Conceptualizing sustainable leadership for the future of supply chains

Abstract

Sustainable leadership is a management approach that embraces environmental, social and financial aspects into decision making and focuses on long term perspective. This study explores sustainable leadership within the context of sustainable supply chains, which is a novel and infant field of research. Sustainable supply chains aim at minimizing environmental and social impacts while maintaining economic viability across all tiers of the network. Therefore, to improve the understanding of this field, a framework based on eight core elements is conceptualized to support scholars approaching and studying this topic. A qualitative literature review is performed to analyze the current state of research and develop the framework. The study also provides insight and key elements to shape sustainable leadership for supply chains by analyzing managerial levers and contextual factors. Finally, future research directions are presented, these include theoretical and methodological opportunities as well as emerging thematic area to guide scholars approaching this field.