Implementing Supply Chain Technologies in Emerging Markets: An Institutional Theory Perspective

Abstract

Supply chain technology (SCT) facilitates information transfer within and across firm boundaries. However, institutional environments in emerging markets give rise to challenges that inhibit the implementation of SCT and the consequent realization of its benefits. Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding as to the nature or the extent of these implementation challenges. We undertook a grounded theory study in the emerging market of India to investigate how SCT is implemented when subjected to prevailing institutional pressures. Based on an analysis of interviews with 50 supply chain managers, we find that early adopters of SCT experience significant and numerous unmet expectations associated with SCT implementation. These unmet expectations arise from competing institutional logics with the resultant isomorphic pressure causing the juxtaposition of two incompatible supply chains in India. A key finding of this study contradicts extant research, supporting recent work in emerging markets, to suggest a need to reassess our mental models developed in the West and conceptualize de novo models that are sensitive to the institutional environments of emerging markets.