Emerging Supply Chain Management

(1)

DOI: 10.4018/IJSSMET.2021070103

The Potential of Social Media in

Emerging Supply Chain Management

Nermine M. Khalifa, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Egypt Mona M. Abd Elghany, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Egypt Marwa M. Abd Elghany, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Thispaperdiscussesthepotentialroleofsocialmediainmanagingsupplychainactivitiesforbusiness

inthedevelopingcountriesandhowtofaceunexpectedchallengesinthesecountries.Sincethere

alimitedresearchinthefieldofusesocialmediainthesupplychain,proposingtheuseofsuch

platformsforthird-worldbusinessmightenabletheseenterprisestosurviveglobally.Exploratory

casestudiesperformedbyauthorstodrilldownandfigureouttheissuesfacedbytheirbusinessand

howthesebusinessesaretryingtosurvive.Casestudiesareusedtolearnmoreaboutstudiedissues

andunfoldthehiddenone.Thestudyproposesamodelofhowthesocializedplatformscouldgive

morevisibilityandknowledgediscoverytoolalongsupplychainchannel.Themodelisextendedthat

incorporatessupplychainchallengesindevelopingcountriesandthesignificantroleofsocialmedia

inproposingsolutions.Theproposedmodelwillmergetobusinessoperatingindevelopingcountries

context.SincetheadoptionofERPsystemswasnotenoughtooptimizebusinessperformancethere,

theproposedvalueofusingsocialmediaasthemostaffordableplatformwillenabletransparent

supplychainactivitiesalongtheintegratedpipeline.Thestudyprovidestheinterrelatedperspective

ofsupplychainchallengesandproposedsolutionstoovercomesuchissues.Manyperceivedvalues

hadbeenacknowledgedofbusinesssuchasmoretransparencywithcustomers,promptshipment

notificationorinventorydrop,minimizesupplychainrisksandmanageunfrozenexternalfactors,

workingcloselywithmulti-tierpartners,optimizedataexchangeonday-to-daytransactions.Social

mediacouldalertsupplychainpartnerswithpotentialrisks.Predictionmarketsareproposedtoadapt

forbettermanagement.

KEywoRdS

Social Media Analytics, Supply Chain Challenges

1. INTRodUCTIoN

Isyourbusinesspartofthethirdworld?Doyousufferfromunfrozeninfrastructurechallenges?

Invested/willingtoinvestfortunetogetbest-of-breedapplicationstocompeteglobally?Stilltrying

tosurvivewitheconomic,politicalorenvironmentalissues?Whynottoletyourbusinesstoshine

andtakepartglobally?Thinkout-of-the-boxandletyourbusinesstobecomedominantinsocializing

withpartners.

Businessstilllacksanaffordabletoolthatcanimprovesupplychainefficiencyandimprove

visibilitylongthechain.Enterprisesarelookingforleveragingmorerobustsocialplatforms tobetter

planandcontroltheirsupplychain.Socialmediaprovidedpeoplewithabetterwaytocommunicate.

(2)

However,theadoptionandtheuseofe-collaborationtoolsbecameanecessityforsupplychains.

Offshoreandglobalchainusedtobecomecomplicatedandmulti-tieronethathearttobecome

managedsmoothly.Mostcommonlyitlackshighvisibilitythatextremelyaffectsitsprofitability.That’s

whycontrollingsupplychainandimprovingitsvisibilityshouldbemanagedtopositivelyimpact

itscostsandrisksaswellit’stransparencywithcustomers.Businessesshowedagreatattentionto

socialmediaandbigdata.Nevertheless,theroleofusingsocialmediainsupplychainmanagement

hasbeencomparativelyslow(Chae,2015).Socialmediaenablespeopletocommunicateandbuild

relationships,Managementdependsonthecustomerextractedinformationfromthatplatformfor

serviceenhancements.Nevertheless,tomentiontheseplatformscoulduseforthemainpurpose

amongtradingpartners.Capturedknowledgethroughtheseplatformsprovidesinsightintovarious

issuesofthesupplychain,industry,competition,etc.Furthermore,socialmediacanplayacrucial

roleinsupplychainresponsiveness;theuseofsuchapplicationscaneasilyenabletriggeringmajor

supplychainperformanceindicators:promptnessofon-timecarrierdeliveryandlatepayments.

Twittermessagesforinstancecaneasilytriggertheshipmentsoralerttounfrozeneternalfactors.

Insightinformationonexpectedthreatsandbestpracticesmakethemanagementmorethoughtfulon

howtooptimizetheirbusinessprocessandstreamlinetheirbusiness.Unsurprisingly,Socialmedia

cangiveeffectivewayforcompaniestoissueinformationindownstream.Thenextsectiondiscusses

thechallengesfacedbybusinesswithindevelopingcountries,potentialofsocialmediaandhowcan

effectivelydeployedwithinsupplychain.

2. LITERATURE REVIEw

Informationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICTs)areundoubtedlyusefulforbusinesses.However,

testingnewICTsisnotalwayscosteffective(Badsietal.,2017).Themassiveamountofdatanow

availableraisesthequestionofhowcompaniescanmakeefficientuseofwhatliesbehindtheirbusiness

processes.InteractionsbetweenITandbusinessstructureswithintheorganizationwouldappearto

benecessary.BigDataandAnalyticshavebecomekeyconceptswithinthecorporateworld,both

commerciallyandfromaninformationtechnology(IT)perspective.Theintersectionofbusinessand

technologyisveryimportant(KrimpmannandStühmeier,2017).

Supplychainintegrationhasbecomeamajorchallengeforcompaniesinthecurrentcontext.

Informationsharingandcollaborationimprovesupplychainflexibility,tractability,andefficiency.

Severalstudieshavedemonstratedthatthepositiveandthesignificantrelationshipbetweensupply

chainintegrationandfirmperformance.Otherstudieshavefocusedonthefactorsthataffectthis

relationship(MohamedandHassan,2019).Inthefaceoftoday’shighlycompetitiveandglobal

markets,manufacturingenterprisesnolongeroperateasindependententities,butratherasmulti-site

supplychain(Felfel,Ayadi,andMasmoudi,2017).

Inlightofdigitaltransformation,manyfirmstrytoincreasetheagilityoftheirinnovation

processes.Inthisregard,theyparticularlyrelyondesignthinkingorontheleanstartupapproachto

reducesomeofthedeficitsofestablishedinnovationprocesses(Lichtenthaler,2020).Implementation

ofEnterpriseResourcePlanningsystems(ERPs)isacomplexandcostlyprocessthatisusually

accompaniedwithseriousrisks.NumerousresearchprojectshavebeenconductedtoilluminateERP

CriticalSuccessFactors(CSFs)soastoidentifythemainfactorsinenhancingsuccessrate.Project

managers’skillsofERPsystemimplementationprojectsareviewedasoneofthemosteffective

factorsinthesuccessofsuchprojects(AmalnikandRavasan,2018).

