Transition Towards Supply Chain 4.0: Interweaving a Technological Perspective – Insights from Turkey and beyond

Supply Chain 4.0 represents a technological transformation in the way that supply chains work, extending the application of Industry 4.0 technologies from manufacturing and other advanced technologies into upstream and downstream processes. Despite the increasing global interest in this domain, the successful transition to Supply Chain 4.0 remains limited in practice, with existing literature highlighting its fragmented and under-conceptualized status. Adopting a strategic management approach to supply chains, this thesis amalgamates dynamic capabilities theory with the business-technology alignment concept, drawing from the domains of Information Technology Management and Information Systems, complemented by the integration of the multi-level perspective derived from transition literature, to underpin the thesis framework. This framework is then enriched by identifying the trio of benefits, challenges, and critical factors associated with the transition to Supply Chain 4.0, thereby contributing to advancing the knowledge frontiers within the domain of Supply Chain 4.0. This multi-method thesis uncovers the trio at two distinct levels: the technology level and the general Supply Chain 4.0 level. Twelve technologies closely associated with Supply Chain 4.0 are identified at the technology level, and the trio is analyzed in relation to each of these technologies. At the general level, the trio is examined in relation to Supply Chain 4.0 as a holistic concept. Insights derived from both these levels significantly enrich the thesis framework, offering valuable implications for the transition to Supply Chain 4.0. At the technology level, the findings of this thesis unveil the trio of benefits, challenges, and critical factors in relation to the following twelve technologies: Internet of Things; artificial intelligence; cloud computing; blockchain; big data technologies; augmented reality; automation; robotics; additive manufacturing; simulation; Internet of People, and semantic technologies. At the general level, the trio of benefits, challenges and critical factors is identified as follows: benefits include supply chain transparency, enhanced decision-making, supply chain integration, and supply chain process optimization. Challenges encompass high costs, the scarcity of requisite skillsets, security and privacy concerns, infrastructure development complexities, intricacies of coordination in Supply Chain 4.0, and inherent complexities within the technologi