Mitigating Supply Chain Risk via Sustainability Using Big Data Analytics: Evidence from the Manufacturing Supply Chain

Abstract

The use of big data analytics for forecasting business trends is gaining momentum among professionals. At the same time, supply chain risk management is important for practitioners to consider because it outlines ways through which firms can allay internal and external threats. Predicting and addressing the risks that social issues cause in the supply chain is of paramount importance to the sustainable enterprise. The aim of this research is to explore the application of big data analytics in mitigating supply chain social risk and to demonstrate how such mitigation can help in achieving environmental, economic, and social sustainability. The method involves an expert panel and survey identifying and validating social issues in the supply chain. A case study was used to illustrate the application of big data analytics in identifying and mitigating social issues in the supply chain. Our results show that companies can predict various social problems including workforce safety, fuel consumptions monitoring, workforce health, security, physical condition of vehicles, unethical behavior, theft, speeding and traffic violations through big data analytics, thereby demonstrating how information management actions can mitigate social risks. This paper contributes to the literature by integrating big data analytics with sustainability to explain how to mitigate supply chain risk.In reviewing literature on big data analytics (BDA) and sustainability, Keeso [12] argues that the application of big data in sustainable operations is often slow to achieve desired outcomes. Although sustainable supply chain management has little history in academic literature, it has become a mainstream area for practitioners [13][14][15]. On the other hand, building on the knowledge-based perspective some suggest the need for BDA as a knowledge resource that can be harvested and retained. The knowledge-based view can be traced from Simon's [16] seminal work with significant extensions by Grant [17,18], Huber [19] and Levitt and March [20]. Further, the knowledge-based perspective suggests how big data can fuel the purposive search for market and resource innovation opportunities [21]; such resources can provide corporations a competitive advantage [22].While building knowledge-based resources, it is also imperative to predict and avoid risks causing potential disruptions [23]. Recently, supply chain risk management (SCRM) has become a priority because of its capability to avert potential disruption and recover more quickly from disruptions that cannot be averted [24]. There are various risks including material flow risk, information flow risk and financial flow risk that cause supply chain disruptions [25]. Among these risks, supply chain social issues can impose significant operational risks on the supply chain [26]. In the literature the linkage between supply chain social issues, and risk management has been established [26]. Further, Klassen and Vreecke [26] show that social issues can be managed through effective monitoring, innovation cap...

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