The role of green purchasing of raw materials in achieving competitive advantage : a field study of some iron and steel factories in Algeria

Abstract EN

Modern business organizations seek to protect the environment without touching the economic aspect of their activity in order to ensure their viability, so the stakeholders have tended to adopt the concept of green purchasing, which contributes in reducing the environmental impact at the source instead of treating it at the end of the funnel, and it also contributes in reducing costs and raising the product quality, thus contributing to a competitive advantage.

A field study that was conducted on some new and steel factories in Algeria showed that the latter is undertaking the green purchasing process.

When purchasing raw materials, they choose sources that believe in the need to protect the environment and replace the hazardous materials with less dangerous ones, as well as use reusable or recyclable materials.

Although the study showed that these factories managed to achieve a competitive advantage, the green purchasing process had little effect on achieving this advantage.