Maturity Models in Supply Chain Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

Elisabete Correia, Helena Carvalho, Susana G. Azevedo and Kannan Govindan
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Elisabete Correia: ISCAC—Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Coimbra 3040-316, Portugal
Helena Carvalho: UNIDEMI, Faculty of Science and Technology, FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Susana G. Azevedo: CEFAGE-UBI, UNIDEMI, Department of Business and Economics, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
Kannan Govindan: Center for Engineering Operations Management, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M-5230, Denmark

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: A systematic literature review of supply chain maturity models with sustainability concerns is presented. The objective is to give insights into methodological issues related to maturity models, namely the research objectives; the research methods used to develop, validate and test them; the scope; and the main characteristics associated with their design. The literature review was performed based on journal articles and conference papers from 2000 to 2015 using the SCOPUS, Emerald Insight, EBSCO and Web of Science databases. Most of the analysed papers have as main objective the development of maturity models and their validation. The case study is the methodology that is most widely used by researchers to develop and validate maturity models. From the sustainability perspective, the scope of the analysed maturity models is the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and environmental dimension, focusing on a specific process (eco-design and new product development) and without a broad SC perspective. The dominant characteristics associated with the design of the maturity models are the maturity grids and a continuous representation. In addition, results do not allow identifying a trend for a specific number of maturity levels. The comprehensive review, analysis, and synthesis of the maturity model literature represent an important contribution to the organization of this research area, making possible to clarify some confusion that exists about concepts, approaches and components of maturity models in sustainability. Various aspects associated with the maturity models (i.e., research objectives, research methods, scope and characteristics of the design of models) are explored to contribute to the evolution and significance of this multidimensional area.

Keywords: maturity models; sustainability; supply chain; 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: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (31)

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