Linking the UN Sustainable Development Goals and business relationships: a systematic literature review

The private sector has a crucial role to play in fostering sustainable development, and business organizations must be involved if significant progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be made. This study aggregates the scholarly literature to clarify how different types of business relationships contribute to specific SDGs. It employs systematic literature review procedures to identify and analyze 55 relevant studies published in leading scholarly journals. The results indicate that the concept of supply chain dominates the implementation of SDGs in business relationships. Three SDGs appear in the studies more frequently than the others: sustainable cities and communities, decent work and economic growth, and good health and well-being. Within these categories, two specific social issues are reported more often than others: workplace health and safety and general quality of life.