From Individuals to Organizations: Unpacking Behavioral Issues in Supply Chain Risk Management

Call for papers

From Individuals to Organizations: Unpacking Behavioral Issues in Supply Chain Risk Management

Journal International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Publisher Emerald Publishing

Submission Deadline 15 September 2026

About this Special Issue
Supply chain risk management (SCRM) has long focused on identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to ensure that supply continues to meet demand during and after disruptions. Yet recent years have seen a surge in complex supply chain disruptions, exposing significant gaps in how firms manage global operations. Current SCRM theories and frameworks often assume risk‑neutral, rational decision‑makers, which does not reflect the psychological and behavioral realities of supply chain managers operating under uncertainty, time pressure, and bounded rationality.

This special issue shifts the focus to behavioral issues in supply chain risk management, examining how individual cognitive biases, emotions, and decision‑making styles interact with organizational structures, power dynamics, and inter‑organizational relationships. It invites research that bridges micro‑level (individuals), macro‑level (entities/organizations), and interorganizational (supply chain) perspectives, to advance a more holistic and realistic understanding of SCRM.

Both conceptual and empirical work is welcome, especially studies that challenge or extend existing theories, introduce new frameworks, or explore novel contexts at the intersection of behavior, risk, and supply chain management.

Scope & Theme Areas
Submissions are invited around the following three main themes:

1. Forging the future: Building theory for the next era of SCRM

   • Integrating behavioral theories (from psychology, sociology, and decision‑making) with supply chain management to explain intention, action, and reaction in risk situations across multiple units of analysis.

   • How strategic manipulation of information (withholding, distorting, or framing risk signals) affects collective supply chain resilience.

   • How behavioral theories explain inter‑firm risk‑sharing under uncertainty.

   • How interdisciplinary perspectives can explain multi‑level intention–action–reaction dynamics spanning individuals, organizations, and supply chains.

2. Navigating complexity: Cross‑level decision‑making dynamics

   • How individual decision‑making styles aggregate into organizational risk cultures and capabilities.

   • How behavioral dynamics at micro‑, macro‑, and interorganizational levels complement or contradict one another in shaping supply chain resilience.

   • Mechanisms through which individual‑level behaviors (e.g., bounded rationality, trust, or opportunism) cascade into network‑level collaboration or conflict in SCRM.

3. Structuring decisions: Context‑specific and emerging issues

   • Behavioral SCRM in underexplored contexts such as social conflict risks, interactions with AI‑based systems, cyber risk management, and deteriorating supplier–buyer relationships.

   • Unintended consequences when human intuition and AI recommendations diverge in SCRM decisions.

   • The role of fear appeals, regulatory pressures, and organizational risk cultures in motivating or inhibiting proactive cyber risk management.

   • How disruptive technologies influence risk‑related behavior and decision‑making in supply chains.

Guest Editors

• Jon F. Kirchoff, East Carolina University, United States

• Ying Liao, East Carolina University, United States

• Shingirai “Chris” Kwaramba, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States

Key Dates

Submission Guidelines

• Manuscripts must be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts using the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management submission portal.

• During submission, please select the special issue title “From Individuals to Organizations: Unpacking Behavioral Issues in Supply Chain Risk Management” from the dropdown menu under “Please select the issue you are submitting to.”

• Articles must be original, not previously published, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review for this journal.

• Authors are strongly encouraged to send an abstract or research proposal (around 1,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures) to the Managing Guest Editor, Dr. Jon F. Kirchoff (kirchoffj@ecu.edu), before submitting the full paper to receive early feedback.

• All submissions must adhere to the author guidelines of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, available on the journal’s Emerald page.

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