Government will strengthenimplementation practices and promote global partnerships for sustainabledevelopment

To accomplish the above goals, the Resolution sets out common tasks andsolutions For example, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is assigned 3 tasks,including presiding over and organizing the implementation of the National ActionProgram on sustainable production and consumption for the period 2021 – 2030(issued in Decision No 889/QD-TTg) The authorities also issue policies onsustainable production and consumption; promote green supply chain management;develop sustainable supply chain with environmentally friendly products and services;give priority to small and medium enterprises; and promote the development ofenvironmental industry, waste recycling industry

Furthermore, the main tasks of the program have been actively implemented,initially achieving some remarkable results According to the Ministry of Industry andTrade, many goals of the Program have been completed or completed, including (1)Percentage of enterprises applying energy-saving solutions and cleaner production; (2)Application and gradually expand ecological innovation to enterprises, manufactories,and industrial parks; (3) Apply green distribution and logistics certification; (4)Successfully develop and gradually expand sustainable supply chains for key products

in the economy; (5) Provide information, guidance and support to meet therequirements of the environment and sustainable development; (6) Consumers andcommunities are well informed about environmentally friendly products, sustainableproduction and consumption practices; (7) The proportion of plastic, paper, and wasteoil scraps that will be recycled and percentage of conventional industrial solid wasterecovered for re- cycling and re-use (Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2022)

In addition to the achieved results, a number of the program’s objectives arebeing urgently implemented and initially effective, including (1) 50% of constructionsolid waste in urban areas will be recovered for re-cycling and re-use; (2) 85% of solidwaste is re-used, re-cycled, re-covered for energy and organic fertilizer; (3) Completethe legal framework and guidelines on green public procurement; (4) Increase thepercentage of sustainable products in public procurement; and (5) Improve regulatoryframeworks and guidelines for implementing sustainable development (Ministry ofFinance, 2022)

In brief, according to 17 sustainable development goals in Vietnam andResolution No 136/NQ-CP, 9 over 17 goals are focused on the social sustainability,including: (1) No poverty, (2) Zero hunger, (3) Good health and well-being, (4)Quality education, (5) Gender equality, (6) Clean water and sanitation, (7) Reducedinequalities, (11) Sustainable cities and communities, and (16) Peace, justice and

strong institution (see Figure 1) As a result, the author realizes the importance of social sustainability, particularly in the supply chain Based on this mentioned

evidence and another literature review in this domain, the author will select six mainindicators that are relevant to supply chain social sustainability “philanthropy,equity, human rights,

safety, ethics, and health & welfare” The author also gives more explanation in the next parts.

2.1.2 The importance of sustainable development

Sustainable development is an inevitable trend However, the main challenge forbusinesses is how to integrate sustainable development into short, medium, and long-term strategies Besides this, investment capital is also one of the major obstacles thatmany businesses face in their path towards sustainable development, especially smalland medium-sized enterprises Investments for sustainability are often large and donot always show immediate results For example, investments such as using cleanenergy or modifying production processes to reduce the impact on the environmentare long- term investments and do not fully represent economic value or short-termgoals These are common difficulties when businesses build and deploy solutions forgreen growth and sustainable development (Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2022).Many surveys show that most businesses believe the implementation ofsustainable development goals will bring practical benefits to the business, such asimproving reputation, social consensus opportunities, differentiation opportunities,increased competitive advantage, new business opportunities, and revenue sources.This clearly shows the view and interest of business managers toward development Inaddition, as a responsible member of the United Nations, Vietnam has been activelydeveloping and implementing solutions to promote green growth and sustainabledevelopment There have been a number of policies and programs to raise awareness,support, and encourage businesses to apply sustainable business models and protectthe environment Many businesses have been more favorable to converting to asustainable business model thanks to the support from these programs and projects(United Nations Vietnam, 2022)

In the past, pursuing a sustainable development strategy and disclosure mighthave been optional for businesses, but today it has become a strategic decision forbusinesses and investors The requirement for sustainable development comes fromthe fact that business does not operate alone, they work in a community and growtogether Every business decision has an impact certain to society, the environment,and related

stakeholders such as employees, customers, and suppliers Businesses depend on theenvironment and society to get natural resources and human resources for theiroperations They also share these elements with other stakeholders in their supplychain The connections, interactions, and cooperation are the key elements As aresult, it is very important for businesses toward sustainability (PwC, 2019).

