A systematic literature review of sustainable purchasing and supply research: Theoretical perspectives and opportunities for IMP-based research
Résumé
This paper evaluates and compares the theoretical lenses that underpin sustainable purchasing and supply
management research. In particular, our interest is on evaluating the extent to which the IMP Interaction Approach
is used to underpin or influence the focus of existing research and exploring the opportunities for further
research into sustainable purchasing and supply guided by an IMP perspective. The methodology employed is a
systematic literature review (Tranfield et al., 2003). A systematic search process is used to identify 1899 papers
that are gradually reduced through a filtering process to 276 papers. The theoretical perspective of each paper is
identified and recorded in a database along with methodology, unit of analysis and reported findings. We find
that a significant proportion of sustainable purchasing and supply management papers adopt stakeholder theory,
institutional theory and resource-based perspectives, however, relatively few papers rely on an IMP Interaction
Approach.We evaluate the rationale for the typical theoretical perspectives adopted and discuss the potential for
the IMP Interaction Approach to underpin studies of sustainable purchasing and supply management. The paper
concludes by outlining future avenues of research that specify how the IMP Interaction Approach can underpin
and further advance sustainable purchasing and supply research