Solid waste management in the fast-food restaurant industry: The antecedent role of institutional isomorphism

Abstract The study conceptually suggested isomorphic pressures as the drivers of sustainable food waste disposal management, and operational performance as an attendant outcome. 400 fast-food restaurant businesses in the metropolitan city of Harare were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire whose items were distilled from the extant literature. Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) on an Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS). The results indicated that the three isomorphic pressures (cohesive, mimetic, and normative) have statistically significant influence on the adoption of sustainable food waste disposal management practices and in turn the same practices lead to profitable operations. The study therefore concluded that the three variants of isomorphic pressure and profitability act as the push and pull strategies for the adoption of sustainable food waste disposal management practices respectively. In terms of policy implications, the study recommended the reinvigoration of various isomorphic pressures related to the food waste disposal management.