Systematic Literature Review of Supply Chain Relationship Approaches amongst Business-to-Business Partners

Abstract

Managing a business-to-business (B2B) supply chain relationship is an endless challenge. Many recent systematic literature review studies have discussed supply chain relationships from various perspectives. However, a comprehensive analysis, summarising the existing research, explicitly identified the implemented B2B supply chain relationships and found the effects of these relationships on supply chain performance remain lacking. To address the gap, this article presents a systematic literature review based on the PRISMA approach regarding the nature of the supply chain relationships between B2B partners and their effect on supply chain performance. Web of Science and Scopus were used in the compilation of studies published between 2000 and 2020. Findings indicate that the majority of B2B partners use a collaborative relationship approach and that the impacts are marked on the operational, financial, innovation, environmental, social and economic performance of their supply chain. This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature on B2B supply chain relationships by conducting a thorough and unbiased review of previous studies, drawing more general conclusions about the adopted supply chain relationships between B2B partners and providing insights for future research.