Problematising the concept of 'sustainability' in the supply chain through systematic literature review

The authors contend that there are two broad 'senses‘ in which 'sustainability‘ is currently understood in supply chain research and practice – responsibility (in terms of environmental and social practices) and continuity (in the face of twenty-first century uncertainty and disruption). Systematic review is used to illustrate the predominance of the responsibility 'sense‘ of sustainability in academic literature labelled 'sustainable supply chain.‘ The authors propose that parallel research into strategies for supply chain continuity (e.g. agility and resilience) be brought within the fold of the 'sustainable supply chain‘ research label for the sake of clarity of the 'sustainability‘ concept and the development of a truly sustainable supply chain, because a responsible supply chain might not necessarily be a resilient supply chain in the twenty-first century global environment.