Navigating institutional pressures: assessing sustainability and supply chain management practices in the oil and gas industry of a developing economy

Purpose This paper empirically aims to investigate the influence of coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on sustainability and supply chain management (SCM) practices in a developing economy’s oil and gas industry. It examines the moderating role of firm size on these relationships, focusing on the three dimensions of the triple bottom line (TBL) approach: environmental, economic and social sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested using data from a comprehensive survey of 144 oil and gas firms operating in Nigeria. The analysis employs regression models to explore the direct effects of institutional pressures on SCM and sustainability practices and the moderating influence of firm size. Findings The findings confirm that coercive and normative pressures significantly enhance sustainability and SCM practices. However, mimetic pressures did not exhibit a significant impact. Additionally, firm size did not moderate the relationships between institutional pressures and sustainability or SCM practices, indicating that these pressures affect firms uniformly regardless of size. Originality/value This study contributes to the evolving literature on sustainability by understanding how different institutional pressures influence the adoption of sustainability and supply chain management practices in the oil and gas industry from a TBL perspective. It uniquely highlights the limited role of mimetic pressures and the uniform influence of institutional pressures across firms of varying sizes.