Decision-makingistheprocessofrecognizingalternativecoursesofactionandselecting

appropriatealternativesineachdecisioncondition.Thisdefinitionpresentstwoessentialparts(Galli,

andBattiloro,2019):1.identifyingalternativefieldsofactionmeansthatanidealsolutionmaynot

existormightnotberecognizable;2.selectinganappropriatealternativemeansthattheremaybe

manyrelevantalternativesandinappropriateoptionsaretobeassessedandrejected.

(3)

Businesswithdevelopingcountriescontextsuffersmoretocompeteglobally.Neverthelessto

statethatdespitetheirexperiencedchallenges,theiremergingmarketsareconsideredaspromising

onethatprovidesbusinessopportunities(Babbaretal.,2008).Generally.Businessisinfiercefight

togetmoremarketshareinthecompetitiveenvironment,havingtheirestablishmentindeveloping

countriescontextloadmorepressuretoacceleratetheirperformance,overcomesupplychainobstacles

tocompeteglobally.Theliteraturesectionwillhavetheoverviewonstudiesconductedonthesupply

chainindevelopingcountriesandtheirexperienceissuesandhowcantechnologicaltoolssuchas

socialmediaapplicationscouldhelpthesebusinessestosurvive.Theliteraturereviewcouldnot

addressthebenefitofsocialmediareadingtotheSCMbecauserecentlytherearenosuchcases

performedinanyresearchesuntilnow.

2.1 Business Challenges in developing Countries

Leadingorganizationsfaceseveralchallengestoincreasetheirproductivity,cutcostsandimprove

thequalityatthesametimetheseorganizationsshouldimprovetheirprofitability.Mostofthefull- packageproducershavebeenre-directedtooffshoringtoplacetheirmainoperationsoffshorewhere

laborcostandmaterialscostaremuchmoreaffordable,oftentheseproductionfacilitiestakeplace

indevelopingcountries.

Themainstreamofsupplychainresearchaddressesthedevelopedcountrycontextwhilethe

mainpriorityofexperiencingchallengedareencounteredbythedevelopingcountries(Größler

etal.,2013).Giventhatfacttheindustrialorganizationwithindevelopingcountriesexperience

manyissuestomanagetheirsupplychainsmoothly.Theseissuesarerelatedtoinstableeconomy,

poortechnologicalcapabilities,limitedinfrastructureandlackoftrustbetweenpartners(Oralaet

al.,2003;Dongchuletal.,2002),accordingly,theseorganizationsencountermanydifficultiesto

reachtheglobalmarketandprovideserviceuptothestandard.Chinesefirmsacknowledgethatits

adoptiontoroleoforiginalequipmentmanufacturers(OEM),hasenabledthesefirmstobecome

moreexperiencedin“brandproviding”strategy(Kaibin,2008).Chinareapstheperceivedbenefit

ofhavingtheOEMroleoftheirunitstofulfillthedevelopedmarketsdemand.Lateron,itexpands

itsproductioncapabilitiestolaunchtheirdomesticbrandsgloballyandbecomeanoriginaldesign

manufacturing(ODM)(Blanchard,2007;Wreden,2004).

Thechallengeisalwayshowtooptimizeyoursupplychain;supplychainoptimizationand

managementhavedifferentlevelstoaddress.Tooptimizethesupplychainperformance,thebusiness

maytargetlongtermorshort-termobjectives.Thestrategicobjectivesemphasisonsupplychain

design,simulationanddemandplanningforlong-termbenefits,howevertheoperationalobjectives

aremorerelatedtoproductionschedule,stockmanagementandtransportationmanagement.Along

mostoftheempiricalstudiesconductedfororganizationalbehaviorindevelopingcountriescontext,it

reflectstheindividualpatternofbehavioralongthechainwherecriticalinformationisnotcommonly

shared(Blanchard,2007).

PiotrowiczandCuthbertson,(2015)studiedobstaclesofSupplyChainManagementandproposed

aframeworktocategorizesuchobstacles.Theyreferredintheirstudytovaluablecontributionsof

manyresearchersstudiedthesamecontext.Sinceit’scrystalclearthatdevelopingcountriessuffer

fromhighdegreeofuncertaintyduetoeconomicandpoliticalissues(PrasadandTata2010;Khalifa,

2010),Furthermore,Issuesrelatedtotransportinfrastructure,(PrasadandBabbar,2000),local

policiesandinfrastructures(Caglianoetal.,2001)interferedtoaffectthesupplychainperformance

ofthisorganization.

Thefocusoncostreductionandqualitystandardsisthemainobsessionofbusiness.Replicating

successfulscenarioofthefirmoperatingindevelopingcountriesisnoteasy.Thisscenarioshouldbe

tailoredtothelocalcontextthefirmfunctioningin(PiotrowiczandCuthberson,2015).Nevertheless,

firmsindevelopingcountriesentaildifferentiatedstrategicapproachestobeadopted(Londonand

Hart,2004).

(4)

Inthepastdecades,researcheshavebecomeincreasinglyinterestedininformationupdating

problemsinsupplychainmanagementbecausesupplyanddemandmismatchseriouslyhurtssupply

chainperformance(Zhaoetal.,2018).Recently,manyresearchesregardingtoservicesupplychain

hasjustbeencarriedoutaboutidentifyingdefinitionsstructureofservicesupplychain(Boon-ittetal.,

2017).Therearemanystudiesinvestigatesupplychaincoordinationproblems(Heydari,Govindan,

andSadeghi,2018)andsomeofthemgiveverydetailedreviews.

Differentclassificationswereproposedbyresearchersforsupplychainchallenges.Forinstance,

Harlandetal.(2007)categorizetheobstaclesinto:behavioralandcultural,technical,businessand

SCrelated.Meanwhile,Richeyetal.(2010)definetwocategories:Internalandexternalcategories

ofbarriers.Thedifferentiationbetweentwoisreferredtoifitisconsideredasmanageableasone

theorganizationornot.Thecostrelatedissuesareconsideredasmanageableoneinaccordanceto

itsclassification.Theinternalonecouldbefurtherbreakdownintounidirectionalbarriersinwhich

individualfocusgoesononeorganizationwhileinternalizationismorecustomersorientedapproach

(Walkeretal.,2008),Externalonebarriersembracecountryregulations,suppliercommitment,

lackoftrust&exchangeinformation.Mosttheseissuesareconsideredasuncontrolledfromstudy

perspective.ParkandUngson’sstudy(2001)highlightsonekeyissuerelatedtodevelopingcountries

culturewheresupplychainpartnerlacktrusttoshareinformationsointerfirmrivalry(competition

insteadofcooperation)willberaised,thestudyelaborateaswellonmanagementchallengesinthe

samecontext.

