Power Beyond Organizational Boundaries: Sustainable Supply Chain Management and External Evaluation Consistency

ABSTRACT

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is an important vertical governance mechanism transcending organizational boundaries. Previous studies have primarily emphasized its contribution to sustainable performance, while its role as a firm‐manageable dimension relevant to external evaluation consistency remains underexplored. Using 10,656 firm‐year observations from Chinese A‐share listed firms during 2009–2023, this study constructs a text‐based multidimensional co‐occurrence measure of SSCM and examines its association with rating divergence. Results show that stronger SSCM is associated with lower ESG rating divergence, with evidence consistent with information quality and vertical relationship governance channels. The association is stronger for internal‐process and customer‐related SSCM. Divergence is associated with lower risk‐taking propensity and higher supply‐chain cost sharing, while these adverse relationships are weaker at higher SSCM levels. This study extends research by highlighting SSCM as a firm‐manageable dimension associated with greater evaluation consistency. It also highlights SSCM's potential to limit the adverse consequences of persistent rating disagreement.