ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Companies around the world need to reconcile the need to differentiate their offerings and remain entrepreneurial in a competitive environment while also running extremely efficient and effective operations. Surprisingly, however, limited studies have provided a synthesis and overview of existing research exploring important links between the entrepreneurship and supply chain management (SCM) fields. In this paper, we aim to address this issue by developing a systematic review of research exploring the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and SCM, while synthesizing the most relevant findings in this intersection. We also aim to promote the development of this topic by providing relevant future research directions. To do so, we conducted a systematic review on the topic of EO published in SCM journals from 1989 to April 2020. We summarize 14 relevant articles on EO in SCM and conclude that research joining these fields is surprisingly scant despite the development of both EO and SCM literature over extended periods of time. We find that although existing research recognizes that entrepreneurial behavior is key for a successful supply chain orientation and to develop more efficient and value-creating supply chains, theoretical development and empirical examination in specific supply chains and multiple industries is required. We uncover and propose specific opportunities to advance this research effort.