Using bibliometric research to advance the business-to-business sustainability literature: Establishing an integrative conceptual framework for future application

Abstract

With 4,249 articles and 245,255 citations, this study identifies four important research topics for three time periods spanning five decades (1971–2020) in business-to-business (B2B) sustainability research: stakeholder orientation and corporate social performance, environmentally-focused resources and their influence on competitive supply chains, internal organization and relational contracting, and trust and commitment. Based on established theory identified in this evaluation of the B2B sustainability literature, an integrative research framework is introduced for future consideration by the domain. The model possesses three components of a firm’s strategic focus (partnership type, stakeholder orientation, and sector emphasis) that affect its supply chain collaboration. A greater understanding of the company’s supply chain collaboration lies in how the influence of its relationship stage, sustainability capabilities, and channel pressure can impact different sustainability performance outcomes – be they social, environmental, or economic. Additionally, we identify internal (top management initiatives and sustainability investments) and external (economic, technological, and market uncertainties) non-channel drivers and barriers as critical in their moderation of the proposed framework to provide considerable opportunity for future B2B sustainability research endeavors.