Stakeholder pressure in sustainable supply chain management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize and analyze what is known regarding the ways in which stakeholder pressure may influence supply chain sustainability. The authors extend this understanding to develop a number of research questions and propositions for future investigation on this topic. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a systematic review process to study the empirical evidence pertaining to how a stakeholder perspective helps to understand sustainability in the supply chain management domain. Findings – The review has three main findings: stakeholder pressure on sustainability in supply chain management may result in sustainability awareness, adoption of sustainability goals, and/or implementation of sustainability practices; different types of stakeholders have dissimilar influence in the sustainable supply chain decision areas; different stakeholders appears to be more or less influential depending on whether the sustainability issue is environmental or social. Originality/value – This synthesis contributes to the literature by developing insight into the processes by which stakeholder pressure influences SSCM decisions.