Quantifying SWOT analysis for cloud adoption using FAHP-DEMATEL approach: evidence from the manufacturing sector

Synergistic evaluation system of "technology and service" in smart elderly care institutions in China

Background

Smart elderly care faces numerous challenges while aligning with the national strategy of promoting the silver economy. Chief among these challenges is the inconsistent quality of services offered by smart elderly care institutions, which significantly impedes the industry's further development. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for assessing the quality of smart elderly care services, refine the evaluation index system for these services, and explore strategies to enhance their quality.

Methods

Based on the Structure-Process-Outcome model, this paper has developed an integrated theoretical framework and employed a combination of modified-Delphi method and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory - Analytic Network Process to establish and assign weights to the service quality evaluation system for smart elderly care institutions in China.

Results

This study develops a "Technology + Service" synergistic theoretical framework and an index system comprising four first-tier indicators, 12 second-tier indicators, and 54 third-tier indicators. The most significant indicators identified are service resources, smart elderly care infrastructure, staffing, service empathy, the rate of health file creation, 3S device coverage rate, and average living space per bed.

Conclusion

The results reveal that service resources, especially the information technology infrastructure and smart equipment are the most crucial aspects of smart elderly care institutions. Additionally, institutions should focus on improving the expertise of their staff and providing psychological care for elderly adults.

Learnings from Industry 4.0 for transitioning towards Industry 4.0+: challenges and solutions for Indian pharmaceutical sector

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is helping production units to become smarter using cyber-physical systems and cognitive intelligence. The advanced diagnostics with I4.0 technologies (I4.0t) help in making the process highly flexible, resilient and autonomous. Still, the adoption of I4.0t especially in emerging economies like India is at a very slow pace. The present research has used an integrated approach i.e., Analytical Hierarchy Process-Combinative Distance-Based Assessment-Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory to propose a barrier solution framework using data from pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. The findings reveal that "Costly venture" is found to be the most critical deterrent while "Customer awareness and satisfaction" is one of the potential solutions for I4.0t adoption. Further, lack of standardisation and fair benchmarking policies especially in the context of developing economies needs immediate attention. This article concludes by proposing a framework which will help to move from I4.0 towards Industry 4.0 + (I4.0+) which emphasises on role of collaboration between man and machine. And leads to sustainable supply chain management.

Barriers to information and digital technology adoption in humanitarian supply chain management: a fuzzy AHP approach

Purpose

The humanitarian supply chain (HSC) area is rich with conceptual frameworks with a focus on the importance of information and digital technology (IDT) applications. These frameworks have a limited scope in investigating and prioritizing barriers to IDT adoption in HSCs. The present study thus identifies and prioritizes the barriers to IDT adoption in organizations involved in HSCs.

Design/methodology/approach

By using a literature review allied with expert discussions and a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP), the study identifies and prioritizes a comprehensive set of barriers that organizations involved in HSCs may consider to improve IDT adoption.

Findings

The study investigates five main barriers (strategic, organizational, technological, financial and human) interlocked with 25 sub-barriers impacting the level of IDT adoption in organizations involved in HSCs. The findings indicate that strategic barriers (SBs) are of greatest importance, followed by organizational, technological, financial and human barriers. The findings indicate the difference in ranking barriers influencing the adoption of IDTs in HSCs compared to the commercial supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

Although a three-step method adopted for this study is rigorous in terms of the way this research is conducted, it is essential to report that prioritization is based on the subjective opinions of the experts.

Practical implications

The findings aim to assist policymakers and practitioners in developing effective strategies to improve IDT adoption in organizations engaged in HSCs. Moreover, the prioritization of barriers provides a systematic way to overcome any barriers to improve HSC performance.

Originality/value

This study is first of its kind that investigates and prioritizes the barriers to IDT adoption in HSCs.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on perishable food supply chain management: a contingent Resource-Based View (RBV) perspective

Purpose

This study investigates the impact of supplier visibility on the adoption of sustainable practices and supply chain performance. The paper applies contingent Resource-Based View to explain how information sharing with customers and suppliers and supply chain traceability has influenced visibility; visibility has impacted supply chain velocity sustainable practices, and finally, supply chain performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This research analyses 263 survey responses from UK retail (grocery) stores' executives and managers for perishable food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

The research results indicate that both supply chain traceability and information sharing (customers) positively influence visibility. Further, visibility positively influences the adoption of sustainable practices and velocity, positively impacting supply chain performance. However, information sharing with the customer has no significant influence on performance, and information sharing with the supplier has no significant relationship with visibility.

