Empirical investigation of supply chain 4.0 adoption in Vietnam

Nguyen, Giang; Soares, Anabela; Duong, Linh; Kumar, Vikas

Abstract

Purpose
With the rise of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, supply chain (SC) has evolved significantly to become digital SC or the so-called Supply chain 4.0 (SC 4.0). Despite Vietnamese government’s priority on I4.0 as a prominent growth driver of the sustainable economic development, there is still a serious shortage of implementation as well as in-depth research studies that identify the conditional factors determining the investment of Vietnamese corporations in pursuit of SC 4.0. It was also highlighted that a severe lack of theories that investigate SC4.0 in a more holistic way exist. By integrating Technology – Organisation – Environment (TOE) framework, Inter-organisational relationship (IOR) model and Competing Values Model (CVM), the research aims to explore the enablers and barriers under the influence of organisational cultures in the implementation of SC 4.0 in Vietnamese organisations.
Research design/methodology/approach
Systematic literature review (SLR) was employed, following three main stages adapted from Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003). Later, primary data was collected through a sequential explanatory mixed methods design – a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews with 14 managers, followed by a quantitative method involving questionnaire distribution to 285 managers from Vietnamese organisations. While the interviews’ data was analysed with NVivo software, the questionnaires’ data was analysed with SPSS.
Findings
As the result of SLR, barriers and enablers from 153 articles were coded and developed into a set of 3 themes and 7 sub-themes which are Technology factors (Perceived benefits and Perceived risks), Organisation factors (Top management’s knowledge and support and Organisational resources) and Environment factors (Market pressure, Market support and Inter-organisational relationships) that constitute the SC 4.0 implementation framework. This conceptual framework and a number of hypotheses withdrawn from the SLR will be tested through quantitative and qualitative data collection.
Research limitations
The research is carried out from managerial perspective and may not reflect the technical challenges and enablers towards the implementation of SC 4.0.
Implications
In term of scientific contribution, the research aims to advance social understanding and sense of urgency towards the adoption of I4.0 into SC in Vietnam. Due to the different nature of Vietnamese market in terms of level of SC development and I4.0, it is expected the critical factors for implementation in the country to be different than reported in existing literature that are predominantly focused on developed country context. Importantly, the moderating impact of organisational culture will also be explored so that the outcome can offer practical suggestions to the organisation about cultural settings, policies, strategies and other changes. Additionally, the theoretical framework can be built for the implementation of SC 4.0 not only in Vietnam but also for the developing countries where the 4th revolution has emerged and influenced the SC.
Originality/value
This is the first study in exploring the enablers and barriers of SC 4.0 implementation under the influence of organisational culture in Vietnamese firms.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: College of Business and Law – UWE & Faculty of Business and Law-Taylor University Doctoral Conference
• Start Date: Jun 21, 2023
• End Date: Jun 21, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 11, 2024
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/12040791