Abstract
Nowadays, the supply chain (SC) represents the way to adapt business organizations to unpredictably changing scenarios. No
organization can control nor manage the drivers that lead to such changes: moreover, they need to follow them.
The purpose of this paper is to provide two broad conceptual contributions. On the one hand, its purpose is to clarify the most
commonly used terms and definitions. On the other hand, it tries to highlight the actual differences between drivers and effects of
each SC-feature.
In particular, this paper aims to present a robust literature review and a chart that summarizes the key points at stake. The goal
here is to provide a pragmatic way of avoiding any misunderstanding connected when dealing with such concepts. This paper
starts by defining two primary research questions: (1) “How do adaptability, flexibility, agility, lean, and leagility differ in the SC
context?”; and (2) “Considering the SC main features, which are the differences among the various drivers that push companies
to implement them in order to get the desired effects?”. Based on a detailed analysis of the current literature review, a set of
final definitions of lean, agile, leagile, flexible, and adaptable SC is then provided. This research also offers a broad view of how
different features relate to distinct effects when they are implemented into business strategies.
However, this literature review does not focus on a specific SC sector. The implementation of SC features in different industries
slightly differs from one another. Moreover, implementation issues of SC features vary from country to country and depend on the
work culture of the organization and the geographic location within the country. Hence, the results of this study would benefit from
the differentiation between industries and geographical areas.
Keywords: Lean, Agility, Leagility, Adaptability, Flexibility, Supply Chain Management
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