Interestingly it's innovation: Reviewing sustainability performance management in the base of the pyramid (BoP)

Abstract While the relevance of business and supply chain processes in base of the pyramid context is much discussed, the link to performance measurement (PM) has not been clarified. Focusing on sustainable supply chain performance measurement (SSCPM), this paper provides a literature review to determine which PM tools, instruments, and indicators (PIs) have been used in the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) literature and how they are associated with sustainability performance outcomes. Exploring SSCPM allows identifying key PIs (KPIs) considering all three dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic. A structured content analysis on 91 selected papers was performed, and the results interpreted using frequencies and contingency analysis. The core factor driving performance was found to be innovation. The findings suggest that the PIs used in the analysed BoP literature are primarily conventional, leaving a gap in the understanding of the sustainability perspective. The BoP literature also lacks an appropriate PM instrument and discusses predominantly specific indicators of these instruments, showing that research at the intersection of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and SCPM demands further development. Nevertheless, incorporating innovation into the PM system informs BoP policymakers to understand better how performance objectives can be achieved in BoP contexts.