Green supply chain management – practices and trends in developing countries

Abstract

Purpose - The emergent issue of green supply chain management (GSCM) has been rapidly evolving, matched by the growth in the number of academic publications in this field. GSCM that incorporates environmental thinking into the supply chain management activities has gained popularity across the world, but mainly in the developed countries though the trend is noticeable in developing countries as well. The purpose of this research is to explore the existing studies in the field of GSCM in developing countries via a comprehensive systematic literature review (SLR) and compare the findings to those of the developed countries. Thus, this research aims to present the GSCM research from a comprehensive point of view and analyse the trend of growth in the last two and a half decades using the SLR method. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study uses the SLR approach to explore the present status of GSCM research in developing countries. Journal articles pertaining to GSCM in developed countries has also been studied for the purpose of comparing the results with the developing countries. For this review, Scopus and web of science database have been searched for papers published between 1990 and 2018 using the keywords ‘green supply chain management’ and ‘GSCM’. Articles identified were further reviewed and categorized under different attributes namely year, journal, geographical regions, research design, research methodology, and finally research issues. The classifications enabled the identification of crucial gaps in the literature for further research. Expected Outcomes – One of the main findings is that the research in GSCM has been dominated by quantitative study with mathematical modeling and surveys as the most commonly used methods to study GSCM issues. The full chapter will reveal the present status of GSCM research in developing countries in comparison with that in the developed countries. Thus, the results should improve the understanding of GSCM research in both developed and developing countries and highlight the opportunities that still need further investigation. Originality/Value - This study is original. The SLR method graphically illustrates the evolution of publications in developing countries over last quarter of a century in comparison to that with those in developed countries. This research has identified the gaps and directions that should be useful to guide researchers and practitioners in this area.