Corporate sustainable operations management for carbon emissions reduction: An evolutionary perspective

Abstract

Carbon emissions reduction is a global goal for climate change mitigation. Manufacturing is a key carbon emission emitter, with commensurate pressures on manufacturing enterprises to implement sustainable operations management (SOM). These pressures and responses have been studied for decades, with studies increasing significantly over the past decade. In this study, we identify 921 publications on this topic using the Scopus database. We recognize three categories for this research: internal sustainable manufacturing, external sustainable supply chain management, and competitive-cooperative relationships for environmental and economic performance improvement. The temporal analysis shows that corporate sustainable operations for carbon emissions reduction have four stages characterized by evolving research fields. Moreover, there has been an evolving geographical focus on the global dissemination of sustainable operations research. Notably, technological innovation, especially digital technologies, shows increasing promise. Three research directions see growth in interest: circular supply chain management with new business models, coordination mechanisms with multi-stakeholder involvement, and management-manufacturing (technologies) design interdisciplinary research. Furthermore, the literature review reveals that manufacturer SOM practices initially focused on internal practices and then shifted to external practices. SOM practices among manufacturers also showed a diffusion from developed to emergent economy countries. Finally, we include research propositions and directions for future research.

Keywords: Carbon neutrality; Climate change; Greenhouse gas emissions; Literature review; Manufacturing; Supply chain; Sustainability.

Fig. 1

Keywords searching framework.

Fig. 2

Quantity of publications in each year (until 2022).

Fig. 3

Journals with more than ten papers in the identified database.

Fig. 4

Co-word analysis.

Fig. 5

Evolution of research development stages.