Thechallengesexperiencedbyafirmindevelopingcountriesextendedaswellintoencounter

ERPadoptionchallengesasconsequencesofenvironmentalandculturalchallengeexperiencedin

thatcontext.Theauthorsexaminesuchchallengeswithindevelopingcountrycontextinprevious

study.Cross-industrycasestudieswereconductedonbothERPadoptersandnon-adopterstomeasure

theperceptionofdecisionmakersaboutERPimplementation(KhalifaandAzab,2012).Thestudy

pointson“hollowERP”casesinEgyptwhereERPmodulesareadopted,butnotutilized.Inseveral

organizations,dataarebeinghandledandprocessedusingtheiroldinformationsystemsandfedinto

ERPtogeneratethereport.

ThestudyclarifieswhymanyorganizationsindevelopingcountriesmightimplementERP

modulesandmaynotgetitstangiblevaluesorperceivefurtherimprovementsinaccordancewith

thatadoption.NumberofbarriersinterferedtoholdthesuccessfulimplementationofERPforfirms

indevelopingcountriescontext.Thesebarrierscanbesummeredasfollow:lackofusertraining,

insufficientmanagementcommitment,needforbusinessremodeling,technicalissuessuchas,

incompatibilityofsoftwareapplicationswiththeoperatingsystems,poorITinfrastructure,internet

access,andlackofresources.,insufficientvendorsupport;andnon-cooperatedimplementationplan

betweenhardwarevendorsandapplicationproviders.Organizationalculture,userperceptiontoward

technologyuseissometimesoverruledduringthepre-implementationstageleadingtoresistance

tochange.

Al-Fawazetal.(2008)highlightaswelltheimportanceofmanagerialcommitment;enabling

BusinessProcessRe-engineering(BPR)andorganizationalchangewillnotbein-practicewithout

management’sintentiontoplanforandcommitchange.Laukkanenetal.(2007)pinpointthatlimited

resources,funds,andinfrastructureconstituteobstaclesfororganizationsindevelopingcountries.

ChallengesofERPadoptionwereproposedtobelistedincost,lackofbusinessunderstanding,data

accuracyandculturaldifferences(Kohetal.,2011).

OneoftheSCMchallengesontheroleofinconsistentmeasuresisthelackofalignmentbetween

strategicandoperationalpoliciesandtrustbetweenpartnerstoaggravatesupplychainchallenges

(Fawcettetal.,2010).Mobergetal.(2003)focusesmoreonculturebarrierssuchaslackoftrust

betweenthepartnerandfearoflosingcontrol,inadditiontoinadequateITsystemsandshort-term

focus.Moremarket-orientedclassificationwasdefinedforoffshoringbarriersandthehighlighted

factorswithinthestudieswere:comparativeadvantage,culturaldistance,cost,humancapital,business

environmentandinstitutionalenvironment(Contractoretal.,2010),(JensenandPedersen,2011).

(5)

TheStrategyofsupplychainmanagementinvolvesacollaborativestrategylinkingacrossbusiness

operationsforachievingasharedvisionofthemarketopportunity(Banchuen,Sadler,&Shee,2017).

Khalifa’sresearch(2010)investigatesaswellthedeficienciesfaceEgyptianbusinesstosurvivein

thecompetition.Thestudyreacheditsconductedfindingsthroughexploratory-explanatoryempirical

studytodefinecrucialsupplychainissuesindevelopingcountries.Theempiricalfindingshadbeen

categorizedintostagesofsupplychaindeficienciesusingtheInterpretiveStructuringModelling

approach.Thestudyfindingsconcludedthatsupplychaindesign,integrationandITinfrastructureare

consideredasmajorissuethatleadtoexistingdeficienciesofthesupplychaininEgyptmeanwhile

theseissuesarenotofhighprioritytothedecisionmakers.

Moreover,productionandprocurementissuesareconsequencesofpoorsupplychaindesign,IT

infrastructureandunreliableforecastingandtheseissuescapturedthehighpriorityofissuestobe

addressedfromdecisionmakerperspectives.Thestudydevelopedastage-basedmodelforsupply

chaindeficiencytoindicateitsdependencyandinfluence.Acomprehensiveframeworkofsupplychain

challengeswasproposedfromthestudy.Thestudyrunsseveralsimulationexperimentstoassessthe

proposedscenariothatmightoptimizesupplychainperformance.Acollaborativepatternofsupply

chainpartnersandimprovedvisibilityshoweditsconstructiveimpactonsupplychainperformance.

Finally,Park,Chan-Kwon2017)showsthatsupplychainvisibilityenhancementscanimprove

thelevelofwin-wincooperationsupplychainaswellassupplychainperformance,whichemphasizes

theneedtosecuresupplychainvisibilityforpersonalcompany.Furthermore,Ottih,etal.(2018)

introducedtheVisibilityandAnalyticsNetwork(“VAN”)principlesandprovedthatimprovingdata

visibilitycanpromotetheeffectivenessofsupplychainoperation.

2.2 Social Media Role

Sincethereistheevolutionaryroleforsocialmediause,thereisanurgencytoassesstheeffectiveness

ofemergingsocialmediaapplicationwithinsupplychain.Commonlysocialmediaarebeingused

bybusinesstocommunicateandpromotemoreeffectivelytoitscustomermeanwhileitwillbemuch

morebeneficialtobecomeprioritizedinthebackendoperationswiththeirpartners.

Aroundtheworldteenagersareheavyusersofsocialmediaandsmartphones(Anderson,and

Jiang.2018),andtheirschool,friendship,andonlinenetworkshaveagreatdealofoverlap(Dennen

etal.,2017).

SinceERPadoptionlimitationarewellinvestigatedbyotherstudytoexactlydefineitscapabilities

andcriticalsuccessfactor,UserscouldnotperceiveERPsystemsasmagictoolsforautomatedbusiness

handling.Alternatively,theydecidedeithertorollbacktotheuseofsemi-automatedtoolsortohandle

theirbusinessmanually(AbdElghanyetal.,2015).AdoptionofERPsystemisstillquestionable,

whetherthemanagementcanperceiveitsinterestedvalueornot.Thereisalwaysemergentneedto

Businessprocessre-modeling,‘processre-configuring’toeffectivelyadoptERPsystemandthe

manageriallevelsarereluctanttogoforthatalternative.Mostbest-of-breedERPsolutionadoption

arenotdefinedasfullysuccessfulonesineitneedmoreaddressuserrequirementsandpreferences

inlanguage,reportstructureandcontent.Gettingthestate-ofthe-artofERPsolutionsisusually

managementdecisionswithoutpayingconsiderationtoitappropriatenesstoexistingbusinessfunctions

andscenario.Theseshedthelightontheroleofsocialmediaapplicationanditsperceivedbenefits.

Socialmediaisatechnology‐basedmediathatallowsetsofuserstointeractwitheachother

andsupportthevirtual‘relationships’.Mostoftheseapplicationsarecloud-based(O’Reilly,2005).

