Determinants of the implementation of sustainable certifications in the supply chain of fisheries companies in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the factors influencing the implementation of sustainable certification in the supply chain based on empirical evidence from survey data of 324 fisheries companies in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The generalised linear model (GLM) was employed to simultaneously examine the factors affecting the implementation of sustainable certification, including financial resources, leadership perception and assessments, and company characteristics. The results indicated that the first lag of total revenues and leadership’s assessment of the effectiveness of sustainable certification positively affect the number of certifications applied by the companies (P < 0.01). Conversely, the number of sustainable certifications was lower than those of the large-scale companies due to financial constraints and limited accessibility to funding resources (P < 0.05). Stronger financial resources may enhance the capacity to cover the costs associated with the implementation of sustainability certifications, thereby facilitating a greater adoption of such certifications within fisheries companies. Additionally, positive awareness and commitment from the companies’ leadership significantly affected the implementation of such sustainable certifications, suggesting a critical role of top management perception regarding the sustainable supply chain strategies in the companies. The significant effects of the market factors and the companies’ characteristics on the implementation of sustainability certifications could not be found (P < 0.1). This might be explained because the implementation of sustainable certifications in the supply chain generally played out as a compulsory requirement to ensure accessibility of the international markets of the fisheries companies, rather than being driven by market factors or companies’ characteristics. The study suggests supportive policies, including financial incentive programs for small and medium enterprises, developing intermediary sustainable certifications, and awareness-enhancing initiatives of the companies’ leaders to enhance the application of sustainable certifications towards the implementation of sustainable supply chain management and meet the requirements of international markets regarding the sustainability issues.