Impact of big data analytics capabilities on supply chain sustainability. A case study of Iran

Date06 January 2020
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-06-2019-0031
Pages33-57
Published date06 January 2020
AuthorSajjad Shokouhyar,Mohammad Reza Seddigh,Farhad Panahifar
Subject MatterPublic policy & environmental management
Impact of big data analytics
capabilities on supply
chain sustainability
A case study of Iran
Sajjad Shokouhyar, Mohammad Reza Seddigh and Farhad Panahifar
Department of Management and Accounting,
Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model to explain the impact of big data
analytics capabilities (BDAC) on companys supply chain sustainability (CSCS). The secondary objective of
the study is to assess the relationship between different dimensions of supply chain sustainability and
companiesBDAC.
Design/methodology/approach This research was carried out by conducting a survey among 234
pharmaceutical companies in Iran (a case study of Iran), using a standard questionnaire of BDAC and United
Nations (UN) online self-assessment on supply chain sustainability. However, the respond of managers of 188
companies were usable in this research. Smart PLS3 was used to employ partial least squares method to
examine the validity and reliability of the measurement and structural model.
Findings The results of this study demonstrate that BDAC have a strong impact on both pharmaceutical
supply chain sustainability, and the dimensions including vision, engage and internal. It is found that the
relationships between BDAC and the other dimensions of supply chain sustainability including expect, scope
and goals are not significant but positive.
Research limitations/implications Research on the relationship between BDAC and CSCS, especially in
the pharmaceutical supply chain, is scanty, and this gap is highlighted in developing countries and the
pharmaceutical supply chain that plays a prominent role in public health. This paper discusses several
important barriers to forming a sustainable supply chain and strong BDA capabilities.
Practical implications This paper could be a guide to managers and consultants who are involved in big
data analytics and sustainable development. Since UN urges companies do the online self-assessment, the
results of this paper would be attractive and useful for UN global compact specialists.
Originality/value No study has directly measured the relation between BDAC and CSCS and different
dimensions of CSCS, using a comprehensive survey throughout all pharmaceutical companies in Iran.
Moreover, this research assesses the different dimensions of BDA capabilities and supply chain
sustainability. This paper represents the facts about situation of sustainability of pharmaceutical supply
chain and BDAC in these companies, and discloses several related issues that are serious barriers to forming a
sustainable supply chain and strong BDAC. In addition, this paper provided academic support for UN
questionnaire about CSCS and used it in the survey.
Keywords Sustainable development, Pharmaceutical supply chain, Big data analytics, Global compact,
Supply chain issues
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Due to exploitation of natural resources, to accomplish economic growth, andpoor policies in
terms of reprocessing or disposing industrial wastes in manycounties, human will encounter
different issues such as natural resources scarcity, more environmental pollution and many
other problems (Winston, 2014). So that it turned into a global concern. Thus, many
researchers and international organizations discussed the topic of sustainable development.
Sustainable development is defined as managing the processes for achieving goals such as
economic and social development, in which there is no depletion or destruction of natural
resources, sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide services and resources,
and avoiding contamination of the environment on which the economy and society depend
World Journal of Science,
Technology and Sustainable
Development
Vol. 17 No. 1, 2020
pp. 33-57
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2042-5945
DOI10.1108/WJSTSD-06-2019-0031
Received 7 June 2019
Revised 8 September 2019
Accepted 3 October 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5945.htm
33
Impact of
BDAC on
supply chain
sustainability
(Hak et al., 2016). In this respect, the document of sustainable development goals (SDGs) was
adopted at the United Nations (UN) sustainable development summit in New YorkCity, USA
in September 2015. There is a collection of 17 global goals set by the UN. Indicating that
Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.That has been
shortened to 2030Agenda.The goals are broad andinterdependent; each has a separatelist
of targets to achieve (United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, 2015). The United
Nations GlobalCompact is a UN pact to encouragebusinesses worldwide to adoptsustainable
and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. Under the Global
Compact, companiesthat are different membersof supply chain are brought togetherwith UN
agencies to followparticular principles and havecommitment to make their corporate and the
whole supply chain, sustainable (Brown et al., 2016).
In the recent years, the volume of data in the world is increasing sharply. This flood of
digital data is known as Big Data (BD) (Gandomi and Haider, 2015). BD have been defined
primarily with five characteristics: volume of data, variation of data, velocity (referring to
frequency or speed by which data is generated and delivered), data quality and value
(referring to the benefits from the analysis and use of BD) (Wamba et al., 2015). Some
researchers haveemphasized that analyzing BD is a powerful approach to create competitive
advantages for organization and is the key point of decision-making and the primary source
for responsibility. This framework is called Big data analytics(BDA) (Wamba and
Gunasekaran, 2017; Shokouhyar et al., 2017). BDA is founded on the earlier data analysis
methods using statistical techniques such as factor analysis, regression, correlations and
many different statistical tests and machine learning (Iniesta et al., 2016; Rezaei et al., 2017).
It includes data mining from high-speed data streams and sensor data to obtain real time
analytics (Chenet al., 2012). Thus, it is an interdisciplinary field,which uses the knowledge of
computer science, data science, statistics and mathematical models. Considerable progress in
data science now makes it possible to analyze BD in real time. New insights into the real life
and factsfrom such data mining and analysiscan be gleaned, which couldcomplement official
statistics and surveydata could be gathered from different sourcesspecially social networks
such as Instagram (Shokouhyar, Siadat and Razavi, 2018). This new data and the traditional
data must become integrated in order to produce high-quality information that is more
accurate, timely and relevant (Wang and Kung, 2018).
Although there are many studies of different functions of BDA, sustainable development
and supply chain and related subjects such as supply chain management, retailers and
customer satisfaction (Shokouhyar et al., 2018), there is not enough studies that measure the
impact of BDA on sustainability of supply chain. Since health is a crucial issue in human life
and pharmaceuticalsupply chain plays an importantrole in public health. This study focused
on pharmaceutical supply chain. Iran as a developing country, owing to the increase of
competition among various companies and demand for healthcare services, needs to be
evaluated on sustainability. Thus, in order to fill the existing gap, the aim of this paper is to
assess the impactof BDA capabilities (BDAC) on pharmaceutical supply chain sustainability
and also its dimensions. So, the main questions of this research is raised as follows:
RQ1. How are BDA capabilities are measured and how much have Iranian
pharmaceutical companies developed BDA capabilities?
RQ2. What are the different dimensions of supply chain sustainability and to what
extent is Iranian pharmaceutical supply chain sustainable?
RQ3. Do BDA capabilities have a significant and positive impact on of supply chain
sustainability of companies and its different dimensions?
The rest of this paper is structured as follows. First presents an overview of the major
research and studies on BD and sustainable development. Second states theoretical
34
WJSTSD
17,1

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT