Optimizing Sustainable Procurement Practices in the Automotive Manufacturing Industry

Thesis Abstract

The automotive manufacturing industry is increasingly confronted with the imperative to adopt sustainable procurement practices to address environmental challenges, social responsibility, and economic efficiency while maintaining competitive advantage. Despite growing awareness, many organizations have yet to optimize their procurement strategies to fully integrate sustainability principles, resulting in inefficiencies, higher costs, and stakeholder dissatisfaction. This study aims to investigate how automotive manufacturers can optimize sustainable procurement practices to enhance environmental performance, social responsibility, and cost-effectiveness. The specific objectives include identifying key barriers and enablers to sustainable procurement, examining the influence of organizational culture and supply chain integration, and developing a framework to guide firms in implementing effective sustainability-oriented procurement strategies. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining a quantitative survey with qualitative case studies. The quantitative phase involves a structured questionnaire distributed to procurement managers and supply chain professionals within 50 automotive manufacturing firms operating in the country, with a target sample size of 200 respondents achieved through stratified random sampling. The qualitative phase entails in-depth interviews with 10 key stakeholders from three selected firms, selected via purposive sampling, to enrich contextual understanding. Data collection instruments include a standardized questionnaire validated through pilot testing and semi-structured interview guides. The quantitative data will be analyzed using multiple regression analysis to examine relationships between variables such as organizational culture, supply chain collaboration, and sustainability performance, while thematic analysis will be employed to interpret qualitative interview data to uncover underlying themes and contextual factors influencing sustainable procurement. The study anticipates revealing that organizational culture supportive of sustainability, robust supply chain collaboration, and strategic supplier engagement significantly impact the effectiveness of sustainable procurement practices. It is expected to identify critical barriers such as cost concerns, lack of stakeholder awareness, and supplier resistance, alongside enablers including management commitment, technological integration, and policy directives. The findings aim to contribute to theoretical development by integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Resource-Based View to explain behavioral intentions and resource utilization in sustainable procurement contexts, offering a refined conceptual model tailored for the automotive industry. This research intends to fill notable gaps in existing literature by providing empirical, industry-specific insights that link organizational and supply chain dynamics to sustainable procurement outcomes. It will develop a practical framework for automotive firms, emphasizing the integration of environmental, social, and economic objectives into procurement decision-making processes. The expected contribution to knowledge includes advancing understanding of the interplay between organizational culture, supply chain integration, and sustainability metrics, thereby informing both academic discourse and managerial practice. The study concludes that effective optimization of sustainable procurement practices necessitates strategic organizational alignment, technological innovation, and stakeholder engagement. Based on findings, it recommends that automotive manufacturers focus on fostering sustainability-oriented cultures, investing in supply chain transparency tools, and developing comprehensive policies that embed sustainability criteria into procurement processes. It emphasizes the need for continuous stakeholder collaboration and capacity-building initiatives to overcome barriers and leverage enablers identified through the research. The study further suggests avenues for future research, such as longitudinal analyses to assess long-term impacts and cross-industry comparative studies to generalize findings across manufacturing sectors. Overall, this research provides a robust, evidence-based roadmap to enhance sustainable procurement practices, thereby contributing to the industry's environmental and social performance while supporting economic viability.