On theories for researching sustainability

Recent systematic literature reviews have mapped the use of theoretical perspectives in purchasing and supply chain management (PSCM) research (Chicksand et al., 2012; Spina et al., 2016). These show that transaction cost economics (TCE) and the resource-based view (RBV) are the dominant theories in PSCM research, although a wide array of theoretical perspectives can also be identified. However, TCE and the RBV are old theories that were not developed to guide research in PSCM, and we would question their suitability for researching sustainable PSCM phenomena. In fact, literature reviews that focus on sustainable PSCM (Johnsen et al., 2017; Gimenez and Tachizawa, 2012; Quarshie et al., 2016) show that when researchers carry out studies related to sustainable PSCM they are driven by a different set of theories. In this chapter we discuss why researchers in sustainable PSCM tend to opt for different theoretical perspectives to guide their research, and why TCE and the RBV are relatively rare. We unpack the reasons why theories that are applicable to PSCM in general may not be easily transferrable or appropriate to research that focuses on sustainability. In brief, we argue that the reasons are twofold. Firstly, the inherent long-term nature of sustainability, as opposed to, for example, the short-term nature of buyer‒supplier exchanges or transactions, requires theory that focuses on long-term developmental processes. Secondly, the traditional theories used in PSCM research are limited when researchers seek to understand sustainability from an interorganizational systems (or ecosystems) perspective, focused on networks of actors or stakeholders.