Supply chain leadership: A systematic literature review and a research agenda

The main purpose of this study is to improve the understanding and comprehension of the supply chain leadership concept. To this aim, the paper systematically reviews and synthesises the current academic literature in this emerging field, unveiling research gaps and discussing a future research agenda. The review was performed by selecting papers from leading journals in the operations and supply chain management field (using the Scopus and Web of Science academic search engines). Overall, 51 relevant papers were identified through the review process.

After providing an overview of classical leadership theories, the paper introduces a definition for the supply chain leadership concept. The theoretical characterisation of such concept is then investigated, through the identification of dominant leadership theories employed to explain and characterise supply chain leadership. Also, the study provides a thematic analysis of supply chain leadership styles and their influence on supply chain practices. Employed research methodologies, along with geographical specificities and supply chain orientations of previous studies, are also scrutinised.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to provide a holistic systematic literature review in the supply chain leadership domain. Therefore, this contribution is an important first step in order to establish robust theoretical frameworks involving the constructs of supply chain leadership and to provide a foundation for further studies in this field.