An Analysis of the Potential Applications of Big Data Analytics (BDA) in Supply Chain Management: Emerging Market Perspective

Abstract

Big Data is defined as the techniques, technologies, systems, practices, methodologies, and applications that analyze critical business data to help an enterprise better understand its business and market and make timely business decisions. Big Data can be utilized to gain critical and fundamental insights towards optimizing the supply chain decisions more effective and efficient. In the recent years, therefore, researchers and practitioners have tried to measure the capabilities of Big Data to optimize Supply Chain Management (SCM) efficiency. This research attempts to provide a clear understanding of Big Data applications on Supply Chain Management in emerging markets, especially in Bangladesh, primarily focusing on four key areas: reducing inventory cost, attaining cost leadership, improving customer service and enhancing speed of delivery. To investigate the potential application of Big Data in supply management, a qualitative research has been conducted. Ten in-depth interviews and a case study have been conducted to collect the relevant information from the supply chain experts of the selected firms. Thematic analysis and Hermeneutic iterative methods of analyses have been used. The results indicate that the supply chain of both physical products and services can be benefited from Big Data analytics. The study also revealed that Big Data can be applied in SCM for operational and development purposes including value discovery, value creation and value capture. This study would help the decision makers and practitioners of Supply Chain Management of diverse fields to adopt Big Data to improve the organizations performance and sustainability.

Keywords: Big Data analytics, Supply Chain Management, applications, emerging markets.