Investigating Digital Supply Chain Transformation Drivers: An Empirical Study

Digital transformation plays a significant role in delivering solutions to supply chain (SC) and encouraging new drivers of economic development. This research aims at identifying the main elements constituting the digital SC transformation, while highlighting the main requirements and obstacles facing such transformation. The paper analyzes the impact of digital transformation on changing SC characteristics in order to identify the main drivers for transformation. An empirical study is conducted to assess companies’ awareness and level of readiness to adopt digital SC transformation and identify the main obstacles facing such transformation. Clear benefits have been identified from SC digital transformation which can impact different performance metrics. Other factors that should not be ignored are to ensure the level of readiness and ecosystem support. The survey identifies cost and lack of a clear methodology for digital SC initiatives as main factors limiting organizations' digital SC transformation. Empirical studies can be conducted to measure the benefits of SC digital transformation based on the performance measures and metrics identified in this paper. The paper provides a road map to deal with the main factors which limit organizations' digital SC agenda at the execution level. This paper proposes a framework capturing the main drivers which can enable digital SC transformation in the business sector. The paper conducts an empirical study to assess the current status in organizations and the obstacles towards digital SC transformation.