Evaluating the impact of global sourcing on the triple bottom line sustainability of FMCG manufacturers in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of global sourcing strategies on the Triple Bottom Line sustainability of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturing firms in Harare, Zimbabwe. A descriptive research design was adopted, and data were gathered from a validated sample size of 145 manufacturing firms using questionnaires and key-informant interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed through Ordinary Least Squares linear regression modeling to evaluate the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. The major findings revealed that global sourcing strategies exert a strong, positive, and statistically significant impact on economic sustainability by driving unit-cost efficiencies and securing critical raw inputs. However, the regression models also confirmed that intensive global sourcing has a significant positive relationship with negative environmental impacts, heavily degrading environmental sustainability through high transport emissions along landlocked road corridors and an influx of non-biodegradable packaging waste. Furthermore, the strategy demonstrated a positive but modest relationship with social sustainability, where benefits from technical skills transfer are offset by the hollowing out of domestic upstream supply networks and reduced local employment. The study concludes that while global sourcing is an operational necessity that supports commercial survival, it forces a severe operational trade-off across the environmental and social pillars of the Triple Bottom Line. The primary recommendations are that manufacturing managers transition to hybrid sourcing models by implementing local outgrower schemes to reduce currency risk, and adopt multi-modal rail logistics to mitigate carbon footprints. Additionally, industrial policymakers should introduce targeted import substitution incentives to rebuild local supplier capacity and enforce extended producer responsibility regulations to manage manufacturing waste.