MostcommonlyusedSocialmediaapplicationshasbeenidentifiedasfollowbyGebremikael(2018),

Facebook;Awebsiteforsocialusersinteractionthatallowapersonalizedwebpageperuser,Twitter:

Amicro-bloggingapplicationthatgive140charactermessagesupdatedinnewsstreamandLinkedIn:

Applicationforprofessionalstohaveapersonalprofileandshareprofessionalmessagesthatcould

targetspecificaudiences.YouTube;Awebsitecenteredonlinevideothatallowsuserstouploadand

sharevideoclipswithfewimpediments.YouTubeistheworld’s‘mostpopularvideo-sharingsite’

andfinallyInstagramallowsuserstoshareimagesfromtheirmobilephonesintheonlinecommunity.

(6)

Thesurveyperformedbye-Consultancy(2010)showsthatabouttwo‐thirdsofthecompanies

have‘…notdonethatmuch’withsocialmedia.Thesurveyshowedtheuseofsocialmediainthe

supplychainisstillanemergingphenomenon.Supplychainsinvolvemultiplevendors,production

facilitiesanddistributioncenters.

Hence,knowledgeandinformationarescatteredregardingthesupplychainwithoutany

centralizedsourceregardingtoknowledge,whilethereisastressregardingtowisdomofthecrowd’

thatallsupplychainpartnersaregettingbenefitfromtheinformationthatbecomevisibleacrossthe

supplychain(Surowiecki,2004).Socialmediacanbethebestfitinmediatorlikeinformationhub

amongsupply‐chainparticipants.Theuseofsocialmediaaplatformtohaveahighlycoordinated

supplychainactivitiesisemergingtooptimizethebusinessprocess.Socialmediadidn’tjustgivesa

completeknowledgemanagementbutalsogivesverysimpleandflexibletoolstothemanagement

(Cao&Ali,2018).

O’leary(2011)investigatedpotentialapplicationsofsocialmediainthesupplychain.Heshowed

thecompetencesofsocialmediaortheiremergingcorporateversionscouldoptimizesupplychain

visibilityandperformance.HisresearchinvestigatedHowcansocialmediaapprehendtheimpact

onsupply‐chainevents,Howcansocialmediaenhancerelationsamongsupply‐chainparticipants,

Howcananalysisofuser‐suppliedtagsforevaluatingandextendinganontologyforsupplychains.

Usingknowledgediscoveryfromsocialmedia,howcanknowledgegeneratedfromsocialmedia

optimizesupplychainperformance.HeprovesthatSocialmediageneratedknowledgecouldenrich

supply‐chaininsightsanduses.

Gebremikael(2018)investigatestheadoptionofsocialmediaplatformstoimprovesupplychain

performance.Thestudyusedamulti-criteriaanalysisusingtheanalytichierarchyprocess(AHP)to

choosemostappropriatesocialmediaapplicationthroughseveralstages:

• Stage1representstheprimarygoalthemanagementlookingtoachievethroughsocialmedia

adoption;

• Stage2consistsofdecisioncriteria;(deliver,quality,cost);

• Stage3iscomposedofsub-criteria(demandintelligence,product/processintelligence,supplier

intelligence,logisticsintelligence,politicalintelligence,supplychainintelligence);

• Stage4representstheSMPalternativesdemonstratedintheorganizationalhierarchystructure.

Themodelindicatedbelowaimstorankthesocialmediaapplication.Themodelembedsmain

supplychainperformancefactorsandusedabreakdownapproachintoitsconstituentparts.The

hierarchicalmodelconsistsoftheperformanceindicatorsofwhichsupplychainperformanceis

composed.Suchsub-criteriaarebeingmatchedwithsocialmediaapplications(Figure1).

Beheshti-Kashietal.(2016)studiedtheuseofsocialmediainFashionindustry.Meanwhilethis

industryisatrendyone,forecastsaremandatoryforbusinesstocompeteinthatindustry.Thisstudy

examinesifsocial-mediatextdatasharedbymeansoffashionblogstocapturecustomerdemand.

Theanalysisshowsinformationextractedfromtheblogsareconsistentwiththereal-worlddemand.

Anumberresearchesattempttogetbenefitofsocialmediastreameddatatohaveinformative

decisions.Mostofthesedidfocusoncustomer-orientedside.Singhetal.(2018)proposesthata

big-dataanalyticswouldbethebestsolutiontotriggersupplychainmanagementissuesinfood

industries.Textanalysishasbeenproposedfortwitterstreameddatatogiveinformativedecision.

Hisresearchusessocialmediadatainthedomainofthefoodsupplychaintotransformitintoa

consumer-centricsupplychain.

BasedonthefactoftheSCORprocessreferencemodelthatcontainfivekeyeventsofthe

supplychain;plan,make,source,deliverandreturn.SocialmediasuchasTwittercoulduseto

collectinformationassociatedtosuchsupplychainevents.Sincetheanalysisofthesedatastream

canprovidesupplychainontologiesreflectingtheSCORprocesses(GrubicandFan,2010),such

acommonontologycaneasilybeusedineventcommunicationandpotentialsupplychainrisks.

(7)

Althoughtheanalysisofthebig-dataliteraturefrom2009to2014revealedaprimitivework

donesofarintermsofanalysis,usedmethodologyandproposedtheories(Frizzo-Barkeretal.,2016).

Effectiveanalysisofsocialmediastreamedinformationcanprovideinsightintoconsumersentiments

andbehaviorsasresponsetoanyissuepop-up.Socialmediaapplicationsarerelativelyinexpensive

comparedtootherERPsystemsandcaneasilyintegratediversifiedaudiences’feedbackinonedata

stream(Kataletal.,2013).

2.3 Cooperate Social Media Applications

Using moderntechnologies,visibleoperationsandstreamlined,costcontrolledsupplychaincan

beensured.Arecentsurveyfor700decisionmakersacrossindustriesledbyIDGresearch(2018)

showsthatenablingproductivitythroughtheuseofdigitaltoolsismostpopulardefinitionofbusiness

digitalizationwith52%.Betterutilizationofdatatomanagebusinessperformancehadbeenchosen

with49%ofthesesurveyed.Inaccordancetoobjectivesofthedigitalbusinessstrategy,themajority

Figure 1. Hierarchal model to evaluate supply chain performance (Gebremikael, 2018)

(8)

ofparticipantsexpecttoimprovetheprocessefficiencythroughautomation,providebettercustomer

experiences,andimproveemployeeproductivity;meanwhile,43%oforganizationsexpectdigital

businesstodriveitsrevenuegrowth.Themajorityofrespondentsutilizebigdataanalytics,mobile

technologies,andprivatecloudsolutions.32%confirmedthatdigitalbusinesssupportsrevenue

growth,withanaverageofa23%increase.Mostofthedecisionshowedinteresttoinvestinmore

technologiessuchasartificialintelligence,machinelearning,theInternetofThingsandSDN.

SocialMediawillextendbusinessopportunityoutwardly. eConsultancyconductedsurvey(2010)

tohighlightthemostpopularsocialmediaapplicationsforbusinessareasfollow,Facebook(85%),

Twitter(77%),LinkedIn(58%)andYouTube(49%)arethemostfrequentlyusedsocialmediaby

businesses.

