IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v152y2018i4d10.1007_s10551-016-3266-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Seongtae Kim

    (University of Hull)

  • Claudia Colicchia

    (University of Hull)

  • David Menachof

    (University of Hull)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Seongtae Kim & Claudia Colicchia & David Menachof, 2018. "Ethical Sourcing: An Analysis of the Literature and Implications for Future Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1033-1052, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:152:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3266-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3266-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3266-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3266-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Peter K.C. & Lau, Antonio K.W. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2013. "Employee rights protection and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1861-1869.
    2. Gert Sabidussi, 1966. "The centrality index of a graph," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 31(4), pages 581-603, December.
    3. Amit Saini, 2010. "Purchasing Ethics and Inter-Organizational Buyer–Supplier Relational Determinants: A Conceptual Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 439-455, September.
    4. Suk-Jun Lim & Joe Phillips, 2008. "Embedding CSR Values: The Global Footwear Industry’s Evolving Governance Structure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 143-156, August.
    5. Leonidou, Constantinos N. & Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Coudounaris, Dafnis N. & Hultman, Magnus, 2013. "Value differences as determinants of importers’ perceptions of exporters’ unethical behavior: The impact on relationship quality and performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 156-173.
    6. Gopalakrishnan, Kavitha & Yusuf, Yahaya Y. & Musa, Ahmed & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ambursa, Hafsat M., 2012. "Sustainable supply chain management: A case study of British Aerospace (BAe) Systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 193-203.
    7. Xiaomin Yu, 2008. "Impacts of Corporate Code of Conduct on Labor Standards: A Case Study of Reebok’s Athletic Footwear Supplier Factory in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 513-529, September.
    8. Alex Hughes, 2005. "Corporate Strategy and the Management of Ethical Trade: The Case of the UK Food and Clothing Retailers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(7), pages 1145-1163, July.
    9. Constantin Blome & Antony Paulraj, 2013. "Ethical Climate and Purchasing Social Responsibility: A Benevolence Focus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 567-585, September.
    10. Motwani, Jaideep & Kumar, Ashok & Mohamed, Zubair, 1998. "Ethical behavior of indian purchasing managers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 161-168, June.
    11. Robertson, Diana C. & Rymon, Talia, 2001. "Purchasing Agents’ Deceptive Behavior: A Randomized Response Technique Study," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 455-479, July.
    12. Kenneth M. Amaeshi & Onyeka K. Osuji & Paul Nnodim, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, Exceptions and Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 223-234, August.
    13. Mick Blowfield, 2000. "Ethical sourcing: a contribution to sustainability or a diversion?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(4), pages 191-200.
    14. Browne, A. W. & Harris, P. J. C. & Hofny-Collins, A. H. & Pasiecznik, N. & Wallace, R. R., 2000. "Organic production and ethical trade: definition, practice and links," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 69-89, February.
    15. Pamela Robinson, 2010. "Responsible Retailing: The Practice of CSR in Banana Plantations in Costa Rica," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 279-289, February.
    16. Matthias Ehrgott & Felix Reimann & Lutz Kaufmann & Craig Carter, 2011. "Social Sustainability in Selecting Emerging Economy Suppliers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 99-119, January.
    17. Pamela K. Robinson, 2009. "Responsible retailing: Regulating fair and ethical trade," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 1015-1026.
    18. Gallear, David & Ghobadian, Abby & Chen, Weifeng, 2012. "Corporate responsibility, supply chain partnership and performance: An empirical examination," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 83-91.
    19. Baden, D.A. & Harwood, I.A. & Woodward, D.G., 2009. "The effect of buyer pressure on suppliers in SMEs to demonstrate CSR practices: An added incentive or counter productive?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 429-441, December.
    20. World Bank, 2015. "World Development Indicators 2015," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21634, December.
