CANCELLED: Joakim Kembro: Literature reviews in logistics & supply chain management

There is an abundance of guidelines on how to conduct literature reviews that can be published as review papers or be used as a foundation for conducting an empirical research study. In this presentation, I discuss common pitfalls in producing literature reviews and how to avoid them. Building on three method papers (see links below), the presentation highlights: (i) the importance to understand the state of theory on a particular topic and choose the review type that is most fitting; (ii) the dual core features of systematicity (i.e. rigor and transparency) and generativity (i.e. advancing knowledge) in review papers; (iii) six idiosyncrasies that are critical for identifying, coding, and synthesizing studies on logistics and supply chain management. Examples of different review types are presented, including a recent literature review from our research project on circular retail.
Links to the three method papers:

1. Durach, C. F., Kembro, J., & Wieland, A. (2017). A new paradigm for systematic literature reviews in supply chain management. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 53(4), 67-85.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jscm.12145

2. Durach, C. F., Kembro, J. H., & Wieland, A. (2021). How to advance theory through literature reviews in logistics and supply chain management. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 51(10), 1090-1107.
https://www.emerald.com/ijpdlm/article/51/10/1090/162588/How-to-advance-theory-through-literature-reviews

3. Kembro, J. H., Kunisch, S., & Durach, C. F. (2025). Why review papers get rejected: common pitfalls and how to avoid them. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 55(11), 163-192.
https://www.emerald.com/ijpdlm/article/55/11/163/1271435
 

Joakim Kembro is an Associate Professor, awarded the distinction of Excellent Teaching Practitioner at Lund University, Sweden. Prior to joining academia, he worked as a logistician in various positions with the United Nations. His research interests include humanitarian logistics, retail logistics, warehouse operations, information sharing, and circular economy. Joakim has received multiple Emerald Awards as well as the Bernard J. LaLonde best paper runner-up award and the Impact Innovation Award at the Journal of Business Logistics. His research has appeared in Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Business Logistics and others. He serves as Senior Associate Editor at International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management and supports Journal of Business Logistics in the role as Senior Editor.