Innovation, Leadership and Supply Chain Resilience. A Theoretical Review

Abstract

The area of supply chain resilience continues to gain increasing attention from scholars and practitioners as new risks and unforeseen disruptions have emerged posing serious threats to operational performance. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Against these growing concerns, supply chain networks need to be re-examined as organizations grapple with the challenge of strengthening their capacities for preparedness, response, recovery and growth from disruptions. This study analyses the body of literature on innovation, leadership and resilience in relation to supply chain from different perspectives. Conceptual, theoretical and empirical review was undertaken on 101 relevant journal articles and publications across the study area. Issues that present a case for a new theoretical model to advance the present understanding of the constructs and the emerging phenomenon in supply chain were identified. It emerged that the concept of leadership suffers from an unclear conceptualization and is inconsistent in the characteristics of its dimensions. Similarly, there is lack of common understanding of innovation; how organizations should deal with it; and how it relates with leadership. In addition, there are few empirical studies involving innovation, leadership, and supply chain resilience. This study presents a new theoretical framework linking the three constructs to help in developing the implementation of capabilities necessary in attaining resilience in supply chain networks. Keywords: Innovation, Leadership, Supply chain, Supply chain resilience