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Introduction
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has emanated from the recognition of the strategic importance of purchasing and supply activities both in achieving the firm’s long-term performance, and in addressing sustainability issues within business capabilities (Burgess et al., 2006; Hall and Matos, 2010). SSCM has been growing in the last decade, as shown by the amount of literature published on the subject (see Figure 1). A number of literature reviews have been published in recent years, offering analysis of the state of research in SSCM and showing that the field is gaining maturity (e.g. Carter and Easton, 2011; Carter and Rogers, 2008; Seuring and Müller, 2008; three papers on SSCM in systematic reviews SCMIJ 17(5)).
A number of these authors have deplored the theoretical dearth characterising the field of SSCM and called for the application of a wider range of theories (Carter and Easton, 2011; Sarkis et al., 2011). SSCM authors vary in their use of theoretical perspectives to demonstrate their understanding of the field. While many papers are a-theoretical, others adopt one or several theoretical perspectives to conceptualise SSCM. It has been argued that theories represent the keystone of knowledge production (Handfield and Melnyk, 1998) and therefore attention needs to be paid to their application and development when attempting to evaluate any academic field. Hence, the primary motivation for this paper was to better understand and map the use of theories in SSCM in order to identify fruitful avenues for research to develop. This paper therefore proposes to address the following research questions:
RQ1. What are the dominant theories currently used in the field of SSCM?
RQ2. How have they influenced the conceptualisation of SSCM?
RQ3. What are the promising avenues for the future development of SSCM?
Conducting a systematic literature review constitutes a comprehensive approach to map out the theoretical perspectives as well as the theoretical practices (i.e. building, testing, absence) prevailing in the field. Theoretical mapping can also help assess and advance the level of maturity of a discipline by scoping its domain and core issues (Storey et al., 2006). Previous reviews in the field have primarily concentrated on examining the triggers of SSCM, its relation to performance and risk management as well as on dimensions of sustainability (Carter...