Evaluating green supply chain management among Chinese manufacturers from the ecological modernization perspective Qinghua Zhu a,⇑ , Yong Geng b,1 , Joseph Sarkis c,2 , Kee-hung Lai d,3 a School of Business Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116024, PR China b Institute of Applied Ecology, China Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110016, PR China c Graduate School of Management, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, United States d Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong article info Keywords: Green supply chain management Ecological modernization China abstract Green supply chain management (GSCM) has become an emergent ecological moderniza- tion tool amongst Chinese manufacturers to balance environmental performance with pro- ductivity and business performance gains. Ecological modernization at the society level is influenced by restructuring policies and regulations. Some of these policies and regulations in China are focusing on enhancing energy savings and pollution reduction (ESPR). Based on a survey of 376 responses, we investigate whether different Chinese manufacturer clus- ters varying in their extent of implementing GSCM exist from this ecological modernization perspective. We also examine if Chinese manufacturers’ awareness of domestic and inter- national environmental ESPR-oriented compliance is related to GSCM implementation and whether a mediating effect of regulatory pressure plays a significant role. The results high- light the varying pace of Chinese manufacturers to ecologically modernize with GSCM practices and the significance of regulatory pressure to diffuse the practices adoption by Chinese manufacturing industry. Implications of this research go beyond the manufactur- ers investigated in this study where similar occurrence of these relationships may exist in other regions. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Due to increasing environmental issues and resource scarcity, Chinese governments have exerted increasing pressure on Chinese manufacturers to reduce environmental harms caused by their operations (Liu and Diamond, 2005; Zhu et al., 2010). To promote economic development without compromising ecological health, the Chinese government has developed indus- trially-oriented regulations and policies with an emphasis on establishing eco-industrial parks (Zhu and Cote, 2004; Zhu et al., 2007), a circular economy (Geng et al., 2009), and more recently enhancing energy savings and pollution reduction (ESPR). A major goal of these regulations and policies is to motivate the implementation of innovative environmental man- agement practices in the manufacturing sector. However, these more recent policies and regulations are generally voluntary or mainly provide subsidies for demonstration projects. Government officials in China are uncertain as to whether these reg- ulatory measures have promoted the adoption of environmental management practices by manufacturers or if they have 1366-5545/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tre.2010.09.013 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 411 8470 6018; fax: +86 411 8470 8342. E-mail addresses: zhuqh@dlut.edu.cn (Q. Zhu), gengyong@iae.ac.cn (Y. Geng), jsarkis@clarku.edu (J. Sarkis), lgtmlai@polyu.edu.hk (K.-h. Lai). 1 Tel./fax: +86 84 24 83970371. 2 Tel.: +1 508 793 7659; fax: +1 508 793 8822. 3 Tel.: +852 2766 7920; fax: +852 2330 2704. Transportation Research Part E 47 (2011) 808–821 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part E journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tre