The impact of institutional pressures, top managers' posture and reverse logistics on performance-Evidence from China

Based on institutional theory, this study investigates the effects of three institutional pressures on top managers' posture towards reverse logistics implementation: government, customer, and competitor pressures. Survey data from 209 manufacturers of Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China reveal that institutional pressures have a statistically significant positive influence on top managers' posture towards reverse logistics implementation. in addition, while top managers' posture is strongly related to product recovery, it is not related to product return. We also find that product recovery has a significant positive effect on a firm's economic and environmental performance. Conversely, the results suggest that product return negatively affects a firm's economic performance and has no effect on environmental performance. We highlight the managerial implications. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.