According to a survey conducted by World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment (2018), 91% of businesses believe that sustainable development willimprove the business reputation in the society; hence, it leads to increase businessoperations In addition, 87% of firms hope to have more opportunities and increasetheir competitive advantage 86% of respondents expect to identify the businessopportunities and sources of new customers/markets In addition, many companies arefocusing on reducing carbon in their supply chains Specifically, these companies canproactively set green business goals; attract partners to supply renewable energy;participate in R&D to increase carbon-intensive technologies Besides this, managersalso apply marketing campaigns, raising customers’ awareness of social issues, andincreasing the prestige and spread of environmentally friendly products and brands(WBCSD, 2018)

2.1.3 Supply chain sustainable development in Vietnam

According to the results of HSBC’s survey “Navigator: Present, Future andMeaning for Business”, conducted with 8,500 companies in 34 markets, enterprisesare inclined to make sustainable changes in their supply chains to improve theirbusiness results In general, the element of sustainable development in terms ofenvironment (earth) and society (people) is considered very important by enterprisesoperating in the manufacturing and service sectors in Vietnam About 90% ofbusinesses said that they manage and control their supply chains based on ethical andenvironmental standards Only a small fraction of the surveyed enterprises (9%) saidthat the sustainability of the supply chain is unnecessary for their business strategy(HSBC, 2018)

In addition, for businesses in the manufacturing and services sectors,implementing sustainability and ethical changes is the most essential key to improvingprofitability and business performance (96% of manufacturing enterprises; 100% of

service enterprises) From a global perspective, around 31% of businesses worldwideplan to make sustainable changes to their supply chains within the next three years.For those businesses that made these changes, they can achieve cost-effectiveness(84%); improve revenue and business results (84%) Moreover, Vietnamese firmsmust face increasing pressure from customers, since their customers want them to bemore transparent and have sustainable awareness With around 80% of environmentalimpact relevant to the supply chain, the ‘green’ metrics of suppliers and strategicpartners are very important factors influencing the reputation and performance of abusiness (HSBC, 2018).

Besides this, for manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam, when asked about themain changes that businesses will make related to the supply chain within the next 3years, 46% of surveyed enterprises said they have a plan to expand their business intonew markets, and about 32% of businesses plan to choose suppliers based on theirsustainability practices The changes related to the supply chain were mainly made toimprove the profitability of enterprises (79%) By comparison, businesses in theservice sector also have up to 77% of businesses hoping to increase profits throughincreasing awareness toward sustainable supply chain development, with keystrategies including expanding operations into a new market (38%) as well asincreased use of digital technology (31%) (HSBC, 2018)

Furthermore, policymakers and investors are putting a lot of pressure onbusinesses to make them publish information about sustainability practices inVietnam This is why 85% of businesses want to achieve a sustainability standard that

is recognized in the industry or the market According to the survey results,transparency is rated by 26% of businesses as the main criterion when they look fornew suppliers (HSBC, 2018) It is because global consumers want to know the origin

of the products they buy They also need to inform about the production process ofhow human, animal, and environmental factors are used throughout the supply chain

As a result, managers in Vietnam should pay more attention to improvingsustainability in their businesses and their supply chain

2.2 A systematic review of recent literatures in the social sustainability domain

The central part of any research is the literature review This section willinvestigate the recent trends and current supply chain social sustainability domaindevelopments

2.2.1 The systematic review process

The primary purpose of this part is to examine the most concerned topics in thesocial sustainability domain Web of Science (WoS) is applied to achieve this purpose

In the first stage, we will search for articles that contain these topics in their title,abstract, and keywords, including ‘Supply chain social sustainability,’ ‘Socialsustainability,’ ‘Supply chain management,’ ‘Emerging.’ In the late 2000s, socialsustainability has gained its existence over the globe Hence, for the review process,

we will choose the articles published from 2010 to 2021 Moreover, conferencepapers, editorial notes, short notes, book chapters are excluded (Figure 1)

In the next step, well-known publishers such as Emerald, Taylor & Francis,Science Direct, Springer, Wiley, Sage, and Inder-science are considered for the reviewpurpose It is because these publishers publish several high-quality papers Moreover,many disciplines, including management, green sustainable science technology,environmental science, engineering environmental, and business, are qualified Theauthor also refines only English papers in the short list Based on the classificationframework among different aspects, there are 255 social sustainability articles across

82 journals to review

Web of Science database – SCSS article

search

Key word used – ‘Supply chain social

sustainability’, ‘Social sustainability’,

‘Supply chain management’, ‘Emerging’

320 articles

Inclusion – ‘Journal articles’

Exclusion – ‘Conference paper, short

survey, book chapter, etc.’

317 articles

Inclusion of Publishers – Emerald, Taylor

& Francis, Science direct (Elsevier),

Springer, Wiley, Sage and Inder-science

255 articles

Articles shortlisted – 255

Classification framework for shortlisted SCSS articles

Year, Journal, Publisher, Country, Research areas, Author

Identification of Gaps and Suggestions for future work based on the results

obtained through analysis

Figure 2 - Articles selection process.

Source: author’s summarization, 2021.

