Assessing The Combined Impact of Blockchain, AI, And IoT on Operational Efficiency in Pharmaceutical Supply Chains: A Multi-Case Study Approach

Abstract

This thematic study examines the integration of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) in transforming pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs) by enhancing their operational efficiency and resilience, based on three case studies. Aim: This study aims to critically investigate how the integrated application of these digital technologies promotes operational efficiency in PSCs. It concentrates on the adoption patterns, performance metrics, and strategic alignment of these integrated technologies with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson as case studies. Design: This study has employed a qualitative multi-case study approach, using secondary data sources encompassing peer-reviewed academic research articles, industry reports, and company data. Thematic text analysis has been carried out to identify patterns and extract insights systematically. The analysis is grounded in three relevant theories: the Resource-Based View (RBV), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Supply Chain Resilience (SCR). Guided by these theories, the study interprets strategic resource management, technology adoption behaviours, and resilience enhancement in PSCs. Findings: The integrated use of blockchain, AI, and IoT has created a cyber-physical ecosystem in PSCs that enormously enhances practical visibility, traceability, inventory optimisation, lead-time reduction, risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance. These digital resources, in combination, have fostered productivity and supply chain resilience, especially witnessed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, this integration also encounters barriers encompassing technical issues in the form of interoperability, cybersecurity, organisational hurdles in the form of required skills and change resistance, and regulatory challenges in the form of data privacy and complex compliance frameworks. Originality: This research is unique in that the present literature has gaps, and it fills them with a focus on the integrated impact of the simultaneous adoption of these technologies instead of adopting them in isolation, as other studies have. This study scientifically validates integrated technology advantages via three case studies, and hence, it offers real-time strategic and managerial recommendations. This study also reveals the significant role of harmonised policies and cross-sector coordination to overcome barriers toward this technological integration, and hence it enriches academia, besides the convergence of three digital technologies for resilient and efficient PSCs.