Leadership as a Strategy for Flexibility and Resilience in the Supply Chain

Abstract

This study examines the transactional and transformational leadership of manufacturing managers in Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) and its impact on supply chain flexibility and resilience, which contributes to quantifying the relationship between the variables to provide knowledge on the importance of leadership style in supply chain resilience. The dimensions and items of each latent variable were integrated into a questionnaire administered to Mexican Maquiladora. Two hundred thirty-one valid questionnaires were obtained and analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) for validating the five hypotheses or relationships between variables. The results indicate that both leadership styles influence supply chain resilience; however, transformational leadership has a greater direct impact than transactional leadership. However, transactional leadership yielded better results when the mediating variable of flexibility was used. These results create a frame of reference to determine which leadership style can benefit the company, depending on the situation in which it finds itself.