Framework for Measuring Sustainability Performance of Logistics Service Providers- A Systematic Review of Literature

Abstract

Sustainability and sustainable development have become a buzzing topic in today's business world. Business organizations are more inclined towards making themselves economically, socially, and environmentally more sustainable. With the introduction of concepts like “Sustainable Supply Chain Management” organizations have determined to not only make themselves sustainable but to make the whole supply chain sustainable as well. As part of the supply chain, Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) are no exception. With the pressure from the internal and external stakeholders such as Government, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), public authorities, LSPs are more inclined towards making themselves more sustainable and ‘being sustainable’ has become a competitive advantage for them now. To measure and evaluate sustainability performance, various frameworks and standards have been introduced. This paper reviews the available literature from 2010 to 2019 under logistics service providers, sustainability, and sustainability performance evaluation. This study was conducted through a systematic review of the literature and presents various sustainability indicators used by researchers, sustainability performance evaluation models, and frameworks and the approaches used by researchers in developing those models and frameworks for the logistics service providers and the supply chain as a whole. The review brings up the importance of further analyzing and testing those proposed models and frameworks using case studies and the need for incorporating the opinions of stakeholders when developing the models for the evaluation of sustainability performance and frameworks.

Keywords: Logistics Service Providers (LSPs), Sustainability, Sustainability Indicators, Sustainability performance evaluation