Originality/value

This research is the first attempt that explores the contingent Resource-Based View for the perishable food supply chain. Further, the empirical evidence provides meaningful insights for academics and industry by filling a crucial lacuna in the literature.

Cloud vendor selection for the healthcare industry using a big data-driven decision model with probabilistic linguistic information

The role of cloud services in the data-intensive industry is indispensable. Cision recently reported that the cloud market would grow to 55 billion USD, with an active contribution of the cloud to healthcare around 2025. Inspired by the report, cloud vendors expand their market and the quality of services to seek growth globally. The rapid growth of the cloud sector in the healthcare industry imposes a challenge: making a rational choice of a cloud vendor (CV) out of a diverse set of vendors. Typically, the healthcare industry 4.0 sees the issue as a large-scale group decision-making problem. Previous studies on a CV selection face certain challenges, such as (i) a lack of the ability to handle multiple users' views, as well as experts'/users' complex linguistic views; (ii) the confidence level associated with a view is not considered; (iii) the transformation of multiple users' views into holistic data is lacking; and (iv) the systematic prioritization of CVs with minimum human intervention is a crucial task. Motivated by these challenges and circumventing them, a new big data-driven decision model is put forward in this paper. Initially, the data in the form of complex expressions are collected from multiple cloud users and are further transformed into a holistic decision matrix by adopting probabilistic linguistic information (PLI). PLI represents complex linguistic expressions along with the associated confidence levels. Later, a holistic decision matrix is formed with the missing values imputed by proposing an imputation algorithm. Furthermore, the criteria weights are determined by using a newly proposed mathematical model and partial information. Finally, the evaluation based on the distance from average solution (EDAS) approach is extended to PLI for the rational ranking of CVs. A real-time example of a CV selection for a healthcare center in India is exemplified so as to demonstrate the usefulness of the model, and the comparison reveals the merits and limitations of the model.

Organizational Agility in Industry 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review

Agility is the dynamic capability of an organization which helps it to manage a change and uncertainties in the environment. The purpose of this research is to review the literature from the perspective of agility in Industry 4.0. This paper systematically reviews 381 relevant articles from peer-reviewed academic journals in the period of the last five years. The results show that agility is important for an organization to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies as it helps companies to cope with the changes that arise along with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Further, it also indicates that by adopting Industry 4.0 technologies, companies can significantly enhance their agility capability into various aspects with different technologies. The technologies which enhance the agility are: smart manufacturing, internet of things, cyber-physical system, big data and analytics and cloud computing. On the other hand, important aspects of agility include supply chain, workforce, information system, facilities, management, manufacturing and technology agility.

Procurement 4.0 to the rescue: catalysing its adoption by modelling the challenges

Purpose

The pandemic crisis has resulted in global chaos that had caused massive disruption to the supply chain. The pharmaceutical industry, in particular, has been working tirelessly to ensure that they can cater to the people who need them. With restrictions being imposed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the movement of raw materials required has been affected, thus creating the need for the procurement function to be innovative. This study proposes the application of Industry 4.0 concepts into the procurement activities of an organization to make it more resilient and efficient.

Design/methodology/approach

To study the intensity of the challenges, Total Interpretive Structural Modelling is used alongside the “Matrice des Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquee a un Classement” (MICMAC) technique.

Findings

Resilience can be achieved through the collaboration between the organization and its network of suppliers. This is however easier said than done. High and unclear investments have been identified as the challenge that is taking a toll on all technological investments in the pandemic era. The study also shows that organizational inertia which is present in established and structured firms are a deterrent as well.

Originality/value

This study is based on the application of procurement 4.0 to ensure that pharmaceutical supply chains stay least affected since they are essentials. This study using a multi-criteria decision-making approach to prioritize the challenges. This will help practitioners make decisions faster.