Collaboration capacity for sustainable supply chain management: small and medium-sized enterprises in Mexico

• A multi-dimensional construct for collaboration capacity is proposed.
• The collaboration capacity of 177 suppliers in Mexico is assessed.
• Collaboration capacity contributes to the implementation of cleaner production.
• Few suppliers demonstrate coordinative routines to involve outside stakeholders.
• Collaboration capacity is influenced by characteristics of firms and managers.

Sustainability calls for multi-stakeholder initiatives; hence a requirement for implementing sustainable management approaches is the capacity of different actors to collaborate with each other. This research tested a theoretical model of collaboration capacity as a multi-dimensional organisational construct to gauge cleaner production implementation within supply chains. The construct measured operational, cooperative, and communicative routines of small and medium-sized firms to design, implement and communicate the results of cleaner production projects. Assessment focused on the collaboration capacity of 177 suppliers that participated in the Mexican Sustainable Supply Programme from 2005 to 2008. The results of the study revealed how a supplier's collaboration capacity is influenced by characteristics of firms and managers, such as the firm's sector, the number of participating managers and their profiles. Following collaboration theory reasoning, the empirical findings support the notion that collaboration may contribute to inter-organisational dynamics by strengthening knowledge absorption capacity, structuring solutions, and motivating activity around a commonly defined problem or goal such as cleaner production. Therefore, collaboration capacity is essential for effective implementation of cleaner production. Such cleaner production actions provide competitive advantages for sustainable supply chain management.