ABSTRACT This study provides an exploratory, descriptive analysis of how knowledge management (KM) research engages with responsible sustainability from a strategic perspective. Using bibliometric science mapping, we analyse 97 Web of Science publications to identify dominant thematic patterns, relative emphases and conceptual blind spots shaping the field. The findings reveal a persistent strategic coupling between the economic and environmental sustainability dimensions, while the social dimension remains peripheral and weakly consolidated. Knowledge flows are predominantly framed around external stakeholders, whereas internal governance mechanisms and financial stakeholders receive limited attention. Technology‐oriented themes are largely approached in an actor‐agnostic manner, with limited explicit integration of ethical and accountability considerations. By clarifying the cognitive structure of KM‐oriented sustainability research, this study highlights structural imbalances in sustainability dimensions and stakeholder representation that constrain the strategic integration of responsible sustainability within KM scholarship. The analysis informs grounded implications for managerial practice and outlines avenues for future research.
Jaime J. González‐Masip (Thu,) studied this question.