A Unified Framework for Supply Chain Sustainability Measurement in Developing Economies: Theory Development and Validation in the Nigerian Context

This dissertation develops and validates a unified framework for supply chain sustainability measurement specifically designed for developing economy contexts, with comprehensive empirical validation conducted across the Nigerian manufacturing, agricultural, and service sectors. Existing supply chain sustainability measurement frameworks, including the Global Reporting Initiative standards, the Supply Chain Operations Reference model, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal metrics, were developed primarily in advanced economy contexts and require significant adaptation to capture the institutional, infrastructural, and socioeconomic realities of developing economies. Drawing on stakeholder theory, institutional theory, and the sustainability balanced scorecard literature, the dissertation constructs an original three-pillar Developing Economy Supply Chain Sustainability Framework (DESCSF) that integrates economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental stewardship dimensions with contextual modifiers reflecting developing country supply chain realities including informality, infrastructure gaps, and governance constraints. Using a multi-stage development methodology combining qualitative expert panel consensus (Delphi method), quantitative scale development and validation with 350 respondents across 50 Nigerian organisations, and confirmatory factor analysis with structural validity testing, the full DESCSF is empirically validated. The dissertation introduces four original constructs including contextual sustainability buffering, informality-adjusted economic efficiency, governance-conditioned environmental compliance, and social equity supply chain integration, each with validated multi-item scales. The unified framework demonstrates superior contextual validity over adapted international frameworks in Nigerian supply chain settings. Original contributions to supply chain sustainability theory, measurement methodology, and developing economy logistics scholarship are documented. Keywords: supply chain sustainability, measurement framework, developing economies, Nigeria, theory validation.