Lean Management, Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: A Literature Review

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the state-of-the-art of research into the links between Lean Management, Supply Chain Management and Sustainability with a view to: 1) identifying the topic set studied and contributing a criterion for classifying the literature, 2) discussing the empirical evidence and orienting future research. For this a literature review has been carried out that extends from an internal focus to an entire supply chain focus, and considering, at the same time, the three key dimensions of sustainability. The evaluation of this literature has enabled two main topics of research to be identified: a) Lean Management and Sustainability, and b) Lean Supply Chain Management and Sustainability; as well as a number of more specific lines of research that can be assigned to each of these two research topics. Finally, the paper goes on to discuss the contradictions and inconsistencies found in the literature and proposes new opportunities and challenges that should be addressed by future research.