An organizational theoretic review of green supply chain management literature

Green supply chain management (GSCM) has gained increasing attention within both academia and industry. As the literature grows, finding new directions by critically evaluating the research and identifying future directions becomes important in advancing knowledge for the field. Using organizational theories to help categorize the literature provides opportunities to address both the objectives of understanding where the field currently stands and identifying research opportunities and directions. After providing a background discussion on GSCM, we categorize and review recent GSCM literature under nine broad organizational theories, with a special emphasis on investigation of adoption, diffusion and outcomes of GSCM practices. Within this review framework, we also identify GSCM research questions that are worthy of investigation. Additional organizational theories which are considered valuable for future GSCM research are also identified with a conclusion for this review.