Exploring the relevance and maturity of digital supply chain transformations in academia and practice

Hellweg, Frauke; Wesendrup, Kevin; Hellingrath, Bernd

Abstract

Nowadays, the management of supply chains has become an indispensable success factor, and the digital transformation changes supply chains fundamentally, increasing competitive advantage. Even though the importance of "going digital" is undisputed, previous research lacks clear insights into the fundamental capabilities to facilitate a successful transformation and how far they are realized in practice. Therefore, this paper presents nine capabilities crucial for the digital transformation of supply chains. We explore the coverage of these capabilities with an extensive multivocal literature review where we juxtapose theoretical white and practical grey literature. Additionally, the maturity of the capabilities is assessed in a survey and discussed with experts. Furthermore, we discuss fits and gaps between the findings and provide explanations and avenues for future research.