Supply Chain Innovation and Sustainability Performance: A Systematic Literature Review

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Abstract
Supply chain innovation and sustainable supply chain management have developed as parallel but insufficiently connected research streams. This systematic literature review synthesises 69 peer‐reviewed studies published between 2007 and 2025 to examine how sustainability‐oriented management practices condition supply chain innovation and how innovation activity relates to sustainability performance. Organised through an antecedent–process–outcome logic and interpreted through diffusion of innovation theory and stakeholder theory, the review finds that collaboration dominates as an antecedent condition, while strategic orientation, continuity, proactivity and risk management remain under‐specified. Technology‐development‐oriented innovation dominates the process layer, while logistics and marketing‐oriented activities receive less attention. Environmental and economic performance are reported far more frequently than social sustainability, which is often measured through compliance indicators rather than substantive outcomes. The review contributes a mechanism‐focused synthesis, identifies systematic imbalances in the evidence base and develops a focused research agenda around governance, diffusion depth and sustainability performance measurement.

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