LinkedInmayhavemoreofabusinessflavortoit,providingpotentialbusinesslinksbetweenthe

participants.YammerisabusinessextendedversionofTwitterwithmoresecuredfeatures(O’leary,

2011).Dominantly,Twitterisconsideredasmorepreferablebloggingtoolthatenableposting140

charactersorlessinadditiontopicturesandvideosthroughTwitpic.Digg isa socialnetwork and

newssharingsitethatallowsuserstosubmit,commenton,andvoteforcontentfromaroundtheweb.

Itisnewsaggregator aimingtoselectstoriesandproviderecommendationtobefollowed.

TwitterandYammerareusedascommunicatingnewssupply‐chaineventstrigger.Twitter

messageshavebeenusedtoindicatethearrivalordepartureofashipmentfromaparticularwarehouse.

Twittercanprovideareal-timetoolthatcaneasilyempowerssupply‐chaineventtriggering.Such

usescouldeasilymanagetocoordinatemultiplepartiesinthesupplychainwhoareinterestedinthe

information.Unexpectedexternalissuescouldbereportedviathemini-bloggertool.

Insomecases,customizedsocialmediaplatformarebeingused,forinstanceHomeDepot

(2018)usestheirownsocialmediaapplication“TheWarehouse”tosupportinformationvisibility

alongtheenterprisedepartmentsandstoresandensurerapidresponsiveness. TheWarehouseengages

employeesinbettermanner.Employeesindifferentdepartmentsorstorescannowdiscussandshare

informationonissuesthatarerelevanttotheirroleswhichindeedimproveinformationvisibility.

Asanexampleofknowledgemanagementapplication,Cognizant2.0,Cognizant2.0”was

premeditatedtoincorporateKMcapabilitiestofulfillbusinessgoals.Cognizantincorporatedaset

ofstructuredprocessguidelines,basedonbestpractices,thesystemcanproposeforaspecifictask

dependency,guidanceinformation,templates,similarprojectartefacts,notes,andchecklists(Iyeret

al.,2011).CognizantisconsideredasthecorporateversionofFacebookutilizesWeb2.0toolsand

strategiessuchasTwitterfeeds,employee-writtenblogsandreal-timechat.Theseideasthengive

customersaccesstothesitesotheycanpostquestionsandsearchforblogposts.Cognizant’snew

social-networkingsiteevenhasitsownversionofTwitter;itsmessagesarecalledCweetsinstead

ofTweets.

Socialmediaapplicationsusetwoapproaches,repositoryapproachthatrelyonlargerepositories

ofdocuments,blogs,wikistobeaccessibletotheusers.Instead,therouteroneproposesthatcooperate

getstherequestedknowledgeand‘routes’informationtotheirusersbyreporting‘just‐in‐time

knowledge’.Theapplicationmodeledthebusinessprocessesinordertoprovideanyknowledge

neededbytherepositoryordirecttheusertomakeinquiriesofothersiftheknowledgeisnotavailable.

Theworkflow-modeledsystemcanbeperformedinordertointroducecasesstudiesautomatically

responsetotherequestedknowledge.Moreover,blogsorwikisofrelatedinformationknowledgecan

befetchedforon-timeaccess.TraQtionisarecentsocialtechnologythatenablesthecollaborative

patternofsupplychainmanagement.TraQtionisacloud-basedSCMsoftwarethatsupportquality

assurancemanagers’alongthesupplychaintomanagetheproceduressmoothly.Theplatform

incorporatesareal-timeanalyticsandpredictivealgorithmstohighlightthepotentialthreatstotake

promptaction(Kristy,2017).CostcoisoneofthekeyadopterofTanQtion.Withover4,000global

suppliersandoperationsineightcountries,CostcoturnedtoTraQtionforacomprehensive,customized

softwaresolutiontomanageitsglobalfoodsupplychain.Whenusingthatsocialmediaapplication,

theinformationwillbesharedamongmulti-tiersupplychainpartnersworldwide,whichleadto

(9)

potentialrisks.Itsbeneficialrolehasbeenreflectedoncustomersatisfaction.“We had thousands of suppliers undergoing food safety audits and we had no control over the data. Using a software solution like TraQtion gives us much more control over the flow of our supply chain.” – Christine Summers, Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Costco Wholesale.

Morestudiesshowedapotentialinvestigationofhowtoemergesuchsocialplatformswith

RFIDeventtoenhancesupply‐chaintransparencyandmaterialflowtriggering,Forinstance,sending

TwittermessagesbasedonRFIDevents(O’Dell,2010).WhenitcomestomeasuringROIfromsocial

media,it’sconsideredasamainchallengefaceitsadoptionasindicatedbelow(econsultancy,2017).

Inaccordancetoarecentsurvey,60%ofmarketersfindsthat‘measuringROI’asoneofkeysocial

mediamarketingchallengeswhile50%raisetheissueof‘tyingsocialmediaactivitiestobusiness

outcomes’.46%ofB2Bmarketerscouldnotconfirmwhichsocialchannelsaremoreprofitable.The

measureofsocialmediasuccessismoreorientedtoengagement. 80%ofmarketersuseengagement as

theirprimarysuccessmetricwhile56%focusonsitetraffic.

Fromcustomerserviceperspective,therearemanyindicatorscanhintonROIofsocialmedia

suchasbrandawareness,customerretentionandcustomerservice.However,thereisstillnoclearclue

formeasuringROIofsocialmedialROIonsupplychainactivities.Socialnetworksareincreasingly

becominganoutletthatismoreandmorepowerfulinspreadingnewsandinfluenceindividuals

(Figure2)

3. STUdy dESIGN

Authorsconductedexploratorystudytogiveinsightsintotheproblem.Casestudiesusedtoenable

todrillmoreintheinvestigatedcasesandfigureouttheissuesfacedbusinessandbusinessesare

tryingtosurvive.Casestudyhelpsinaddressthestudyobjectivesfromdifferentperspectives.“The

researchercaninvestigateaphenomenonindepth,gettingclosetothephenomenon,enablingarich

Figure 2. Social media challenges (econsultancy, 2017)

(10)

4. CASE STUdIES

Thestudyelicitsthreecasestudiesfromdifferentsectorstoensurethegeneralizationofthefindings

aspossibleandaddressthecommonissuesacrossindustriesinthisstudy.

