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This study aims to investigate the under-researched role of the sub-supplier’s direct environment in achieving compliance with multi-tier sustainable supply chain management (MT-SSCM) objectives.

Building on conceptual research, this study aims to generalize the characteristics of multi-tier supply chains in light of institutional theory and supply chain (SC) uncertainty to enhance the understanding of their complex interrelationship.

A three-dimensional framework is built around the supply and demand uncertainty as well as the pressures for sustainability exerted by the supplier’s direct environment to propose ideal constellations for the application of MT-SSCM. Moreover, research directions and implications for the alteration of suboptimal constellations are developed.

Incorporating the supplier’s environment in the choice of MT-SSCM practices couples the sustainability priorities of the focal firm and the supplier. This enables a more complete picture of the sustainability objectives and sustainable development aims of the SC partners.

On the basis of institutional theory, the study extends current MT-SSCM concepts by including the supplier’s direct environment in the choice of ideal management practices in a particular SC setup. It provides a definition of a multi-tier SC as an institutional field and a number of research implications regarding MT-SSCM as well as generic SSCM. Moreover, the proposed framework helps SC managers to understand the complex interplay of the SC partners’ sustainability aims and provides implications for choosing the most suitable MT-SSCM practices.

This paper aims to examine how companies enact traceability in their global supply chains (SCs) to achieve sustainability goals and how this so-called traceability for sustainability (TfS) can contribute to (sustainable) supply chain management ([S]SCM). For this, the paper focuses on the paramount example of the apparel industry.

This study presents an integrative and systematic literature review of 89 peer-reviewed journal articles on the confluence of traceability and sustainability in global apparel SCs. It comprises content analysis and abductive category-building based on previous literature.

A conceptual framework emerges to describe TfS as an evolving cycle, comprising three dimensions: governance, collaboration and tracking and tracing. Resources and capabilities literature set the foundations for conceiving TfS as a distinctive meta-capability construct. Hence, besides being associated to increased performance, risk management and SC process transformation, TfS ultimately blurs boundaries and integrates non-traditional SC actors into the same ecosystem with important implications for sustainability and (S)SCM. This study refers to the industrial upgrading potential of global SCs to explain how leveraging enabling technologies for TfS may help to improve the triple-bottom-line (TBL) performance of the actors in the broad ecosystem while reducing the risks associated to those technologies. Thus, TfS can contribute to (S)SCM and to TBL sustainability within and beyond SC boundaries.

This study conceptually frames (S)SCM exploring TfS as a meta-capability and contributes to the underexplored question of how to achieve sustainability in global SCs.

Literature review articles have become a frequently applied research approach in operations and supply chain management (SCM). The purpose of this paper aims to elaborate on four approaches for developing or employing theory in systematic literature reviews (SLRs).

The paper uses conceptual arguments and illustrates them by pointing to recent examples. In SLRs, the material collection is usually based on keywords and searching databases, which is comparatively well documented. Data analysis, however, often falls short in documentation and, consequently, is neither well explained nor replicable. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the elaboration of the data analysis and sense-making stage in the research process of SLRs.

The paper presents four different approaches, which are characterized as theory (1) building, (2) modification, (3) refinement and (4) extension, based on whether new concepts are formed or extant concepts within SCM or other fields of management theory are adopted.

The limitation of this research is that literature reviews could be conducted and presented in many ways. Since the focus of this research is on systematic literature reviews, only a limited number of approaches can be discussed and presented here.

The paper contributes to explaining the process and expected outcomes of a literature review and, therefore, aids in further developing the related methodological approaches. This is relevant as literature review publications now often replace conceptual or theoretical pieces but still have to deliver concerning demands of theory building.

While the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on logistics and supply chain management (SCM) is recently much discussed, this is hardly linked to emerging economies and base of the pyramid (BoP) settings. The paper aims as offering a framework linking different conceptual elements to each other for explaining how ICT enables sustainable value creation in emerging economy supply chains (SCs).

