Operational limitations at different levels of a supply chain network lead to the development of sustainable partnership structures. In almost all industries, in supply, manufacturing, distribution and sales sectors, there are some technological and capacity constraints arising from various reasons. In this restricted environment, the competition to gain more market share develops a dynamic framework through which a permanent improvement is fulfilled. This paper examines the researches related to competitive supply networks from a different perspective. In order to identify the existing patterns and efficiently guide the upcoming trends, a structural model is developed. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review of supply networks concentrating on different types of partnerships and collaborative structures among the networked organizations. In this paper, with the aim of identifying future directions, more than 140 papers in competitive supply networks are reviewed focusing on partnership and network structures. Then, the accumulated knowledge based on the adopted methodology is properly synthesized and analyzed via schematic illustrations. This leads to an accelerated procedure in coverage of the corresponding gaps and facilitates the succeeding developments. Finally, the insights associated with future research trends are appropriately cited.
