DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.188692.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

Sustainability-Related Supply-Chain Risks and Working-Capital Adjustment: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

Alek Surya Nugraha, Yayang Matira, Sholikhul Ni’am, Muhamad Agung As’ari, Fatmarani Sultan, Friska Febrianty, Andi Ameliah Lestari, Carol Emmanuel Yunior Rikin, Nanda Khairun Nissa
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Background Sustainability-related pressures can be transmitted through supply and value chains, but their links to working-capital adjustment remain difficult to interpret because studies use heterogeneous exposure constructs and different outcomes. Methods This systematic literature review maps how the literature defines sustainability-related supply-chain exposure, measures working-capital adjustment, reports relationships and pathways, identifies heterogeneity, and supports a research agenda. Searches of Scopus, Business Source Complete, and ScienceDirect were executed on 28 July 2026. Of 929 identified records, 46 reports were included after deduplication, screening, retrieval, and full-text assessment. Results The sustainability studies span nine exposure-measurement categories and nine non-interchangeable working-capital outcome families. Reported relationships vary across payables, receivables, net trade credit, inventory, payment timeliness, and cash rather than indicating one universal protective, reduced, or performance response. Most studies connect an exposure proxy to an accounting or payment outcome without directly observing interruption, counterparty terms, invoice flows, or downstream consequences. Heterogeneity across exposure location, network position, resources, institutional conditions, and shock intensity further limits pooled interpretation. Most evidence is based on associations; the strongest shock-based design supports only qualified causal wording conditional on its assumptions and outcome limits. Conclusions The review advances a construct, location, and outcome framework: a sustainability-related supply-chain association is interpretable only when the exposure proxy, supply-chain setting, working-capital measure, and design boundary are explicit. Future research should link detailed supply-chain events and transactions to longitudinal operating, financing, continuity, cost, and performance outcomes using transparent designs and broader buyer-supplier, SME, institutional, and cross-country coverage.

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