Exploring the Framework Development Status for Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Synthesis and Future Research Directions

Abstract The need to integrate environmental and social aspects into the supply chain has created a debate amongst academicians and researchers on two topics: sustainability and the supply chain. A large number of journals and special volumes are publishing research that carries out a case study or survey, develops a mathematical model or builds a conceptual model/framework on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). However, classified analysis of articles that develop a framework on SSCM has not been carried out by any researcher. The study thus aims to review SSCM framework articles to identify the major contributions and gaps. A total of 92 framework articles on SSCM from the sample of 349 over a period of 19 years (1998–2016) are structurally analyzed to meet the objectives. The selected literature is categorized by novel or adapted framework, source of framework, framework verification, method used for framework verification and identifying the constructs/elements that build the structural framework. Analyzing the literature sample using these categories reveals that framework development in the context of SSCM is still an area with ample future opportunities. The findings of the study are especially interesting for academicians and practitioners to investigate the critical gaps in the field of sustainable supply chain management frameworks (SSCMFs). Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment