Purpose -The authors perform a large-scale literature review and use conceptual theory building to introduce the concept of sustainability to the field of supply chain management and demonstrate the relationships among environmental, social, and economic performance within a supply chain management context. Design/methodology/approach -Conceptual theory building is used to develop a framework and propositions representing a middle theory of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Findings -The authors introduce the concept of sustainability -the integration of environmental, social, and economic criteria that allow an organization to achieve long-term economic viability -to the logistics literature, and position sustainability within the broader rubric of SSCM. They then present a framework of SSCM and develop research propositions based on resource dependence theory, transaction cost economics, population ecology, and the resource-based view of the firm. The authors conclude by discussing managerial implications and future research directions, including the further development and testing of the framework's propositions. Originality/value -This paper provides a comprehensive review of the sustainability literature, introduces sustainability to the field of supply chain management, and expands the conceptualization of sustainability beyond the triple bottom line to consider key supporting facets which are posited to be requisites to implementing SSCM practices. The use of conceptual theory building to develop theoretically based propositions moves the concept of sustainability from a relatively a-theoretical treatment toward new theory in supply chain management.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature in the principal logistics and supply chain management journals, across a 20-year time frame. Design/methodology/approach-The authors use a systematic literature review methodology. This methodology allows for the minimization of researcher bias and the maximization of reliability and replicability. The study's empirical validity is further enhanced by demonstrating high levels of inter-coder reliability across families of codes. Findings-The field of SSCM has evolved from a perspective and investigation of standalone research in social and environmental areas; through a corporate social responsibility perspective; to the beginnings of the convergence of perspectives of sustainability as the triple bottom line and the emergence of SSCM as a theoretical framework. While the SSCM research has become more theoretically rich and methodologically rigorous, there are numerous opportunities for further advancing theory, methodology, and the managerial relevance of future inquiries. Research limitations/implications-The trends and gaps identified through our analysis allow us to develop a cogent agenda to guide future SSCM research. Practical implications-The current perspectives of SSCM hold important implications for managers, by directing limited resources toward projects which intersect environmental and/or social performance, and economic performance. Originality/value-The paper provides a systematic, rigorous, and methodologically valid review of the evolution of empirical SSCM research across a 20-year time period.

Researchers over the past several years have advocated that the role of logistics must expand to encompass social responsibility (Bowersox 1998;Poist 1989;Stock 1990). Most recently, Murphy and Poist (2002) noted that research in the area of socially responsible logistics has lagged behind that of other functional areas of the firm, despite logistics managers' beliefs that social responsibility is an important component of logistics that will increase in importance over time. Somewhat similarly, the subject of purchasing and supply management has received insufficient coverage in the past (La Londe 1988) and continues to be underrepresented vis-à-vis other logistics topics (Miyazaki, Phillips, and Phillips 1999), despite the key role that purchasing plays in a firm's overall logistics system including product design and selection, procurement of transportation and third-party logistics services, supplier selection, and the management of inventory and supplier relationships (Bowersox et al. 1992; Cavinato 1992;Gentry and Farris 1992;Lambert and Stock 1993).Purchasing managers span the boundary between the firm's internal functions and its external stakeholders, including suppliers and third parties (Cavinato 1992;Webster 1992). These managers are advantageously positioned to affect a firm's involvement in socially responsible activities. The literature in the area of purchasing and supply management has begun to investigate several issues relating to socially responsible logistics, including environmental purchasing (Carter and Carter 1998), purchasing from minority/women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) suppliers (Dollinger, Enz, and Daily 1991), labor conditions at supplier plants (Emmelhainz and Adams 1999), and ethical issues in buyer-supplier relationships (Turner, Taylor, and Hartley 1994). These issues, however, have been examined in a standalone fashion, without theoretical or empirical consideration of their relationship to a higher-order construct of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which can largely be defined as, "corporate activity and its impact on different social groups" (Sethi 1995, p. 18).

As our discipline has matured, we have begun to develop theories of supply chain management. However, we submit that a major omission of theory development in the supply chain management discipline is that we have failed to develop a theory of what we are managing -a theory of the supply chain. Using a conceptual theory building approach we introduce foundational premises about the structure and boundary of the supply chain, which can serve as the basis for much needed, additional development of the theory of the supply chain.