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The literature on public procurement (PP) has increased significantly in recent years, and, to date, several reviews have been conducted to study this relevant subject. Nevertheless, a bibliometric analysis of the PP knowledge domain is still missing. To fill this knowledge gap, a bibliometric review is carried out to investigate the current state of PP research.

A total of 640 journal articles are selected from the Scopus database for the final analysis. The performance indicators of the literature are identified and explained through bibliometric analysis. Furthermore, the conceptual and intellectual structures are studied through a keyword co-occurrence network and bibliographic coupling.

The results of the review indicate that PP research has increased significantly in recent years. The top ten most productive journals, countries, authors and academic institutions are identified. The findings from the keyword co-occurrence network reveal six main research themes including innovation, corruption and green public procurement (GPP). By applying bibliographic coupling, the focus of PP research revolves around seven thematic areas: GPP, corruption, the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in PP, electronic PP, innovation, labour standards and service acquisition. The research potential of each thematic area is evaluated using a model based on maturity and recent attention (RA).

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to successfully organise, synthesise and quantitatively analyse the development of the PP domain amongst a large number of publications on a large time scale.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure and dynamics of academic articles relating to public procurement (PP) in the period 1984–2022 (up to May). The researchers also intend to analyse how this knowledge domain has grown since 1984.

A bibliometric analysis was carried out to examine the existing state of PP research. Based on 640 journal articles indexed in the Scopus database and written by 1,247 authors over nearly four decades, a bibliometric analysis was conducted to reveal the intellectual structure of academic works pertaining to PP.

Findings reveal that PP research from Scopus has significantly increased in the past decade. Major journals publishing PP research are International Journal of Procurement Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management and Public Money and Management. Results also indicate that authors’ cooperation network is fragmented, showing limited collaboration among PP researchers. In addition, results suggest that the institutional collaboration network in PP research mirrors what is commonly referred to as the North–South divide, signifying insufficient research collaboration between developed and developing countries’ institutions. According to the co-occurrence keyword network and topic modelling, PP revolves around five main themes, including innovation, corruption, sustainable and green PP, PP contracts and small and medium enterprises. Based on these results, several directions for future research are suggested.

This paper provides an increased understanding of the entire PP field and the potential research directions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first-ever application of bibliometric techniques and topic modelling to examine the development of PP research since 1984 based on scholarly publications extracted from the Scopus database.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of extant literature on supplier selection by identifying drivers of integration of Environmental Sustainability (ES) into supplier selection, with the aim of classifying them under broad categories for the development of a framework showing the interrelationships among them.

A search was ran for selected keyword themes using three powerful and rigorous search engines: Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct, to identify relevant articles from 12 peer-reviewed journals. These were desk reviewed through manual filtering to select drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection.

Thirty-one drivers identified from 41 relevant articles as propelling integration of ES into supplier selection were then classified into five categories: strong policy direction, high level of commitment, desire for high reputation, robust technology and availability of green products. This yielded a framework showing the interconnectedness among the drivers.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a classification of drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection. The interconnectedness brought to the fore a more subtle appreciation of the drivers of green integration, which could help expand current knowledge outside the narrow scope of isolated drivers. This study provides detailed analyses of drivers of green integration into supplier selection.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of drivers of integrating green into supplier selection, which is lacking in the body of knowledge on ES.

Public procurement is a major driving force that can be used to advance societal goals such as sustainability. The lack of strategic management and top-level commitment have been found to be major hindrances to the promotion of sustainable public procurement (SPP). This study aims to examine the functioning of a successful Finnish SPP development programme, the KEINO Academy (2019–2020), that tackled these challenges in a holistic way.

The article is mainly based on qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 municipal representatives.

The KEINO Academy advanced SPP management through the following functions: legitimising SPP development work, structuring SPP development work, offering expert support and facilitating peer support. The functions were mainly able to meet the key challenges experienced by the participating municipalities. However, some challenges cannot be directly solved by an intermediary such as the KEINO Academy. These challenges include, for example, a lack of resources.

On the basis of the study, SPP development programmes should: build a holistic working model; respect the versatility of the participating organisations; involve all the key people in the organisations, including the directors; and sustain change.

The main theoretical contribution is the combination of two streams of literature, those of SPP management and intermediary functions. Further, the article makes an empirical contribution by studying the KEINO Academy as a pioneering SPP development case.

Social return on investment (SROI) is a systematic way of incorporating social values of different stakeholders into public sector decision-making on sustainability. This study aims to identify salient factors that influence SROI implementation.

The interactions of four Dutch municipalities and their social enterprises were examined, by analyzing relevant documents and interviewing key actors.