The paper builds on conceptual reasoning linking constructs from the different fields to each other.

Using conceptual reasoning linking constructs, six elements are identified: (1) SC flows, (2) BoP challenges and (3) ICT services as starting points, and environmental conditions driving sustainable value creation. The application of ICT within BoP SC operations drives the process of sustainable value creation by enabling new ways of (4) electronic business (e-business) transactions and (5) SSCM behaviors. This leads to (6) sustainable value for businesses using ICT applications and their respective stakeholders.

Empirical testing by collecting field data in emerging economy contexts would be demanded to address the limitation of building on conceptual reasonings.

The framework provides various SC-related measures driving e-business value creation for managers of businesses, charity organizations and policymakers in emerging communities.

Understanding the use of smartphones and other mobile devices for businesses and their supply chains in emerging markets would have wide ranging social implication addressed in the sustainable value creation of the framework offered.

The conceptual framework brings different elements together offering insights into ICT applications in BoP SCs. Linking SCM, ICT and BoP to each other is a novel contribution having wider implications for the future development of emerging economies.

By January 1, 2023, the German supply chain due diligence act (SCDDA) has become effective. This represents a strong governmental intervention into global operations and supply chain management (SCM). Hence, its frame conditions and implications are worth being studied.

Expert interviews with managers reveal factors of risks and opportunities as well as performance impacts and implementation issues.

A conceptual framework and research avenues are outlined.

Pathways for SCM research and interdisciplinary studies are suggested.

Practitioners may gain a deeper understanding of relevant factors for managing supply chains (SCs) that are exposed to the new act.

Understanding implications of the act may help improve social SC sustainability.

This study offers an initial empirical exploration and a first conceptualization of the expected consequences of the German SCDDA.

This paper aims to conduct a review of the recent literature on inter-firm relationship quality (RQ) in the supply chain (SC) settings.

100 English-language scientific publications on inter-firm RQ, published from 2006 to 2015 were selected and analyzed by using a content analysis approach.

The results of the frequency analysis map the antecedents, dimensions and consequences – particularly the performance and behavioral intentions of collaborating partners – of buyer–seller RQ presented in the current literature. The contingency analysis offers insights into the use of relevant constructs of inter-firm RQ in SCs in the individual papers. A range of research gaps is uncovered.

The category building for the content analysis was based on an RQ framework that focuses on the mediator structure and neglects the effects of moderators.

The developed framework of inter-firm RQ in SCs provides managers with a guide to the relevant influencing factors, evaluation indicators and consequences of the quality of their relationships with SC partners.

This paper provides the first literature review at the intersection of RQ and SC. The research framework developed specifies the use of the previous RQ framework in the business-to-business and SC context. A critique of the existing studies is discussed and the agenda for future research are suggested.

Base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) markets are frequently characterized by institutional voids. However, it remains unclear how institutional voids impact corporate and supply chain risk and performance. This intersection will be analyzed in this paper.

This paper presents a systematic literature review of 94 BoP papers published between 2004 and 2019 in peer-reviewed, English-language journals available on Scopus. Drawing upon established frameworks for examining institutional voids, supply chain risks and BoP performance, frequency, and contingency analyses are conducted. Contingencies are established to provide insights into the associations between different constructs from the selected frameworks.

Supply chain risks are pervasive in the BoP discourse, especially when BoP markets are characterized by institutional voids. The frequency analysis of the constructs suggests that the key supply chain risks discussed in the BoP literature include social risk, credit risk, product market and operating uncertainties, knowledge and skill biases and decision-maker risks due to bounded rationality. The contingency analysis suggests that institutional voids are associated with supply chain risks that affect performance.

A theoretical framework aligning three research streams in the context of BoP calls for future studies to test the causality of highlighted constructs that are significantly associated. The analysis is confined to the constructs that are taken into account based on specific conceptual frameworks.

