A comparative literature analysis of definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the published definitions of green supply chain management (GSCM) and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). A total of 22 definitions for GSCM and 12 definitions for SSCM were identified. In order to analyze the identified definitions, two different sets of key characteristics for business sustainability (i.e., economic, environmental, social, stakeholder, volunteer, resilience, and long-term focuses) and SCM (i.e., flow, coordination, stakeholder, relationship, value, efficiency, and performance focuses) were proposed. The identified definitions were analyzed against each other and the two sets of proposed key characteristics. The analysis shows that definitions for GSCM were generally more narrowly focused than those for SSCM and had an emphasis on the characteristics of environmental, flow, and coordination focuses. Though some definitions of SSCM show considerable overlap with definitions of GSCM, it is argued that SSCM is essentially an extension of GSCM. Several identified definitions addressed at least half of the proposed key business sustainability and SCM characteristics. However, no complete definition of GSCM or SSCM was identified. To address this issue, a new definition for SSCM is proposed.