4.1 Case Study 1

AnIntegratedEnergySolutionasignificantcontributortotheeconomicgrowthinEgyptthrough

itsdevelopmentturnedintoawell-establishedgroupwithextensiveholdings,bothlocallyand

beyondborders.Withthegoalofprovidingthecustomersone-stopforintegratedsolutionsin

termsofDesigning,Engineering,ProcurementandConstruction.Itsbeginningknownasan

electricalequipmenttradingcompanythatturnfromEgypt’sfirstspecializedcablesdistributorto

thebiggestenergysolutionsproviderinMiddleEast&Africa.Itoperates30productionfacilities

in14countriesworldwide.Itsexpansionstrategyledtorunineightdiversifiedenergysegments;

Cables&Accessories,ElectricalProducts,EnergyMeasurement&Management,Transformers,

Communications,WindEnergyGeneration,SolarEnergySolutions,Projects&Development.Even

duringleaneconomictimes,ithasbeenabletoimproveitsprocessefficiencyandmeetcriticalbusiness

needsTherefore,thegrouphassucceededinbecoming,agloballeaderincablesmanufacturing,a

regionalleader(MEAregion)intermsofenergysolutionsanditsrelatedservices.Furthermore,

introducedtheconceptofEnergyManagementtoimproveenergyefficiencyandcutenergyuse,

therebycutthecosts.Itpolicesaimstomaximizeeffectivenessandefficiencyalongprocessesand

systemstoensureitsalignmentwithcustomerneeds.

Itspolicyemphasizesontheneedformeasuringandanalyzingperformancetooptimizethe

processandmakesurequalityimprovements.Continuousmonitoringofsystemsperformanceis

essentialandperformedwiththeuseofthemostpowerfuldiagnostictools.Itdealswithabouteighteen

suppliersaroundtheworld;thesupplierscannotgetaccesstoinventorylevelforitsconfidentially.

Thesupplierchoicecriteriaareasfollows:

• DeliveryLeadTime-Doesthesupplierofferaleadtimethatwillmeettheproductionplan?

• OnTimeDelivery-Isthesuppliercorrectaboutthedeliveryschedule?

• Flexibility–Towhatextendthesupplierisflexible?

• QualityofSupplies-Doessuppliesqualitymeettheproductrequirements?

• Pricing&paymentterms-Doesthesupplierofferacompetitivepricesandpaymentsfacilities?

• Sharinginformation-Isthesupplierwillingtosharehisinventorydata?

• Collaboration-Whatcollaborationlevelachievedbythesuppliertomeetbusinessgoals?

• Ordervisibility-Doesthecompanyhavetheabilitytotrackordersafterplacement?

• Invoicesaccuracy–Towhatextendistheinvoicecorrect?

• Creditfacilities-Whatarecreditfacilitiesoffertothecompany?

Thecompanyadopted“Oracle”ERPsystemstoservedifferentbusinessprocess:CRMtoserve

thecustomereffectively,MRPapplicationtoassuretightcontrolofproductionplan,Inventoryto

managethestocklevelsinadditiontoFinancemodules.

4.1.1. Business Challenges

ItsbusinessStrategyfocusesoncustomersatisfaction,maintainingcontinuousimprovementto

competeglobally,thebusinessisindesperateneedtocontrolproductioncostandreducecycle

time.Thebusinessiskeentokeeptheon-timedeliverytimeasimportantKPIs-OTIF(ontimein

full).Itbelievesintheroleinformationprovisiontosavestimeeitherinsharingfuturecustomer

forecastinadvance,orallocatingcapacityandgettherequiredmaterialon-time.Thecompanyseeks

collaborationwithsomebigcustomerstohaveawin-winsituation.Thebusinessesarenotawareof

businessperspectiveofusingsocialmedia.

(11)

Thecompanyseekstocutitscyclestock.Usually,theaverageordersizecoverscyclestockof

7days.Reducingthestockleveltothebestone(4dayscoverageinsteadof7days),willsocutthe

stockvalueofEGP15million.Todoso,it’srequiredtohavehighvisibilitywithsuppliers,right

shipmentschedulethatdeployareliableshippingline.

Furthermore,theaccuracyofdemandforecastneedtobetteraddressed.Thevariationofactual

demandthanhistoricaldataisduetotheseasonalityoftheproductsandpoliticalinstabilitywithin

thecountry.Thecompanyislookingtoawaytoimprovethedemandvisibilityacrossthesupply

chainpipelineforbetterreal-timecommunication.

Awell-knownretailerlaunchedtheirstoresin2002intheEgyptianmarkettobecomeoneofthe

dominantretailersinthemarket.Itlaunchedsixhypermarkets&sevensupermarketsinEgypt.Its

marketshareis20%oftheEgyptianmarket.Itoffersdiversityofproductsunderthesameroof,

includingspecialtydepartmentslikebakery,delicatessen,freshmeat,clothing,hardware,and

electronics.Ahugesellingareawithoverthan50,000differentproductsisoffered.

Theretailermanagessomeofthesuppliers.Itdealswithmorethan10Suppliertosupplyone

classofproducts.Aslongitbelievesinwin-winsituationwithsuppliers,itgrantedselectednumber

ofpartnersanaccesstothestockleveloftheirsuppliedproduct,furthermorethesepartnerscanshare

withtheretailerdataofpotentialsales,stocks,marketshareormightshareaswellthesalesquota

versustheircompetitor.Moreover,JITapproachimplementedbyanumberofreliablesuppliersthat

arecommitteddeliveryschedules.

Regularly,theretailerholdsabufferofstockforfast-movinggoods.Sometime,incaseof

suddenstock-outcases,emergencyorderwillreplacetoobligatethesuppliertodeliverbeforethe

deliverydatestatedinthePO.Thecaseisnotthesameforslow-movingitems;theretailerdoesnot

holdastockandkeepitlimitedtotheamountplacedonshelves.ThemaincriteriausedforSupplier

Selectionareasfollows:

• NumberofSKUortheabilitytoinvestinstores;

• Acceptpricenegotiation;

• Productquality;

• Reputationinthemarket;

• AcceptReturnpolicy.

TheretailerusesERPsystemAS400tokeep-uptheinventorylevel,keeptrackofsupplierperformance

(Supplierscorecard).Inaccordancetothecustomizedsystem,theleaststockorderedwillbedoubled

toexceedthedailyaveragesalesandmergeaswillsufficiencydaysstick(scheduledordersamount

plussafetystockthatcovertheleadtimeduration)toovercomeanyunexpecteddelayindelivery.

Tooptimizethelogisticscycleasamajorsustainable-developmentchallengefortheretailer,

itusesgivensystemasERPmoduletomanagethelogisticsprocess.Logisticsprocedureisusually

handledfromimportedproducts.Thechallengeistocutthetransittime&avoiddelays,theretailer

usedtoproposealternativemodesoftransportations&optimizelorryloadstoovercomethatissue.

Athird-partyisresponsibleondeliverycycletomanagethatburden.Thebusinessislookingfora

waytooptimizeitslogisticscycle.

AnEnvironmentalsolutionprovider,aleadingmanufacturerandmarketerofGeosyntheticlining

productsandserviceswithaworldwidepresenceinthemanyindustries:agriculture,aquaculture,

(12)

canals,civil,coalash,golfcourses,mining,oil&gas,power,wastecontainment,water&wastewater,

andotherindustrialapplications.

Withhistoryover30years,itusedtogiveenvironmentalsolutionsforcomplexissues.Itwas

committedtogivehighest-qualityproductsanddesignedproductstoendurealmostanythreat.The

businessexpandedgloballysinceheadquarteredintheU.S.productionfacilitiesarelocatedworldwide.

