Social Media: A Catalyst to Environmental Sensing for Supply Chain Management

Abstract

In today’s dynamic business environment organizations are competing in volatile marketplaces and to stay
competitive they need to explore new market opportunities and develop innovative ideas and flexibility to respond
to fluctuations in the business environment. The purpose of this research is to explore how the use of social
media improves sensing capability of organizations for a better supply chain management. Following an
interpretive research paradigm, this study employed a post priory inductive research approach and a
qualitative research methodology to explore the perspectives of supply chain professionals and academics on
the use of social media in supply chain management (SCM). Primary data was collected through semistructured
interviews. Thematic analysis was used to derive insights from the interviews with supply chain
professionals and academics. Results from 10 supply chain professionals suggest that turbulent environments
increase a firm’s scanning activities on supply market, while intense competition increases the firm’s scanning
on both supply and customer markets via social media. We can expect infusion of social media enabled
sensing techniques in upstream as well as downstream of the supply chain. From Environmental sensing
point of view, we propose that how companies can implement the social media in supply chain management and
what benefits from social media they can get. While this study provides valuable insights, it has several
limitations. The qualitative nature of the research, with a limited sample size of ten interviewees, may not fully
capture the diverse experiences and perspectives within the industry. The focus on Pakistani companies may
limit the generalizability of the findings to other regions with different technological advancements and
cultural contexts. Additionally, the relatively recent adoption of social media in SCM means that long-term
effects and trends were not fully explored. The study primarily relied on self-reported data, which may be subject
to bias. Environmental sensing is a pre requisite for effective reconfiguration and seizing of new opportunities
in the business environment. Information technology and different market intelligence tools facilitate in
environmental sensing thus having a transformational role in supply chain management. Similarly,
internet and social media also play important role particularly in transforming digital supply chains. The
information available on use of social media in supply chain management for improving sensing capability
is sparse. Therefore, the significance of this research is twofold. First it aims to contribute in the existing
theory and literature by exploring a relatively scarcely researched phenomenon of social media enabled
environmental sensing for supply chain management. Secondly it aims to develop new courses of actions for
practitioners and policy makers for active integration of social media technology and platforms for improving
supply chain management.