Abstract:
The challenge of cultivating or developing supply chain oriented culture
is often primarily an organizational one and depends on top management
leadership. Strategic leader‟s vision plays a critical role in shaping an
organization‟s direction, values and orientation. He/she must first realize
the significance of strategic, operational and market impact of applying
supply chain oriented culture to his/her firm. Literature suggests that
transformational leaders help to realign the values and norms of their
organization, to accommodate and promote both internal and external
change when necessary, and to influence major changes in organization
members and build commitment for the organization‟s objectives.
Despite the theoretical and managerial importance ascribed to the
transformational leadership (TL), less emphasis has been devoted to
empirically test whether or not it has direct influence over the
development of supply chain oriented culture. Thus, this study attempts
to address the question whether the TL style would foster a supply chain
orientation (SCO) inside the firms directly involved in the supply chain.
The major objective of this study is to examine the association between
TL style and the degree of SCO. The study examined a descriptive
hypothesis where an association between TL and SCO was inferred only.
It does not examine the causal hypothesis, where the determination of
degree of SCO by TL was inferred. The single cross sectional design was
employed to collect data through a self administered questionnaire. Unit
of analysis was the manufacturing related firms. A sample of 45 firms
was randomly selected from the registry of the Colombo Stock Exchange2007. Results indicate an association between TL and SCO in
manufacturing related organizations though the contribution of each
dimension of the TL varies.