External forces appear to have little influence on SROI implementation. Management systems, legal restrictions in relation to privacy and the administrative burden appear to hinder SROI implementation. Findings suggest that trust among the parties involved and their representatives is a major driver for SROI development. SROI is not measured well enough, which complicates analyzing and reporting its development.

Achieving collaboration through trust is a characteristic of stewardship theory, and therefore useful for studying social sustainability. Combining agency and stewardship theory provides useful insights concerning the application of control mechanisms versus empowerment.

Barriers can be overcome by informing and engaging suppliers in SROI initiatives. Furthermore, findings of this study suggest that it is easier for municipalities to incorporate SROI when social firm activities are insourced. An independent procurement function stimulates SROI development. Engaged professionals can make the difference in SROI policy implementation, more so than written policies.

SROI enables social sustainability. SROI can be used by public agencies to provide meaningful activities for the long-term unemployed and underprivileged adolescents.

The study is the first empirical work that relates public procurement to SROI implementation and its effect on suppliers. The findings provide valuable insights into government influence on social enterprises.

This study aims to identify different consumer segments to address the strategies that can be adopted by companies and policymakers to increase the consumption of safer foods and reduce the negative externalities caused by pesticides. More than 3,000 consumers were involved in the survey, of which more than 1,000 completed in all parts.

The complexity of the topic required a multidimensional approach. Therefore, the authors modelled the decision support system by proposing a decision rule-based approach to analyse consumers' food purchasing choices. More precisely, the authors referred to the dominance-based rough set approach (DRSA).

Based on the DRSA results, three consumer segments were identified: green consumers, integrated pest management (IPM)-informed and active consumers, and potential low-pesticide consumers for which different policy implications have been highlighted.

Despite the high number of survey respondents, further research should seek to obtain data from a more balanced sample. Furthermore, different methods of analysis could be applied and the results compared.

Identification and promotion of managerial and public policies to increase the consumption of low pesticide food.

The main social implications can be summarised in the greater knowledge and awareness of the environmental aspects related to food, recognition of the intrinsic quality and/or functionality of food.

The authors contribute to the literature in two ways. First, the authors refer to the DRSA, an innovative approach in the context of consumer analysis. Second, based on the decision rules, the authors identify three consumer segments to which specific tools can be addressed.

The main purpose of the present study was to improve and develop previously proposed models for Iran telecommunication networks. It should be noted that the six-dimensional (6D) sustainability model used in this study will be a useful and comprehensive model for industries. Since, the new dimension of IT along with the five well-known economic, social, environmental, technical and institutional aspects of organizations is considered to have great impacts on supply chain sustainability; the proposed framework can be practical.

According to the related literature review, there are two research streams in supply chain management. The first stream is exploratory research, seeking out conceptual discussions in this area. The second one is associated with mathematical models and techniques, aiming to set decision-making rules in this regard (Agrell et al., 2004). In this study, evaluation was performed using the FMEA method as an analytical technique based on the principle of pre-occurrence prevention to identify potential failure factors in sensitive systems (Mohammadfam and Kianfari, 2008).

After identifying the risks and causes of the incidence and effects and consequences of risks, preventive and risk control measures and advisory strategies were presented. Customers with 45.76% share in critical risks are threatening to maintain supply chain in these companies. During this study, it was found that 33.9% of the main source of supply chain critical risks was customers, constituting 45.76% of such risks, accompanied by organization, having a 38.88% share of critical risk generation. The study findings also revealed that 33.9% of critical risks were mainly (equally) related to economic and technical aspects of supply chain sustainability in telecommunication networks. Moreover, as a newly-introduced sixth dimension, IT represented 10.17% of critical risks threatening supply chain sustainability in such networks. Critical risks are mainly related to the economic and technical aspects (equally) with the sustainability of the telecommunication networks supply chain. Also, as a new finding and the sixth dimension, 10.17% of the critical risks that threaten the sustainability of the telecommunication networks supply chain have the information technology dimension.

The internet and fixed and mobile data services are provided by several private companies in Iran, which are relatively similar in terms of their supply chains. In order to manage the sustainability of Iran's telecommunication supply chain, telecommunication networks affiliated to Iran Telecommunication Company (ITC), operating in the field of data and internet services and fixed telephone were selected in 31 provinces. The intended networks were also providing an important part of the country's needs including Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran, a subsidiary of Iran's telecommunication networks, as one of the top companies in this industry. Accordingly, all the networks studied in this study needed to be identified with regard to communication sustainability risks, since they provide management solutions to each other by segregating risks. In this study, 68 managers and 72 experts participated in different work teams of telecommunication networks.