MAPPING THE ESG & SUPPLY CHAIN NEXUS: INSIGHTS FROM A BIBLIOMETRIC AND THEMATIC REVIEW

The convergence of Environmental, Social, and Governance concerns with supply chain management has attracted considerable interest from academics and professionals. Heightened consciousness of sustainability concerns and mounting demands for firms to embrace ethical practices have spurred extensive research endeavors. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the research area of ESG and supply chain by employing bibliometric analysis. The research was conducted using 1,488 papers from the Scopus database, encompassing the 2014 to November 2024 time frame. The PRISMA protocol guided the comprehensive review of the Scopus database. The study analyzed several aspects, such as the scientific output of papers, highly productive authors, influential publications, leading institutions and countries, keyword co-occurrence, thematic mapping, co-citations, and partnerships between authors and countries. Utilizing VOSviewer as a tool to undertake performance analysis and thematic grouping, the results demonstrate a substantial expansion in ESG and supply chain research throughout the past decade, characterized by a notable rise in published works and citations with thematic grouping encompassing supply chain management, sustainability, sustainable development, environmental impact, green supply chain management, and economic and social affects. This extensive bibliometric study offers valuable insights into ESG and supply chain research growth and changes and establishes a basis for future studies and policy-making efforts. This study seeks to provide researchers and practitioners with valuable information and guidance to develop the subject of ESG and supply chain. It accomplishes this by summarizing the present state of research and recommending potential areas for future research.