Drivers for Internet of Things (IoT) adoption in supply chains: Implications for sustainability in the post-pandemic era

Abstract

As the post-COVID-19 pandemic era begins, the supply chain operating environment has transformed and faced disruptions. The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as one of the expedient technologies in the information technology domain, which solves the issues of traditional supply chain management (SCM) by providing resiliency, flexibility, and traceability. Despite the perceived advantages of IoT, it remains unknown what drivers are essential to adopt IoT in SCM. To achieve this aim, an integrated approach combining rough set theory and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), that is rough strength relation analysis (RSRA) method, has been used to identify and investigate drivers of IoT adoption in SCM where drivers were analyzed according to their comparative importance based on expert opinions from industrial and academic backgrounds. A total of 14 drivers have been identified from the extensive literature review on previous IoT and SCM associated works, which were further analyzed to determine the most important drivers. The results show that “Efficient logistics systems”, “Business knowledge acumen”, and “Information safety assurance” are among the three most predominant driving factors. The findings may help practitioners implement IoT in supply chains to deal with disruptions, risks and vulnerabilities in the post-pandemic era.