Sustainability management beyond corporate boundaries: from stakeholders to performance

Effectively integrating sustainability into firms requires action that exceeds organizational boundaries. These boundary-spanning activities are increasingly being taken up by corporate action and are spurred, accompanied, and reflected in a growing body of academic literature. This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production significantly expands our understanding of sustainable supply chain management, both on the theoretical and the practical side. In this way, the special issue is another bit of fuel that drives the dynamic evolution of this research field. This editorial amplifies on how the different papers contribute to the new developments of sustainable supply chain management. One key development in this respect is the rising debate about the performance implications triggered by the integration of sustainability and supply chain management. This ranges from stakeholder integration and the implementation of standards to supplier partnerships and the development of appropriate performance measures. Among future research needs supply chains in low-income countries stand out, which are still hardly addressed. Therefore, we call for further empirical research that sharpens supply chain management theory and critically evaluates real-world sustainability effects.