Ethical Sourcing: An Analysis of the Literature and Implications for Future Research

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present a rigorous, focused review on how this field of ethical sourcing research has grown and evolved over the decades, providing implications for future research. We combine two research methodologies in this study: a systematic literature review and a citation network analysis. The former is used as a scientific tool to select the most relevant ethical sourcing articles, while the latter is then applied as a research technique to analyse these selected articles. Such a combined approach allows for a rigorous investigation into this field of research in a more scientific and objective way. Based on this approach, we identify (1) distinctive features of ethical sourcing studies such as growth trends and content issues; (2) important articles that have played a significant role in developing this field; (3) evolutionary paths that show how its knowledge has been created and transferred; (4) emerging trends that have received growing attention in the recent literature; (5) main research areas that underlie the entire ethical sourcing studies; and (6) major implications that need to be pursued in future research. The results of this study provide not only the current status of the literature but also the patterns of evolution in this field of research, thus contributing to the existing literature.

Implementing Socially Sustainable Practices in Challenging Institutional Contexts: Building Theory from Seven Developing Country Supplier Cases

“…With this study, we aimed to contribute to the emergent literature on the social aspects of ethical sourcing (Zorzini et al 2015;Kim et al 2016) through an empirical exploration of how the institutional pressures imposed on developing country suppliers affect the implementation of socially sustainable practices. So far, scholars have paid only limited attention to the supplier's perspective, especially in developing countries such as Bangladesh (Yawar and Seuring 2015;Zorzini et al 2015).…”

“…The trend in ethical supply chain management research has therefore been for studies to either focus on environmentally sustainable supply chain management (Ahi and Searcy 2013) or on socially sustainable supply chain management (Huq et al 2014). It is clear from the numerous recent literature reviews that upstream social issues relating to the human/people-side of sustainability have been under-researched when compared to the environmental agenda (Yawar and Seuring 2015;Zorzini et al 2015;Kim et al 2016). Further, Touboulic and Walker (2015) noted that there has been more focus on correlations between environmental and economic performance than between social and economic performance because environmental performance is more quantifiable.…”

“…For example, Kim et al (2016) highlighted the need to develop an improved understanding of supplier compliance with the ethical sourcing policies of buyers, including whether supplier practices change once they have been caught in unethical situations. Further, Wilhelm et al (2016) asserted that there should be a special focus on the implementation and decoupling of socially sustainable practices, especially in suppliers based on developing countries and operating in very different institutional contexts.…”

The Impact of Supplier Sustainability Risk on Shareholder Value

“…The shareholder value losses caused by the different types of SSR were also economically significant: $1,170.8 (median: $805.7) million for process‐related and $705.5 (median: $420.8) million for product‐related risks. Despite the increased CSR pressures, many of today's products, especially textile goods, are still produced under SSR‐related conditions (Kim et al., ). The evidence found in this study offers a relevant reference for managers in buying firms, especially for those considering sourcing from risky suppliers (i.e., low cost but possibly subject to SSR).…”

Sustainable Global Sourcing: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

“…The 2011 survey of modulo infantil de trabajo (MTI) (translated as the child labour module) conducted by the Mexican government shows that the employment rate of children in service sectors accounts for more than 50% of the workforce, more than five times larger than that of the manufacturing sectors (9.5%) [166]. This situation clearly indicates that social issues in service sectors should not be underestimated in SGS research [167]. Therefore, the authors suggest that there is great potential for addressing SGS issues in these sectors in the future research.…”