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The incorporation of sustainable aspects in the supply chain management (SCM) has become an important topic for researchers and professionals; however, it is a field that yet lacks a systemic understanding. The objective of this article is to conduct an analysis on the international literature about the SCM sustainability topic, by employing a systematic review protocol, covering the period from 2011 to 2016. The content analysis technique was performed, following the procedures of categorical thematic analysis proposed by Bardin (1977), which considers the creation of categories a posteriori, based in the direction senses related to the content analyzed. Besides to present the main characteristics of the articles related to distribution of publications per year, most studied sectors, main methods and approaches used main countries and journals of publications, we categorize the results at the systemic approach level of the sustainable development dimensions. We found that some dimensions are prominent when compared with the others: For example: the environmental one, on the other hand, the social one is approached few times in the papers considered in our analysis. These results also indicate that this type of discussion needs to be extended to other sectors that have not yet been explored. The contribution of this paper lies on the synthetization of the state-of-the-art related to sustainable SCM in the period considered, highlighting the environmental, social and economic dimensions, in order to identify a research agenda. By identifying possible research gaps, the results of this research contribute to guide future investigations on sustainable SCM, aiding researchers and practitioners in this field.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of rural warehouses condominiums (or “condos”) as new rural configurations in the Brazilian agribusiness from the perspective of the theory of collective action. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was complemented with multiple case studies based on interviews and direct observation. Content analysis was used to interpret the secondary and primary data. Findings Rural warehouse condos can be characterized as a collective action which is a new business model in Brazilian agribusiness. This new initiative has several advantages: reduction of the warehouse deficit and other logistical bottlenecks; strategic commercialization of production; reduction of logistical costs; inclusion of smallholders in the economy and, consequently, the generation of income for smallholders and their participation in the market. Research limitations/implications The study used a qualitative approach and findings and discussion are inherently interpretative. Social implications Understanding the organization of rural warehouse condos supports the inclusion of smallholding farmers and income generation. This creates a social benefit through rural growth and economic development. Some constraints related to the lack of public policies, specific credit lines in financial institutions, the problem of non-regularized rural areas, lack of transparency and conflicts among the members can limit expansion. Originality/value Rural warehouse condos are expanding mainly in the south region of Brazil, where smallholders are concentrated. In this new configuration, they can engage in an association to obtain several benefits, such as reduced logistics costs, better access to financing and increased bargaining power with suppliers. As this research dealt with a relatively new and poorly studied topic, it contributes to the development of new studies to map innovative warehousing practices.

Several organizations aim to establish and manage cooperative and collaborative actions in order to incorporate the principles related to sustainable management in supply chains. The indicators related to the social dimension are still barely explored in academic research, since the perceived business practices are still emerging in the contemporary world and in the organizational relations. The opposite of the financial and environmental dimensions, which are already rooted in the business environment. In agrifood chains, social aspects are essential when suppliers are often impoverished farmers, and labor practices are generally painful and exploitative. This paper aims to identify, in the international literature, the state-of-the-art research related to social sustainability in agrifood supply chains. To achieve this goal, a systematic literature review covering papers published in the Science Direct, Directory of Open Access Journals and Emerald Insight databases was carried out. Results indicate that academic production is still low, despite its growth in recent years, and is limited to approaches containing indicators of social sustainability related to support communities affected by agrifood business. In addition, it evidences arrangements among members of supply chains, mostly of the cooperative type, having collaborative arrangements with more limited approaches among the analyzed works.

Background: The soybean market is representative of the world. Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of this crop and has low production costs but high logistical costs, which are influenced mainly by transport costs. Added to these characteristics, the disputed grain supply, the possibility of crop failure, and the randomness of some parameters that influence the soybean supply chain make decisions even more challenging. Methods: To mathematically model this problem, we carried out an analysis of the scientific production related to grain supply chain and the models used to address the problem, as well as a document analysis and a case study. Results: This paper proposes a new two-stage stochastic linear programming model with fixed recourse for tactical planning in the soybean supply chain from the perspective of the shipper under take or pay contracts over a one-year time horizon. The first-stage variables are the grain purchasing decisions and the volumes of rail and road transportation hired in advance. The model addresses 243 scenarios derived from four uncertainty sources: the purchase and sale prices of raw agricultural products on the spot market, the probability of crop failure, and the external demand. Conclusions: The model is successfully applied to a soybean trade firm in Brazil with expected gain of US$4,299,720 when using the stochastic model instead of the deterministic model. The stochastic model protected the firm from take or pay fines and crop failures, contracting a smaller volume of rail transport than what the company does.