Exploring Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Literature Review and Future Research Implications

The impact of globalization has been extended to manufacturing sector across the world steering the competition to boost profitability of business enterprises. Most businesses had pursued profit maximization at the expense of the environment through production processes and product life-cycle terminations. Since suppliers of goods and services are under more pressure to adopt better sustainability practices, numerous beneficial environmental practices have been implemented as a result of the increased awareness. One of the various concepts of sustainability is sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), which includes all aspects of goods and services from their initial use as raw materials to their eventual disposal. A significant amount of research is being done to figure out how government regulations and organisational initiatives may be set up to make it easier to integrate sustainability into supply chain management. This study reviews the current status of scholarly research in SSCM and discusses potential directions and areas for future research. In order to provide an overview of body of literature, the authors of this work took into account four more general viewpoints: (i) Environment perspectives; (ii) Social perspectives; (iii) Economic perspectives; and (iv) Governance perspectives. Finally, potential for further study directions are highlighted, along with gaps in the literature. This article provides industry practitioners and managers with insights into decision-making about SSCM practices.