Driving the Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The Role of Green Entrepreneurial Orientation and Green Supply Chain Management in Pakistan’s Textile Firms

Abstract

The concept of sustainable competitive advantage has become increasingly important for firms operating in environmentally sensitive industries such as the textile sector, where environmental responsibility and resource efficiency are critical for long-term performance. Grounded in the Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV), this study examines how Green Entrepreneurial Orientation (GEO) influences Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) directly and indirectly through Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). Specifically, the study conceptualizes GSCM as a mediating mechanism that translates green entrepreneurial capabilities into competitive outcomes within the context of Pakistan’s textile industry. Data were collected from 185 managers working in textile firms located in major industrial cities of Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, and Multan. The hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS 4, while SPSS was used for descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that GEO significantly enhances both GSCM practices and SCA, while GSCM also exerts a positive effect on SCA. Furthermore, the mediation analysis confirms that GSCM serves as a significant explanatory mechanism linking GEO with sustainable competitive outcomes. Among the tested relationships, the GEO -> GSCM path emerged as the strongest, highlighting the strategic importance of entrepreneurial environmental orientation in shaping sustainable supply chain practices. This study contributes to the NRBV literature by empirically explaining how internal green entrepreneurial capabilities are transformed into sustainable competitive advantage through supply chain management processes in an emerging economy context. The findings also provide practical implications for textile firms seeking to strengthen competitiveness, improve environmental performance, and support sustainable industrial development through integrated green entrepreneurial and supply chain strategies.