Investigating the effects of green operations management on sustainability performance of manufacturing and service firms: The mediating role of green customer integration in Vietnam

While recent years have seen the conduct of works covering the connections between green operations, green supply chain integration, and corporate sustainability, a comparative study on manufacturing and service industries has not yet been carried out to examine these interrelations in developing countries. In Vietnam, insights from such endeavors are practically needed to inform management and policymaking given that senior managers and government legislators have paid insufficient attention to green supply chain management. In line with the resource-based view and dynamic capability, the present study demonstrates the mediating role green customer integration (GCI) plays in the relationship between the green operations and corporate sustainability of service and manufacturing firms. Partial least squares-structural equation models are used to illustrate the direct and positive effect of green operations on environmental performance in both service and manufacturing companies, and this effect is then partially mediated by GCI. With the other pillars of corporate sustainability (social and economic performance), the effect is fully mediated by GCI for manufacturing businesses. For service enterprises, GCI partially mediates the effect of green operations on social performance but does not occupy a significant role in the positive relationship between green operations and economic performance. Thus, firms that undertake green operations management should properly foster GCI to achieve the desired corporate sustainability results. In addition, the government should consider support or incentives that help firms offset related costs and promote sustainability.