Abstract
Purpose Nowadays, a prominent research area is the development of competitive advantages in companies, due to their environmental commitment and orientation. Based on resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory (InT), this paper aims to investigate the influence of internal and external orientation on businesses' sustainable performance while considering the effect of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices. Design/methodology/approach Data from 351 manufacturing companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been collected and analysed through structural equation modelling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method. Findings The results indicated that both internal and external environmental orientation have important effects on SSCM practices, which in turn have a considerable beneficial effect on environmental, social and economic performance. Originality/value Although SSCM is constantly gaining ground in the literature, most SSCM research and models examine its effects, antecedents or motivation, mainly adopting a qualitative approach. Research on the topic adopting a large-scale empirical approach is still limited. In this context, this study contributes to the SSCM management literature by exploring the role of environmental orientation in facilitating the adoption of SSCM practices and improving companies' performance.