    21. Carter, Craig R. & Jennings, Marianne M., 2002. "Social responsibility and supply chain relationships," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 37-52, January.
    22. Michael Maloni & Michael Brown, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: An Application in the Food Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 35-52, September.
    23. Reimann, Felix & Ehrgott, Matthias & Kaufmann, Lutz & Carter, Craig R., 2012. "Local stakeholders and local legitimacy: MNEs' social strategies in emerging economies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 1-17.
    24. Sally Smith & Stephanie Barrientos, 2005. "Fair trade and ethical trade: are there moves towards convergence?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(3), pages 190-198.
    25. Klassen, Robert D. & Vereecke, Ann, 2012. "Social issues in supply chains: Capabilities link responsibility, risk (opportunity), and performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 103-115.
    26. Katri Karjalainen & Claire Moxham, 2013. "Focus on Fairtrade: Propositions for Integrating Fairtrade and Supply Chain Management Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 267-282, August.
    27. Joe Miemczyk & Thomas Johnsen & Monica Macquet, 2012. "Sustainable purchasing and supply management: a structured literature review of definitions and measures at the dyad, chain and network levels," Post-Print hal-00858680, HAL.
    28. Ramazan Kaynak & Tuba Sert, 2012. "The Impact of Service Supplier’s Unethical Behavior to Buyer’s Satisfaction: An Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 219-226, August.
    29. Alex Hughes & Martin Buttle & Neil Wrigley, 2007. "Organisational geographies of corporate responsibility: a UK-US comparison of retailers' ethical trading initiatives," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(4), pages 491-513, July.
    30. Maignan, Isabelle & Hillebrand, Bas & McAlister, Debbie, 2002. "Managing Socially-Responsible Buying:: How to Integrate Non-economic Criteria into the Purchasing Process," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 641-648, December.
    31. Jette Knudsen, 2013. "The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Mission Impossible for Western Small- and Medium-Sized Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 387-398, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stephanie Schrage & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2021. "Addressing Governance Gaps in Global Value Chains: Introducing a Systematic Typology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 657-672, May.
    2. Daniel Etse & Adela McMurray & Nuttawuth Muenjohn, 2023. "Sustainable Procurement Practice: The Effect of Procurement Officers’ Perceptions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(2), pages 525-548, May.
    3. Felipe Barrera & Marina Segura & Concepción Maroto, 2022. "Sustainable Technology Supplier Selection in the Banking Sector," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Tulin Dzhengiz & Andra Riandita & Anders Broström, 2023. "Configurations of sustainability‐oriented textile partnerships," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4392-4412, November.
    5. Pavel Castka, 2020. "The Role of Standards in the Development and Delivery of Sustainable Products: A Research Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2022. "Mapping the emergence of a new organisational form: An exploration of the intellectual structure of the B Corp research," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 107-123, January.
    7. Jens Heidingsfelder & Markus Beckmann, 2020. "A governance puzzle to be solved? A systematic literature review of fragmented sustainability governance," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 355-390, August.
    8. Maurizio Comoli & Patrizia Tettamanzi & Michael Murgolo, 2023. "Accounting for ‘ESG’ under Disruptions: A Systematic Literature Network Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-32, April.
    9. Valentina Minutiello & Patrizia Tettamanzi, 2022. "The quality of nonfinancial voluntary disclosure: A systematic literature network analysis on sustainability reporting and integrated reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2019. "Mapping the emergence of a new research field: an exploration of the intellectual structure of the B Corp research," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0236, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    11. Zhang, Yanming & Huo, Baofeng & Haney, Mark H. & Kang, Mingu, 2022. "The effect of buyer digital capability advantage on supplier unethical behavior: A moderated mediation model of relationship transparency and relational capital," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    12. Seongtae Kim & Sangho Chae, 2022. "Shareholder Value Effects of Ethical Sourcing: Comparing Reactive and Proactive Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 887-906, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sadaat Ali Yawar & Stefan Seuring, 2017. "Management of Social Issues in Supply Chains: A Literature Review Exploring Social Issues, Actions and Performance Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 621-643, March.
