Leading the (supply) chain: a literature review, framework and research agenda

Purpose Leaders in supply chain management have received considerable scholarly attention, but the dispersed literature lacks comprehensive conceptualization and theorization. Understanding supply chain leadership requires tracing the full pathway through which leaders' characteristics and behaviors influence followers and outcomes across multiple levels. We develop a leadership meta process model that maps these pathways, offering an integrative framework for how leaders exert influence across the supply chain. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on a systematic literature review of 211 articles selected at the intersection of leadership and supply chain management. The sample encompasses over 23,600 respondents plus secondary data on 1,772 firms. Findings Research on leader behaviors dominates, yet the underlying mechanisms through which leaders actually influence followers and create supply chain outcomes remain largely a black box. Future research opportunities include examining how leaders influence (external) followers, developing dyadic designs that capture (cross-boundary) leadership dynamics and investigating leadership processes specific to the supply chain management context through more qualitative, mixed-method and theory-building approaches. Practical implications By modeling the entire process through which supply chain leaders shape follower behavior and multilevel outcomes, the framework helps practitioners recruit and educators develop supply chain leaders, and it clarifies how these leaders influence the performance of their internal and external organizations. Originality/value Despite growing interest in supply chain leaders, the field remains theoretically fragmented and largely confined to isolated relationships. This review reframes supply chain leadership as a multifaceted, context-specific phenomenon, emphasizing the need to study the individuals leading the supply chain.