The role and impact of females in supply chain management have received insufficient attention in extant research. In addition, research investigating the relationship between upper-echelon leadership and supply chain phenomena is extremely scant. To address these limitations, we collected archival data from 433 publicly traded Fortune 500 firms from 2007 to 2015 (3464 firm-year observations) and analyzed them using fixed-effect regressions. Our findings indicate that female top management team representation directly and positively influences a firm's supplier orientation. This influence of female representation is attenuated for firms that have a Chief Supply Chain Officer present in their top management team and for firms operating in environments characterized by high dynamism and low munificence. Furthermore, our findings show that supplier orientation mediates the impact of female top management team representation on firm performance. We put forth several interesting theoretical and managerial contributions. Most importantly, we hope that our findings, highlighting the positive impact of female executives on supplier orientation and providing additional evidence regarding women's managerial capabilities, will contribute towards eliminating bias and discrimination faced by women in the area of supply chain management and business in general.
AllredCRFawcettSEWallinC, et al. (2011) A dynamic collaboration capability as a source of competitive advantage. Decision Sciences42(1): 129–161.
2.
AokiKWilhelmM (2016) Managing the productivity dilemma: How Toyota develops a context for ambidexterity with suppliers. In: Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2016(1). Briarcliff Manor, NY: Academy of Management, p.12780.
3.
BahadirCSundarBSrivastavaRS (2008) Financial value of brands in mergers and acquisitions. Journal of Marketing72(6): 49–64.
4.
BaronRMKennyDA (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51: 1173–1182.
5.
BooneCHendriksW (2008) Top management team diversity and firm performance: Moderators of functional-background and locus-of-control diversity. Management Science55(2): 165–180.
6.
BranzeiOThornhillS (2006) From ordinary resources to extraordinary performance: Environmental moderators of competitive advantage. Strategic Organization4(1): 11–41.
7.
BrighamKHLumpkinGTPayneGT, et al. (2014) Researching long-term orientation: A validation study and recommendations for future research. Family Business Review27(1): 72–88.
ChangEHKirgiosELRaiA, et al. (2020) The isolated choice effect and its implications for gender diversity in organizations. Management Science66(6): 2752–2761.
10.
ChuSHYangHLeeM, et al. (2017) The impact of institutional pressures on green supply chain management and firm performance: Top management roles and social capital. Sustainability9(5): 764–779.
11.
ChungKHPruittSW (1994) A simple approximation of Tobin’s q. Financial Management23: 70–74.
12.
CohenWMLevinthalDA (1989) Innovation and learning: The two faces of R&D. The Economic Journal99(397): 569–596.
DezsöCLRossDG (2012) Does female representation in top management improve firm performance? A panel data investigation. Strategic Management Journal33(9): 1072–1089.
15.
EaglyAHWoodW (1999) The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist54(6): 408.
FengHMorganNARegoLL (2015) Marketing department power and firm performance. Journal of Marketing79(5): 1–20.
18.
FonsecaLMLimaVM (2015) Impact of supplier management strategies on the organizational performance of ISO 9001 certified organizations. Quality Innovation Prosperity19(2): 32–54.
GermannFEbbesPGrewalR (2015) The chief marketing officer matters!. Journal of Marketing79(3): 1–22.
21.
GligorDM (2014) A cross-disciplinary examination of firm orientations’ performance outcomes: The role of supply chain flexibility. Journal of Business Logistics35(4): 281–298.
22.
GligorDM (2016) The role of supply chain agility in achieving supply chain fit. Decision Sciences47(3): 524–553.
23.
GligorDM (2017) Re-examining supply chain fit: An assessment of moderating factors. Journal of Business Logistics38(4): 253–265.
24.
GligorDM (2018) Performance implications of the fit between suppliers’ flexibility and their customers’ expected flexibility: A dyadic examination. Journal of Operations Management58: 73–85.
25.
GligorDMEsmarkCLHolcombMC (2015) Performance outcomes of supply chain agility: When should you be agile?Journal of Operations Management33: 71–82.
26.
GligorDMHolcombMCFeizabadiJ (2016) An exploration of the strategic antecedents of firm supply chain agility: The role of a firm’s orientations. International Journal of Production Economics179: 24–34.
27.
GrewalRSlotegraafRJ (2007) Embeddedness of organizational capabilities. Decision Sciences38(3): 451–488.
28.
HambrickDC (2007) Upper Echelons Theory: An Update. Academy of Management Review32(2): 334–343.
29.
HambrickDCMasonPA (1984) Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review9(2): 193–206.
30.
HanKMittalVZhangY (2017) Relative strategic emphasis and firm-idiosyncratic risk: The moderating role of relative performance and demand instability. Journal of Marketing81(4): 25–44.
31.
HeXZhangXLiX, et al. (2011) Stakeholder orientation and organisational performance in an emerging market. Journal of General Management36(3): 67–91.
32.
HeeleyMBKingDRCovinJG (2006) Effects of firm R&D investment and environment on acquisition likelihood. Journal of Management Studies43(7): 1513–1535.
33.
HendricksKBHoraMSinghalVR (2015) An empirical investigation on the appointments of supply chain and operations management executives. Management Science61(7): 1562–1583.
34.
HolstiOR (1969) Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Reading. MA: Addison-Wesley (content analysis).
35.
HooblerJMMastersonCRNkomoSM, et al. (2018) The business case for women leaders: Meta-analysis, research critique, and path forward. Journal of Management44(6): 2473–2499.
36.
IrwinJRMcClellandGH (2003) Negative consequences of dichotomizing continuous predictor variables. Journal of Marketing Research40(3): 366–371.
37.
JaffeeSHydeJS (2000) Gender differences in moral orientation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin126(5): 703.
