Towards a sustainable development assessment framework to bridge supply chain practices and technologies

Abstract

Managing sustainable practices has received increasing attention in the field of supply chain management to tackle environmental, financial and social issues in an integrated way. However, extant research still lacks a systemic framework explaining how sustainable practices can support individual companies to promote orchestration, collaboration, and coordination in the entire supply chain. This paper aims to provide a systemic framework including a taxonomy of sustainable development practices supporting individual firms in managing supply chain relationships. The proposed framework seeks to connect the supply chain practices and the technological systems that support them. Specifically, the findings highlight the relationship between technology capabilities and supply chain practices, focusing on the benefits their interaction brings to the complex dyadic relationships of supply networks. Finally, this study outlines promising future research directions for scholars and practitioners operating in the field of sustainable supply chain design and supply chain relationship management.