Environmental Purchasing: Benchmarking Our German Counterparts

Environmental purchasing consists of purchasing's involvement in activities that include reduction, reuse, and recycling of materials. Despite the valuable role that the purchasing function can play in an organization's environmental activities, research is only now beginning to emerge in this area. The authors present a reliable and valid scale used to measure environmental purchasing, examine the company‐specific factors that impact these activities, and compare the actions of U.S. purchasing managers to those of their German counterparts. Directions for much needed future research are then proposed.