An empirical study of supply chain management functions in corporate upper echelons

Abstract

Supply chain strategies and their implementation have been recognized as a source of competitive advantage. Based on the principle “structure follows strategy,” we expect that firms increasingly have SCM functions in their top management team (TMT). However, little is known about the degree to which executives responsible for SCM functions are present or absent in TMTs. To shed light on the presence/absence of supply chain executives, we study the TMTs of 214 large US corporations from various industries in a 5-year time window. Upper echelon theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984) and contingency theory are used as a theoretical backdrop for this research.Our research contributes to the literature since it is the first (1) to empirically examine if and to what extent SCM functions are represented by executives in TMTs, (2) to unveil possible antecedents associated with having a “Chief Supply Chain Officer” and (3) to analyze the corresponding performance implications.