Itproducesdiversityofgeosyntheticproductsrequiredforminingoperations.Itprovidessolutionsto

manyenergyapplicationssuchascoalash,shalegas,andbrine,evaporationandcoolingponds.The

geomembranes,geosyntheticclaylinersandgeotextilesareusedtobuildroadways,controlstorm

water,waterproofgreenroofsandactasvaporbarriers.Theproductioncapacityisabout300million

pounds.Itsproductqualityisapprovedfromlocalauthorities.ThebusinessdeployedERP/MRPfor

productioncycleasmainprocessunderthefocus.3PLmanagethelogisticscycletooutsourcethe

deliverycyclecontrol.Regularly,theprocurementdepartmentshouldgoforunplannedpurchaseto

avoidgettingbidsandwaitforquotation,whichindeedaffecttheunitcost.Themaincriteriaused

forsupplier’sselectionare:

• Qualityofsupplies;

• DeliveryLeadTime;

• Pricing&paymentterms;

• Qualityofservicesprovided;

• Expertiseofsalesstaff;

• Reputationofacompany;

• Competitivenessoftermsandconditions.

Businesslacksautomationofothermajorprocessratherthantheproductioncycletogivemore

integratedplatform.Thebusinessisinneedforthesolutionthatenablesprocesstrackingandreal- timevisibilityalongthecycle.Itislookingforverticalintegrationacrossallfunctionalareasto

haveacollaborativemanagementofgoodsflow,facilitateJITsystems.Streamlinedmanagement

reportingandorganizationalstructureisanotherissuethebusinesssuffersfrom.TheLogisticssystem

isexpensivecomparedtobusinessrevenuesothereisneedforalternatives.Meanwhile,thereisno

exactforecastingdemand;informalforecastandincompletesalesinformationarereferredto.The

economicinstabilitycontributesintohavevolatiledemand.Multipledysfunctions,internalactivities

tendtobeimpulsivelyandnotaccordingtoplanarereportedaswell.

5. dISCUSSIoN

Thecasestudyshowsnumberofobstaclesthatfacebusinesswithdevelopingcountriescontext.The

issuevariesfromexternalissuerelatedtopoortransportinfrastructurethatleadtouncontrolledlead

time,forecastingissuesrelatedtolackofdemandvisibilityalongthechaintointernalissuesrelated

tomanagement,resources,lackfunctionalityofadoptedsystems,inventorycontrolandprocurement

cycle.Businessesarenotmindfuloftheroleofsocialmediainservebusinessprocess.Nevertheless,

thedecisionmakerstherearelookingforawayouttomanagesuchsupplychaindisruption.

Thestudyfindingsareinlinewithearlierstudiesconductedwithinthesamecontext(Khalifa,

2010;PiotrowiczandCuthbertson,2015).Mostofthebusinessesoperatingindevelopingcountries

contextusedtoholdlargesafetystocktomanageanyunexpecteddeliverydelayorunreliablesupplier

performance.Manyissuesrelatedtocountryinfrastructureconstitutestothatoutcome.Tomanage

thatsmoothly,procurementcyclemightbeplacedandmanagedininformalwaytoensuretheon- timedelivery.Theaccuracyofforecastaccuracyusuallyconsideredacommonissuethatfacesmost

ofbusinessinEgyptsinceCAPMASprovidedinformationbecauseitisnotup-to-dateinformation,

(13)

somanagementspeculationcontributestoproposenumbersandexceptionalplanisalwaysvalid.

Thereflectionofgovernmentalregulationchange,economic/politicalinstabilityhadbeenpointed

bydecisionmakersascriticalissuesthatmustpromptaction.

Thestudyextendedthesupplychainchallengemodeldevelopedauthorsinearlierstudies(Khalifa,

2010)tomergetheroleofsocialmediatoovercometheseissues.Supplychainchallengesrespected

inthemodelvalidationbythefindingsofthisstudyandearlierstudiesconductedbyauthors(Abd

Elghanyetal.,2015;Khalifa&Azab,2012)andotherresearchers(PiotrowiczandCuthbertson,2015).

Themodel,asillustratedinFigure3,includesthecommonbarriersdiscussedinliteraturereview

section.Threemodel.Thelevelsrepresentmulti-levelvariesfrommacroleveltosupplychainone

andendedwithorganizationallevel.Theselevelscomprisechallengesdiscussedabove.

SinceTheERPdeploymentsolutionsarequestionableasprovedbyseveralstudiesinliterature

reviewsection.Socialmediaapplicationcangivethebusinesswiththeaffordableplatformthat

enablereal-timevisibilityalongdifferentsupplychaineventsandbettercommunicationwiththe

customerandpartners.

Usesofsocialmediaanalyticshavebeenanemergingtopic.Forinstance,twitterstreameddata

hadbeenanalyzedfromdifferentperspectives,researchersinvestigatedhowcantheuseoftwitterdata

innovatesupplychaincapabilities(Tanetal.,2015)orhowitsdataanalysisimprovesthecustomer

servicethroughreal-timelogisticsdatastream(Bhattacharjyaetal.,2016)orintheprocessofservice

recovery(Fanetal.,2016)ormightbeextendedtoproposingaframeworkforsocialmediaadoption

insupplychainmanagement,Suchframeworkshasbeenlimitedtocertainbusinessprocesswithinthe

chain,forinstance,SianiparandYudoko(2014)investigatedhowcantheuseofsocialmediasupport

humancollaborationalongthesupplychainandtogiveaframeworkofsocialmediaintegrationin

SCM.Chae(2015)proposedananalyticalframeworkforTwitteranalyticstogivemoreinsights

intotheroleofTwitterinsupplychainactivities.Theproposedframeworkincorporatesdescriptive

analytics(DA),contentanalytics(CA)andintegratestextmining,sentimentanalysis,andnetwork

analytics(NA)toextractintelligencefrom22,399#supplychaintweets.

O’leary(2011)pointedthepracticeofTwitteranalyticsinalertingpotentialriskrelatedto

supply‐chaindisruption,transportationevents,roadclosuresoraccidentstobesharedwithsupply

chainpartner.Towrap-up,theanalysisofTwitterdatahasstudiedbynumberofresearchersfor

differentpurpose.

TheuseofSocialmediacanspeed-uptheresponsetosupply‐chainpotentialdisruption.Blackhurst

etal.(2005)focusedonthreeareasthatwerecriticaltosupply‐chaindisruptions:disruptiondiscovery,

disruptionrecoveryandsupply‐chainredesign.Socialmediacaneaseadjustmentineacharea.For

example,socialmediacanhelporganizationsdiscovertheexistenceofadisruption(O’leary,2011).

Trackingpotentialrisksorexternaldisruptioncanbemanagedsmoothlyacrosssupplychainwhenever

itisvisibletopartnersthroughthesocialplatform.Socialmediaplayasignificantroleinrecovery

andmitigationinanysupply‐chaindisruptions(Hayek,1945).

Capturingsocialmediainformationtobeintegratedwithintelligentsystemswillmaximize

businessbenefit.FeedingtheTwittergeneratedmessagesintothatsystemwillhelptooptimizesupply

chainperformancetoinputsforexistingsystems.Twittercanbeconsideredasrepositorysources

eithertosignalneedforunexpectedrisktobemanagedortobeintegratedwithfurthersmartsystemto

automatespecificrules.TheFacebookcapabilitytocollectopinions,feedbacksandrecommendation

couldbeavalueaddedforanybusinesstostrengthentherelationshipwith.

Gruber(1993)definedontologyas‘aspecificationofaconceptualization’.Ontologieswill

easilyidentifyabbreviations.Commonly,thenumberofoccurrencesofatagisanindicatorof

theimportanceofthetagindescribingaconcept.Knowledgediscoverycanbemergedtoanalyze

socialmediadatastream.Sentimentanalysiscouldembracetogiveinsightinformationabouttrends

performance.Supplychaindisruptioncaneasilytriggeredtoshowtheinappropriateperformanceof

aspecificpartner.Twokeyperformancescanbeadoptedtoestimatetheoccurrenceeithertoassess

‘numberofpublications’ormeasurehowmanythatpublicationis‘cited’or‘commentedon’.Such

(14)

analyticswillhelpthebusinessinexternaleventsforecastingthatmightinterferetoaffectsupply

chainperformancesuchaspoliticalissuesornaturaldisaster.

O’leary(2011)proposedthatsocialmediacouldbeusedtocapturebest‐practiceinformation

specifictoaparticularsupplychainthatcouldbereachedinawiki.O’learystudyproposesthat

user‐suppliedtagsmayusetocreateanontologyortaxonomytocategorizethebestpractices.He

pointedthattherehasbeenlimitedattentiondirectedtosocialmedia’sroleinriskidentificationand

management.IBMGlobalBusinessServicesidentifiedanumberofriskfactors,including:

• Increasedglobalizationthroughoutsourcing,whichelongatesend‐to‐endsupplychains;

• Additionalregulatorycompliance;

• Demandingcustomers;

• Supply‐sidecapacityconstraints;

• Naturaldisasters.

Givenwhatsocialmediacangivebusinesswithasmentionedabove,theproposedmodel

incorporatessocialmediaapplicationasindicatedbelowtohaveacomplementarypartofITsolution

tofulfillwhatERPcouldnotgive.Forinstance,theuseofthesocializedplatformcouldgivereal-time

updatesonanypoliticalsituationornaturaldisasteroranyunfrozenexternalissuestodiscussthe

environmentalissues.Thiswillenablebettermanagementofsupplychainrisks.Regulationorpolicy

changesofanygovernmentswilleasilybecometriggeredonthesocialplatform.Updatesonshipment

routing,roadclosurewillbevisibleaswell.Theaffordableplatformwillgiveaswellinstanceupdates

oncompetitioninthemarketandhowtocapturecustomerfeedbackpromptly.Onsupplychainlevel,

betterreal-timecommunicationwithabusinesspartnerwillenableexternalintegrationasextended

organization.Itwillinstantlygiveinformationonsupplychaindisruption.Internalcommunicationwith

theemployeeandvariousbusinessunitswillenabletheinternalcommunicationoninter-organizational

level.Thesocialplatformwillabsolutelyprovidereal-timecommunicationandbettervisibilityon

supplychainevents.SincetheuseofERPsolutionaimstoautomatebusinessprocesshoweveritdid

notprovidethattransparencyalongthechainofimplementationissuesorhelpbusinesstoovercome

unexpectedchallenges,socialmediaapplicationscouldprovideacomplementaryroletoERPoneto

enablerapidresponsivenesstowardexceptionhandling.Thefollowingsectionproposeshowtoget

benefitofsocialmediastreamandruntwitteranalytics.

5.1 Proposed Twitter Analytics

Akundietal.(2018)proposedthetweetminingmethodologyindicatedasfollowstoextractterms

anditsfrequency.Thesimplifiedmethodologycouldgivethebusinesswithhighestfrequencyterms

(Figure4).

Singhetal.(2018)illustratedtwitterminingprocessinasimpleway.Twitterdataarefetched

usinganappropriatekeywordslist(textsandhashtags).Alongtwitterpostings,Twitterstreaming

APIswillbeabletocapturearound1%ofTwitterdatasetsmeanwhile,afullhistoricaldatasetare

providedbythird-partydataproviders–Firehose.Representationaccuracyinlargevolumeofdata

collectedisanissuetotakeintoconsidered.

TheTwitterstreamingAPIstorestwittersdatainatextfile.Afterward,aparsingmethodissued

toextractdatasetsrelevanttothepresentstudy(e.g.tweets,coordinates,hashtags,URLs,retweet

count,followercount,screenname,favourites,places,etc.).Sentimentminingcanbeusedtocheck

theextractedTwitterdata.Whilethetweetof140charactersincludessetofwords,URLs,hashtags,

numbers,andemoticons,datacleaningarerequiredpriortheprocessingforeffectiveknowledge

capture.Sentimentanalysis‘alsocalledopinionmining’willgivearealindicatorofcustomerfeedback

byelicitingvaluesfromthetextfileanddefinedivergenceofeachvaluewiththeaccumulative

semanticscore.Followingisfigureillustratetweeterextraction(Figure5).

(15)

6 CoNCLUSIoN ANd RECoMMENdATIoN

Thestudyprovidesinterrelatedperspectiveofsupplychainchallengesandproposedsolutionsto

overcomesuchissues.Themulti-levelmodelproposedinthisstudyreflectsthecomplexityofthe

challengesanditsinterrelatedeffecttoaggravatesupplychainchallenges.Socialmediaapplications

provideapromisingplatformforbothadopterandnon-adopterofERPsolutionsindeveloping

countries.Itsplatformcanrationalizeandsimplifyan organization’ssupplychainmanagement.Many

perceivedvaluehadbeenacknowledgedofbusinesssuchasmoretransparencywithcustomers,prompt

Figure 3. The Role of Social Platforms in Supply Chain Challenges

Figure 4. Tweeter miming methodology (Akundi et al., 2018)

(16)

shipmentnotificationorinventorydrop,minimizesupplychainrisksandmanageunfrozenexternal

factors,workingcloselywithmulti-tierpartners,optimizedataexchangeonday-to-daytransactions.

Socialmediacouldalertsupplychainpartnerswithpotentialrisks.Predictionmarketsproposedto

adaptforbettermanagement.

Toconclude,“Here’s the deal. If you want to measure social media ROI, Just figure out what you want to track, where you can track it”(Baer,2012).Duetothatthistopicstillonitswayto

beamaturedknowledge;morestudiesshouldinvestigatethecriticalsuccessfactorofusingsuch

applicationsandhowtomaximizeitsperceivedvaluebybusinessanditsinterrelatedrolewithERP

systems.

Figure 5. Tweet mining framework (Singh et al., 2018)