2.2.2 A classification framework for analysis

It is necessary to examine the classification framework on the foundation ofwhich the papers will be considered The shortlisted papers are examined on fourbroad aspects that give a clear concept about the social sustainability domain.Moreover, this will help the author identify our paper’s research gap and contribution

In the next section, we will discuss the classifications framework for this study(including five main sections) as follows:

 Articles classification based on Publication year

Over the period from 2010 to 2021, the classification of social sustainabilityarticles based on the year of publication is shown in Figure 3 At the beginning of the2000s, most researchers and managers practiced traditional supply chain management

As a result, the application of sustainable supply chain management was deficient.However, around 2009, with the awareness of sustainability among developed anddeveloping countries, many practitioners and policy-makers paid much attention tosustainable development in three pillars: society, economy, and environment.Therefore, the amount of papers in this domain has steadily increased

According to Table 1, from 2016 to 2021, there are 221/255 articles published(more than 85%) Over the last five years, many authors and researchers have paidmuch attention to this domain The highest recorded year are 2021 and 2020 with 60articles, followed by 2019 with 36 articles, then 2018 with 35 articles

Hence, the author realizes the importance of studying SCSS in Vietnam since

social sustainability is recently considered the most concerned topic

Figure 3 - SSCS articles based on the year of publication.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

 Articles classification based on publishers and journals

There are many publication titles in the social sustainability domain from variousaspects such as business economics, engineering, environmental sciences ecology,social sciences, operations research management science From the publishers’perspective, Elsevier contributed maximum articles (40.0%) followed by Emerald(29.8%), Wiley (12.9%), Taylor & Francis (9.8%), Springer (6.6%) The contribution

of these publishers is shown in Figure 4

Figure 4 - Classification according to publishers.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

In addition, the Journal of Cleaner Production contributes the highest amount ofresearch papers (51 papers) Since 2010, the Journal of Cleaner Production haspublished many articles to develop the clear concept of the social sustainabilitydomain among the journalists’ community The second most significant contribution

in this domain is the International Journal of Production Economics (16 papers) Thisjournal helped build a closed relationship between sustainability and supply chainmanagement Followed by Supply Chain Management, an International Journal is atthe third position (12 papers) – see Figure 5

Hence, the author realizes the need to examine social sustainability, supply chain integration, and performance outcomes in Vietnam.

Figure 5 - Distribution of articles based on journals.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

 Articles classification based on country

The analysis of articles reveals that social sustainability has comprehensivecoverage across 60 countries all over the globe The detailed description of an articlebased on the countries (where the authors take the survey) is presented in Figure 6.Among the 255 shortlisted articles, England has contributed to most research inthis domain, with 55 articles (21.5%) On the one hand, the USA, India, China,France, Australia, and Brazil are the leading countries that help develop andexamine social

sustainability research’s theoretical backgrounds Whereas in developing countriessuch as Vietnam (1.9%), Turkey (1.9%), Malaysia (1.6%), and Morocco (1.6%), thereare limited papers in this domain On the other hand, most multinational enterprisesproduce their products or services in emerging countries It is because of the cheaplabor, sufficient natural resources, potential markets, high opportunities, and easy-going government However, many social issues and cases are relevant to ethics, childlabor, human rights, working conditions, health, and welfare in these countries.

Hence, the author realizes the importance of applying the concept of social sustainability in developing countries, particularly in Vietnam, since there are

limited papers about the SCSS domain in Vietnam on Web of Science

Figure 6 - Classification according to survey country.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

 Articles classification based on research areas

Industries play a crucial part in contributing to the wealth of a country’seconomy Moreover, it becomes necessary to examine the application of SCSS indifferent industries (Hassini, Surti, and Searcy, 2012) Furthermore, the application ofSCSS in the firm will help supply chain managers to integrate social andenvironmental issues into their business strategy (Pagell and Wu, 2009) Figure 7 willillustrate the implementation of SCSS reported in the last pieces of literature

Among the 255 shortlisted articles, Business economics has contributed to mostresearch in the domain of SCSS, with around 134 articles Followed by engineering,environmental sciences, ecology, and operations research management science are theprimary areas that help in strengthening the theoretical foundation of SCSS research.Moreover, in Vietnam, there are many focal companies operated.

Hence, the author will apply the context of social sustainability in the business economics area.

Figure 7 - Classification according to research areas.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

 Articles classification based on authors

The analysis of authors reveals that the SCSS has some well-known authors Thedetailed description of articles classification based on authors is presented in Table 4.Among the 255 shortlisted articles, Mani (8 articles with 280 citing) and Kumar (8articles with 246 citing) have contributed to most research in the domain of SCSS Theanalysis of authors reveals that social sustainability has some well-known authors InFigure 8, there will be the description of articles classification according to authors

Among the 255 journals, Mani V (8 articles with 280 citing) and Kumar A (8 articleswith 246 citing) have contributed to most studies in social sustainability.

Hence, the author will create a proposed research model based on the framework model from Mani et al (2020) Mani V is the most popular and specialist author in this domain, and his research field is interested in emerging

countries

Figure 8 - Classification according to authors.

Source: author’s summarization from WoS, 2021.

This above discussed section will provide a roadmap to undergo thoroughresearch by highlighting the chronological growth and application domains of SCSSand the significant sources of SCSS research