38.
JeongSHHarrisonDA (2017) Glass breaking, strategy making, and value creating: Meta-analytic outcomes of women as CEOs and TMT members. Academy of Management Journal60(4): 1219–1252.
39.
KashmiriSBrowerJ (2016) Oops! I did it again: Effect of corporate governance and top management team characteristics on the likelihood of product-harm crises. Journal of Business Research69(2): 621–630.
40.
KashmiriSMahajanV (2010) What’s in a name? An analysis of the strategic behavior of family firms. International Journal of Research in Marketing27(3): 271–280.
41.
KashmiriSNicolCDAroraS (2017) Me, myself, and I: Influence of CEO narcissism on firms’ innovation strategy and the likelihood of product-harm crises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science45(5): 633–656.
42.
KhannaAAshwiniYVargheseJ (2019) Gender diversity and organizational performance: A study of IT industries in bangalore. Innovative Marketing13(3): 33–41.
43.
KörberMCottaD (2021) Supply chain in the C-suite: The effect of chief supply chain officers on incidence of product recalls. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal26: 495–513.
44.
KouvelisPChambersCWangH (2006) Supply chain management research and production and operations management: Review, trends, and opportunities. Production and Operations Management15(3): 449–469.
45.
KumarAParaskevasJP (2018) A proactive environmental strategy: Analyzing the effect of SCM experience, age, and female representation in TMT s. Journal of Supply Chain Management54(4): 20–41.
46.
LintukangasKKähkönenAKHallikasJ (2019) The role of supply management innovativeness and supplier orientation in firms’ sustainability performance. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management25(4): 100558.
47.
MaSHaoLAloysiusJA (2021) Women are an advantage in supply chain collaboration and efficiency. Production and Operations Management30(5): 1427–1441.
MentzerJTDeWittWKeeblerJS, et al. (2001) Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics22(2): 1–25.
50.
MinSMentzerJTLaddRT (2007) A market orientation in supply chain management. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science35(4): 507–522.
51.
Moreno-GómezJCalleja-BlancoJ (2018) The relationship between women’s presence in corporate positions and firm performance. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship10(1): 83–100.
52.
NarverJCSlaterSF (1990) The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing54(4): 20–35.
53.
NeelyBH JrLovelaceJBCowenAP, et al. (2020) Metacritiques of upper echelons theory: Verdicts and recommendations for future research. Journal of Management46(6): 1029–1062.
54.
NielsenSHuseM (2010) The contribution of women on boards of directors: Going beyond the surface. Corporate Governance: An International Review18(2): 136–148.
55.
ParkDKrishnanHA (2005) Gender differences in supply chain management practices. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development2(1): 27–37.
56.
PatelPCAzadeganAEllramLM (2013) The effects of strategic and structural supply chain orientation on operational and customer-focused performance. Decision Sciences44(4): 713–753.
57.
PerrymanAAFernandoGDTripathyA (2016) Do gender differences persist? An examination of gender diversity on firm performance, risk, and executive compensation. Journal of Business Research69(2): 579–586.
58.
PetrinATrainK (2010) A control function approach to endogeneity in consumer choice models. Journal of Marketing Research47(1): 3–13.
59.
PostCByronK (2015) Women on boards and firm financial performance: A meta-analysis. Academy of Management Journal58(5): 1546–1571.
60.
PostCALokshinBBooneC (2020) What changes after women enter top management teams? TMT cognitions and strategic renewal. Academy of Management Proceedings2020(1): 17589.
61.
RohJKrauseRSwinkM (2016) The appointment of chief supply chain officers to top management teams: A contingency model of firm-level antecedents and consequences. Journal of Operations Management44: 48–61.
62.
Setó-PamiesD (2015) The relationship between women directors and corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management22(6): 334–345.
63.
ShortJCBrobergCCogliserCC, et al. (2010) Construct validation using computer-aided text analysis (CATA): An illustration using entrepreneurial orientation. Organizational Research Methods13: 320–347.
64.
SmithAD (2012) Gender perceptions of management’s green supply chain development among the professional workforce. International Journal of Procurement Management5(1): 55–86.
65.
SrivastavaCKashmiriSMahajanV (2023) Customer orientation and financial performance: Women in top management teams matter!. Journal of Marketing87(2): 190–209.
66.
SrivastavaRKTasadduqASFaheyL (1998) Market-Based assets and shareholder value: A framework for analysis. Journal of Marketing62(1): 2–18.
67.
SwinkMRohJWhippleJ, et al. (2013) Designing the ‘Right’ Supply Chain Management Organizational Structure. Chigaco, IL: Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
68.
TangSNadkarniSWEILQ, et al. (2020) Balancing the Yin and Yang: TMT gender diversity, psychological safety, and firm ambidextrous strategic orientation in Chinese high-tech SMEs. Academy of Management Journal64: 1578–1604.
WagnerSMKemmerlingR (2014) Supply chain management executives in corporate upper echelons. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management20(3): 156–166.
71.
WiengartenFFanDLoCK, et al. (2017) The differing impacts of operational and financial slack on occupational safety in varying market conditions. Journal of Operations Management52: 30–45.
72.
WittMGWoodW (2010) Self-regulation of gendered behavior in everyday life. Sex Roles62(9–10): 635–646.
73.
WoodWEaglyAH (2002) A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin128(5): 699.
74.
WooldridgeJM (2010) Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
75.
WowakKDBallGPPostC, et al. (2021) The influence of female directors on product recall decisions. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management23(4): 895–913.
76.
ZhangJQZhuHDingHB (2013) Board composition and corporate social responsibility: An empirical investigation in the post-sarbanes-oxley era. Journal of Business Ethics114(3): 381–392.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
