The cultural dimensions in supply chain management research: a state-of-the-art review and research agenda

Abstract

Purpose This research aims to review how current supply chain management (SCM) research addresses cultural issues, presents a critical assessment of literature and discusses future research avenues. Design/methodology/approach The literature is reviewed using systematic literature review, bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis. A total of between 1995 and 2019 in Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science’s database. Findings Descriptive data related to chronological evolution of literature, geographical location, influential papers and methodology are presented. Four main research areas were categorized, namely, papers on SC integration and performance; research on continuous improvement and lean initiatives; studies on the role of culture in sustainability, corporate social responsibility and green practices; and studies on emerging topics of research. Most studies focused on organizational culture frameworks, adopted a static approach to culture and targeted mainly developed countries and Asian emerging countries. A research agenda is suggested based on a multilevel cultural framework including operational and SCM culture. Research limitations/implications Practitioners and researchers will gain a greater understanding of how cultural issues have been addressed in current literature. A multilevel framework is proposed based on the concept of “operational” and “SCM culture”, to address some of the issues identified in current literature. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first literature reviews that considers both national and organizational culture dimensions in SCM research, whereas prior approaches were fragmented or one-dimensional.