Sustainability and Accountability of Supply Chains: Research Avenues on the Interplay Between Regulations, Standards and Emerging Practices

This book explores how sustainability and accountability are reshaping the way companies assess and manage performance across global supply chains. Faced with growing stakeholder and regulatory pressure, organizations are called to integrate non-financial metrics into strategic decision-making and to report transparently on their social and environmental impacts.

Grounded in a systematic literature review, the volume offers a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between sustainability, accountability, and supply chain management. It develops a conceptual framework for understanding how corporate performance evaluation can evolve to include broader dimensions of responsibility, aligning with emerging standards and institutional expectations.

Aimed at scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers, this work provides both an overview of current debates and a structured research agenda for future inquiry. It stands as a timely contribution to advancing sustainable and accountable business practices in an increasingly interconnected economy.

Andrea Caccialanza is a Research Fellow in the Department of Management (DiSA) at the University of Bologna, Italy. His research focuses on sustainability reporting in production systems, with a particular emphasis on agri-food systems and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More broadly, he examines corporate accountability and value creation along food production systems and supply chains, the climate resilience of firms, and the sustainability and social impacts of mega-projects. He is a member of the Center for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR), the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN), the Italian Association for Management and Marketing Studies (SIMA-SIM), and the Italian accounting and business administration associations SIDREA and AIDEA.