The findings from an inductive study conducted in the United States and Europe focused on sustainability implementation efforts across supply chains are reported. In particular, the study focuses on developing a better understanding of: “how do companies involve other members of their supply chain into their sustainability efforts?” Building upon themes that emerged from the data, a typology for the supply chain implementation of sustainability initiatives is proposed. A lack of supply chain integration was identified and companies reported a tendency toward a “mandated” implementation when extending efforts across companies. These efforts are generally initiated by the dominant companies and then forced onto the weaker upstream members. The data suggests that the merits of these initiatives are viewed as being disproportionately awarded to the dominant firm and thus did not receive full buy‐in from the other party. A common vision by both sides of this relationship is to develop a more collaborative implementation that can be supported by all the involved parties. In theoretical implications, empirical findings are viewed through the lens of several prominent management theories in order to augment and elaborate current theory. Managerial implications, limitations, and opportunities for further research are detailed.

With the increase in awareness of environmental and social issues associated with the development and the use of products, stakeholders—especially consumers—are showing more concern regarding these issues. To address new developments and changing trends, organizations are now compelled to identify and implement innovative and sustainable solutions, not only within their organizations’ boundaries, but also across the whole supply chain network. The primary goal of this paper was to identify and analyze drivers of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) that influence or encourage organizations to undertake sustainability initiatives and implement sustainable solutions throughout their supply chains. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted and 1559 drivers of SSCM were identified from 217 journal articles. Precise interpretation, clear definitions, restructuring, and classification into external and internal driver categories produced a list of 40 unique drivers of SSCM. The results revealed that regulatory and market pressures, with reference to the number of citations, are the most prevailing drivers of SSCM for the implementation of sustainability practices. Classification of the drivers of SSCM into primary and secondary driver categories may assist practitioners and decision makers in prioritizing sustainability-related initiatives and adopting sustainability practices across the whole supply chain network.

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Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

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