Responsible Production for Sustainability: Concept Analysis and Bibliometric Review

Responsible production is receiving growing attention in manufacturing operations, but systematic analysis of its concept is scanty. This paper aims to advance the knowledge by examining the research evolution of responsible production for sustainability. Using the concept analysis approach, we first summarize four underlying attributes, including the change to sustainability, preventive initiatives, process management, and company-specific context. Next, we identify that contextual factors and firm characteristics are antecedents of responsible production, which consequently affects customer attitude, employee behavior, and firm performance. Through a bibliometric review of 518 most relevant articles, we observe that responsible production for sustainability has seen a research boom in developing countries and that China is one of the most conspicuous countries in this regard. We also recognize that the link of responsible production and financial performance receives particular interest, but it needs a more synthesized assessment framework. To promote research development of responsible production for sustainability, research collaboration, either at the author or country level, is highly desirable for knowledge creation and transfer. In view of the growing interest on its performance value, we propose a research framework with guideposts for studying responsible production and financial performance. This review provides managerial and policy implications for responsible production with insights to advance knowledge in this emerging research field.