This paper highlights the role of green supply management in the development of a sustainable supply chain. It examines if supply risks, supplier relationship management capability, and end‐customer orientation of supply management function are connected to the green supply management practices of a firm. These connections are studied using a survey data of 165 firms collected in Finland. The results of regression analysis show that the protection of a firm's reputation is highly related to the level of green supply management; consumer awareness of green requirements puts strong pressure on a firm's supply management to meet the end‐customers' expectations, and the high the level of supplier relationship management capability in firms increases the adoption of green supply management. Furthermore, it finds that larger firms exploit green supply management practices more than the smaller ones, and green purchasing activities are not applied in high‐volume‐buying Finnish companies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment