Drivers of Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Identification and Classification

Muhammad Amad Saeed and Wolfgang Kersten
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Muhammad Amad Saeed: Institute of Business Logistics and General Management, Hamburg University of Technology, Am Schwarzenberg-Campus 4, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
Wolfgang Kersten: Institute of Business Logistics and General Management, Hamburg University of Technology, Am Schwarzenberg-Campus 4, 21073 Hamburg, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: With the increase in awareness of environmental and social issues associated with the development and the use of products, stakeholders—especially consumers—are showing more concern regarding these issues. To address new developments and changing trends, organizations are now compelled to identify and implement innovative and sustainable solutions, not only within their organizations’ boundaries, but also across the whole supply chain network. The primary goal of this paper was to identify and analyze drivers of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) that influence or encourage organizations to undertake sustainability initiatives and implement sustainable solutions throughout their supply chains. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted and 1559 drivers of SSCM were identified from 217 journal articles. Precise interpretation, clear definitions, restructuring, and classification into external and internal driver categories produced a list of 40 unique drivers of SSCM. The results revealed that regulatory and market pressures, with reference to the number of citations, are the most prevailing drivers of SSCM for the implementation of sustainability practices. Classification of the drivers of SSCM into primary and secondary driver categories may assist practitioners and decision makers in prioritizing sustainability-related initiatives and adopting sustainability practices across the whole supply chain network.

Keywords: drivers of sustainable supply chain management; sustainable supply chain management; systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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