The study provides practitioners with a framework to manage supply chain risks in BoP-related firms to enhance firm performance. Managers can use key dimensions of supply chain risk, such as the product market, the input market and operating uncertainties, to evaluate performance in the BoP context.

Specifically, this research has strengthened the inquiry of supply chain risks in the presence of institutional voids that may have an impact on firm performance

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged supply chains (SCs) around the globe unprecedentedly. This study aims to gain insights on the impacts of the pandemic on SCs and their management under consideration of different regional contexts on a global scale.

A Delphi study collects the expertise of global SC academics on the SC vulnerabilities and the measures for responding to disruptions, improving resilience, and restoring operations. Data from three polls are systematically analyzed by content, frequency, and cluster analysis.

The study identifies and ranks ten major issues related to SC vulnerabilities and management strategies for specific SC processes and geographical regions. Detected differences among the considered geographical regions point towards particular challenges and call for specific measures to integrate regional contingencies into SC management. In a regional comparison, China and Iran as well as Africa clearly stand out, but also Europe/North America, India/Pakistan, and Brazil show geographical particularities.

The responses are collected against the COVID-19 pandemic, while the findings show differences among the regions thereby arguing for taking regional contingencies into account in managing SCs.

SC resilience is a core aim, which was emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings provide insights and challenges that managers would have to meet in the different regions covered.

This paper contributes to existing knowledge on SC risks and SC resilience in context to extreme situations. Given that events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, will become more frequent in the future due to climate change and geopolitical tensions, insights into how to manage SCs under extreme conditions and into regional differences are crucial.

The food industry and its distribution solutions often lie at the center of sustainability-related arguments. However, little is known about the dynamic role of business capabilities for sustainable transformations in the context of local food distribution. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities drive sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) business practices in short food supply chains (SFSCs) through the professionalization and expansion of online distribution channels.

The present study analyzes sustainability-related practices at six online distribution channels selling local food products in Germany and Austria. By applying a cross-case study and theory-elaboration approach, the study analyzes empirical data derived from these businesses and provides insights into how dynamic capabilities can facilitate SSCM practices within SFSCs. Hereby, potential pathways for a sustainable transformation in this industry context are deduced through abductive reasoning.

The empirical findings provide evidence that supply chain orientation, coordination, innovation practices and strategies are highly relevant for SFSCs seeking to reach upscaling effects in regional markets. However, because SFSCs may not be able to reach mass markets without weakening their own sustainability performance, the present study recommends addressing sustainability inefficiencies in the region and developing further expansion potentials through replication in other regions. In this approach, related and necessary SSCM dynamic capabilities were identified and validated based on the empirical findings.

Although SFSCs include sustainability aspects at their core – particularly regarding resource usage, environmental friendliness and social-standard assurance – missing distribution-related capabilities limit growth such that these businesses often remain in a niche. To address this issue, the study builds on dynamic capabilities theory by identifying and describing core SSCM practices and capabilities; moreover, this study is among the first to elaborate empirically on the use of dynamic capabilities theory in this specific industry context.

The literature on supplier development (SD) is mostly fragmented, and very little research offers insights on the interrelations of the critical elements of SD. This research aims to evaluate the significance of SD and reconceptualise it by identifying and linking the key constructs and items of SD.

A structured literature review of SD literature was performed, and it was followed by conducting a contingency analysis of defined constructs and the items of SD. Applying a literature review and contingency analysis allows assessing the degree to which core constructs and their operational items are addressed in the SD literature.

Our findings show that a high degree of interrelations exists among enablers, relationships and supplier development strategies (SDS), of which, only indirect SDS drives the performance outcomes. However, interrelations between the individual items of the main categories of SD remain unexplored.

The proposed revised framework reveals significant research gaps in SD and calls for a thorough examination of the topic.

The key contribution of the paper is reconceptualising SD and contributing to the theoretical development of SD.