Abstract
1- Introduction
2- Literature Review and Theoretical Background
3- Methodology
4- Data Analysis
5- Conclusion
6- References
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of transactional and relational governance on firm social sustainability when transactional and transformational leaders exhibit a strong influence on governance mechanism. This study offers insight on how ambidextrous leaders alternate between a relational contract and a relational governance mechanism and tune their approach to meeting the demands of social sustainability. Data was collected using structured survey questionnaires from manufacturing industries in Pakistan. A structural equation model was used for data analysis. The research findings indicate that ambidextrous leadership and contractual governance mechanism at time servers the needs of manufacturing firms and also serve as a tool to enhance the social sustainability. The results reveal that it is important for the manufacturing firms to take the transactional leadership into account during the design and implement of contract governance mechanism for the improvement of the social sustainability. The research into ambidextrous leadership is, although limited, a promising field of interest. The study also discusses limitation and managerial implications.
Introduction
Of all the globalization challenges, social sustainability is the most suitable example of a test case for triple bottom line performance. The widening gaps between suppliers and buyers are potentially socially explosive. If the supplier’s firms from the emerging economies are left hopeless, social sustainability in the supply chain will undermine labour, inequalities, discriminations, health and safety issues of employees and community. Labor inequalities, community development and Health and safety are most important issues for the contemporary global supply chain landscape. Powerful stakeholders and institutions are awakenings to these social issues as a vital threat to the sustainable development. Hence, businesses must be aware of, and ever ready to address, emerging trends that may affect the direction and content of future sustainability (Sutherland et al., 2016). Further, (Ehrgott, Reimann, Kaufmann & Carter, 2011) and (Zorzini, Hendry, Huq & Stevenson, 2015) call for research to investigate social sustainability from the perspective of developing country suppliers on specific dimensions of social issues. Researchers now agree that successful implementation of standard procedures on social issues in supply chain and collaborations between the partners, rely not only on formal governance through contracts but also on relational governance through interpersonal relationships between the manufacturing firms (Cao and Lumineau, 2015; Zhou and Poppo, 2010).Furthermore, an increasing stream of research has acknowledged that relational contract and relational governance can enhance the firm performance (Cao & Lumineau, 2015; Poppo, Zhou & Zenger, 2008).