Integrating environmental management into supply chains: a systematic literature review and theoretical framework

Purpose: the need to integrate environmental management into supply chains has been recognized recently. Yet, there is a lack of theoretical grounding and a conceptual framework guiding such efforts to leverage resources and capabilities across supply chain partners. Grounded on stakeholder and resource orchestration theories, this paper maps the emerging practices, develops a theoretical framework, and proposes future research for understanding an emerging best-practice called ‘green supply chain integration’ (GSCI). Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review of 142 academic articles is conducted to ensure the process of framework development is auditable and repeatable. The article selection criteria are aligned with the review question ensuring that related theories and practices are identified and evaluated. Findings: The paper illustrates how stakeholder and resource orchestration theories can be used to explain an integrative approach of environmental management in supply chains. The paper identifies four GSCI practices: internal, supplier, customer, and community stakeholder GSCI. A theoretical framework and proposition also provide new research directions. Research limitations/implications: The results of this paper are drawn from an extensive review of the existing literature and novel practices that have not been revealed and could have been missed. The emerging practices and theoretical framework can be used for further empirical investigation. Originality/value: This paper integrates theoretical concepts and empirical findings from the disparate literature and identifies four emerging practices of environmental management by developing a theoretical framework and proposition for future research.