Big data driven supply chains in SMEs: The role of industry digitalization

Abstract

The adoption of technologies is critical for SMEs seeking to maintain competitiveness, particularly through improved supply chain management. While industry-level digitalization can either facilitate or constrain firm-level digitalization efforts, its role has received limited scholarly attention. This study investigates how the use of big data analytics in supply chain management is associated with SME profitability, and how this relationship varies by industry-level digitalization in terms of assets, usage, and labor. Drawing on survey data from 289 SMEs, supplemented with objective financial indicators and secondary data on industry digitalization, regression analysis reveals that the use of big data analytics in supply chain management significantly boosts SME profitability. The effect is most pronounced in industries characterized by high levels of digital stakeholder engagement (that is, usage), rather than other dimensions of digitalization. Our findings identify conditions under which investments in big data driven supply chains are most likely to yield financial returns.