Track: Doctoral Dissertation Competition

Abstract

Rapid technology advances and dynamic market forces have altered the business landscape as also fundamentally altered existing business models. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage and deployment have opened the doors for enterprises to compete in any marketplace. ICT tools are great enablers, enhancers, levelers, and facilitators of enterprise operations. While most researchers and industry practioners are unanimous about the fact that ICT positively impacts Supply Chain Management (SCM) performance and improves supply chain capabilities, there is evidently an identified gap in terms of assessment and measurement of these ICT benefits and capabilities in SCM. This is despite the fact that there are several SCM performance measurement frameworks. The novel research direction of this investigation emerged from the observation that there is clearly an absence of an assessment framework to accurately describe the impact and benefit analysis and to what magnitude ICT has improved the competitive advantage of enterprises through the improvement of the enterprise supply chain.

This research work assumes greater significance as a result of the present situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the need for Industry 4.0, digitalization, and embracing of ICT not only for the supply chain but also for all aspects of the enterprise. The motivation of this thesis is to make an original contribution to the body of knowledge in terms of addressing this gap in the rubrics of ICT effectiveness in SCM as also providing enterprises with a benchmark on their ICT deployment in SCM. This thesis is about the development of an assessment framework of ICT deployment in SCM, consisting of an empirical model and capability index and its dovetailing into the APICS Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model, which has universal appeal and wide acceptance. The rubrics and performance indicators of various constructs for measuring the impact of ICT in SCM in the empirical model evolved into an ICT capability index metric for SCM. This assessment framework of the benefits of ICT deployment can be used by any enterprise irrespective of the geography or country, vertical or sector, manufacturing or services. Measurement of the ICT impact on SCM aids decision-making and policymakers as also helps to identify targets and to track and benchmark progress. This can also provide insights on the selection of appropriate ICT tools after measurement of its impact on the supply chain paradigm and understanding success factors and operational challenges for the adoption of various ICT tools.

The empirical model uses well-defined metrics from the SCOR process reference model corresponding to supply chain processes and performance constructs, thereby providing a robust research methodology. All of the SCOR processes and attributes are influenced by ICT, but this model also does not list ICT enablement as a metric of supply chain performance. The constructs used are reliability, responsiveness & agility, which are considered customer-facing, and cost & assets, which are internal process-facing. With regard to analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used on the results of the survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews for quantitative and qualitative inputs.

The assessment framework comprising the empirical model and ICT capability index metric for SCM derived from the rubrics of the empirical model can be a universal benchmark for measuring the impact, effectiveness, and benefits of ICT enablement in SCM. It is evident that there is asymmetry and unevenness in ICT adoption for SCM across various sectors. Companies can use this framework to assess to what extent digital technologies and ICT matter to them and how it might transform their supply chains and business models as also affect financial performance and diagnostics. This will help them to adapt their organizations, leverage ICT, digitize their operations, and promote open innovation. A scoring system and rubric are being evolved based on multiple case studies of various enterprises across various verticals and sectors for this index. This will essentially involve not only providing the enterprise with an index but also a gradation

model with specific recommendations on moving up the ladder in terms of ICT adoption. The performance indicators are ranked using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the weights are ascertained. Computing the ICT Capability Index for SCM from the metrics of the assessment model is done using tools such as Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Snorm De Boer standardized normalization (SNORM) method using the AHP weights as well as weights obtained from the questionnaire responses. This index is computed for 4 industries as a case study. Of these, 2 are from manufacturing, and 2 are from the MSME space.

This thesis also explored the wide range of ICT tools and technologies ranging from widely deployed tools such as RFID to emerging tools like cyber-physical systems and Industry 4.0. A detailed analysis is also performed of these tools as also the application domains in SCM are impacted by these tools and their enterprise deployments. Validation of assessment framework on ICT deployment for SCM has the potential to open new vistas on the selection of appropriate ICT tools after measurement of its impact on the supply chain paradigm and understanding success factors and operational challenges for adoption of these tools.

Another aspect of this research was a face-validity investigation specifically meant to endorse the positive influence in supply chain capabilities due to the deployment of ICT using System Dynamics (SD) methodology and its tool, Causal Loop Diagram (CLD). This investigation using SD on the positive impact of ICT intervention on SCM processes such as inventory control and distribution validated the research problem and hypothesis. This leads us to the premise that every activity in supply chain planning and execution is positively impacted by ICT. From a managerial standpoint, ICT capabilities influence various actors, control flows, and processes such as inventory management, MRP, demand forecasting, and production planning & scheduling. In this investigation, ICT deployment is the independent variable, which can be further divided into ICT advances and ICT alignment. ICT advances refer to the entire gamut of tools or technologies from EDI to ERP to the latest cutting-edge tools such as IoT or Cloud. ICT advances are further divided into hardware, software, and ICT product, which is a combination of both like IoT devices and cyber-physical systems. ICT alignment refers to the ICT integration between supply chain channel suppliers and partners. This is nothing but networking of hardware and/or software between the enterprise and other stakeholders. The research limitation is that there could be different granular approaches to ICT as a variable. This investigation has focused primarily on strategic supply chain metrics or level 1 metrics as per the SCOR model. There is ample scope to extend the investigation into level 2 metrics which are diagnostics of strategic metrics and level 3 metrics which are context or sector-specific. There are avenues to narrow the scope of the research to focus not only on specific sectors or verticals but also on specific ICT tools and specific geographies. For example, the impact of big data analytics on the automobile industry in South India, Cyber-Physical Systems in the retail sector in metros, etc. The ICT advantage for SCM holds immense potential and savings for Indian industry, be it large enterprises or Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME). Measuring this impact by providing a benchmark provides them with strategic choices for their investment in ICT as also the choice of ICT tool. This becomes all the more relevant considering the fact that annual global supply chain losses run into billions of dollars