    2. Fahian Anisul Huq & Mark Stevenson, 2020. "Implementing Socially Sustainable Practices in Challenging Institutional Contexts: Building Theory from Seven Developing Country Supplier Cases," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 415-442, January.
    3. Fu Jia & Yan Jiang, 2018. "Sustainable Global Sourcing: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-26, February.
    4. Venkatesh, V.G. & Zhang, Abraham & Deakins, Eric & Mani, Venkatesh, 2021. "Antecedents of social sustainability noncompliance in the Indian apparel sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    5. Donna Marshall & Lucy McCarthy & Marius Claudy & Paul McGrath, 2019. "Piggy in the Middle: How Direct Customer Power Affects First-Tier Suppliers’ Adoption of Socially Responsible Procurement Practices and Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1081-1102, February.
    6. Mani, Venkatesh & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Papadopoulos, Thanos & Hazen, Benjamin & Dubey, Rameshwar, 2016. "Supply chain social sustainability for developing nations: Evidence from India," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 42-52.
    7. Mani, Venkatesh & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Delgado, Catarina, 2018. "Supply chain social sustainability: Standard adoption practices in Portuguese manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 149-164.
    8. Mohammad Najjar & Michael H. Small & Mahmoud M. Yasin, 2020. "Social Sustainability Strategy across the Supply Chain: A Conceptual Approach from the Organisational Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Cristina Gimenez & Vicenta Sierra, 2013. "Sustainable Supply Chains: Governance Mechanisms to Greening Suppliers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 189-203, August.
    10. Mohammad Alghababsheh & David Gallear & Mushfiqur Rahman, 2020. "Balancing the Scales of Justice: Do Perceptions of Buyers’ Justice Drive Suppliers’ Social Performance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 125-150, April.
    11. Constantin Blome & Antony Paulraj, 2013. "Ethical Climate and Purchasing Social Responsibility: A Benevolence Focus," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 567-585, September.
    12. Chen, Lujie & Zhao, Xiande & Tang, Ou & Price, Lydia & Zhang, Shanshan & Zhu, Wenwen, 2017. "Supply chain collaboration for sustainability: A literature review and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 73-87.
    13. Vivek Soundararajan & Jill A. Brown, 2016. "Voluntary Governance Mechanisms in Global Supply Chains: Beyond CSR to a Stakeholder Utility Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 83-102, March.
    14. Clodia Vurro & Angeloantonio Russo & Francesco Perrini, 2009. "Shaping Sustainable Value Chains: Network Determinants of Supply Chain Governance Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 607-621, December.
    15. Martin C. Schleper & Constantin Blome & David A. Wuttke, 2017. "The Dark Side of Buyer Power: Supplier Exploitation and the Role of Ethical Climates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 97-114, January.
    16. André Tchokogué & Jean Nollet & Nathalie Merminod & Gilles Paché & Véronique Goupil, 2018. "Is Supply's Actual Contribution to Sustainable Development Strategic and Operational?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 336-358, March.
    17. Mohammad Alghababsheh & David Gallear, 2021. "Socially Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Suppliers’ Social Performance: The Role of Social Capital," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 855-875, November.
    18. Yadlapalli, Aswini & Rahman, Shams & Gunasekaran, Angappa, 2018. "Socially responsible governance mechanisms for manufacturing firms in apparel supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 135-149.
    19. Mani, Venkatesh & Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta & Mani, Kavitha T.N., 2020. "Supply chain social sustainability in small and medium manufacturing enterprises and firms’ performance: Empirical evidence from an emerging Asian economy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    20. Sara Hajmohammad & Stephan Vachon, 2016. "Mitigation, Avoidance, or Acceptance? Managing Supplier Sustainability Risk," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 48-65, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:152:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3266-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.