Towards a Unified Conceptual Framework for Achieving Supply Chain Agility: Integrating Partner Selection, Enablers, and Strategic Partnership in Lean‑Agile Landscapes

Abstract

Background: In an increasingly volatile business environment characterized by demand fluctuations, unpredictable markets, and rapid product life‑cycle changes, supply chain agility has emerged as a critical strategic imperative. Prior research has explored supplier/partner selection, agility enablers, process control, lean‑agile hybrids, and the impacts of technological or strategic enablers. However, these streams often remain fragmented, lacking a unified conceptual framework that bridges partner selection, enabler interactions, process control, and strategic partnership under lean‑agile paradigms.

 Purpose: This paper aims to synthesize the extant literature on agile supply chain to propose a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates (1) criteria for supplier/partner selection, (2) structural and operational enablers of agility, (3) process control mechanisms, and (4) strategic supply chain partnership dynamics — thereby offering a holistic view of how organizations can achieve agility in lean‑agile or hybrid supply chain contexts.

 Methodology: Adopting a theory‑building paradigm, the study performs an intensive literature synthesis of seminal and contemporary works on agile supply chain from multiple disciplines, including manufacturing, logistics, and digital transformation. Patterns, themes, and conceptual linkages are identified, mapped, and integrated into a unified model.

 Findings: The resulting framework reveals that effective agile supply chain implementation depends on the sequential and iterative interplay between partner selection based on agility compatibility, establishing enablers (organizational culture, information systems, process flexibility), embedding process control for responsiveness, and nurturing strategic partnerships supported by postponement and dynamic capabilities. The framework also accommodates lean‑agile hybrids (leagile) to balance cost‑efficiency with responsiveness, and includes digital transformation influences such as IoT/AI-driven warehouse management.

 Implications: For practitioners, the framework offers a diagnostic and design tool to assess and build supply chain agility holistically. For academics, it provides a foundation for empirical validation and extension in different industry contexts.

 Originality: By unifying disparate streams into an integrated conceptual architecture, this paper addresses a significant literature gap and advances theory by illustrating the interactions among critical agility determinants.