This study aims to determine why a firm would ever engage in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) during a turbulent era. Combining stakeholder theory, the resource-based view, and the literature on SSCM, we argue that SSCM can alleviate negative market reactions to severe external crises. Based on analyses of a sample of firms listed in China from 2019 to 2020, the results robustly display a positive relationship between SSCM and the abnormal returns surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19. The findings of this study extend the supply chain literature by constituting an important addition in external crisis times rather than only in normal times.
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