What are Buying Companies Doing to Influence Suppliers to Act Sustainable?

Several literature reviews about sustainable sourcing can be found in the literature, adopting related terms such
as sustainable/green supply chain management, corporate social responsibility in purchasing, sustainable
purchasing etc. This article represents a review of this literature, but from a novel perspective. Whereas most
of the literature on sustainable sourcing tend to be concerned with buying company issues and takes the
perspective of the buying company, such as drivers/barriers and effects on buying company performance, this
review tries to provide an overview and analysis of how the mechanisms adopted by the buying company to
influence suppliers to live up to sustainability, actually affect supplier sustainability performance. The review
reveals that there is limited and mixed evidence in the literature of the effects of various adopted mechanisms
on supplier sustainability performance. The needs and possibilities for future research are highlighted,
including research on the supplier’s point of view, which has been limited in previous empirical studies and
articles.