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Blockchain technology (BT) is creating a new standard for all business operations. It can assist businesses in handling the complexity of circular digital supply chain (DCM) management. Despite this optimistic view, several barriers hinder its implementation. In this regard, this study contributes to Industry 4.0, circular economy (CE), the viability with a critical emphasis on its potential ramifications and influence on the future agenda while using BT technology in the supply chain (SC). In addition, the research reduces the knowledge gap by investigating and ranking the key barriers to the deployment of BT in viable circular digital supply chains (VCDSCs) and studies their interdependencies and causal relationships. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

The barriers to BT adoption in the VCDSC are identified through a thorough literature review and considering viability performance. These barriers are then classified using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is then employed to examine the cause/effect, correlation, and connection among the 14 barriers selected barriers from the AHP classification to estimate each barrier's overall degree of impact over the others.

This paper identifies and analyzes the BT adoption barriers in the VCDSC as well as examines how the key barriers interact. As a result, according to the AHP/DEMATEL method, the most prominent influencing barriers to the BT implementation in the VCDSC are “Data transparency,” “Market competition,” “Missing infrastructure,” “Lack of standardization,” “Complex protocol,” “Lack of industry involvement,” “Financial constraints,” “Missing infrastructure,” “Data transparency” and “Interoperability.” The outcomes offer a potential path for identifying important barriers as well as insight into the implementation of BT in the SC while integrating different capabilities such as viability, sustainability and CE principles.

Managers and researchers will benefit from this research by gaining an understanding of the challenges that must be prioritized and examined for BT to be implemented successfully in the VCDSC.

The use and implementation of blockchain-enabled VCDSC continue to face challenges despite an increase in relevant practice and research. Despite the benefits of BT, managers struggle to apply such technology in the context of their company. In this respect, this paper uses an integrated AHP–DEMATEL for categorizing the BT barriers as well as the interrelationship between them. In this respect, this paper presents the BT barriers studied are those related to the use of BT in the SC while integrating different paradigms such as viability, digitalization and CE. While many studies look at the barriers to BT adoption; none of them has ever included the viable capability, which means the ability to “react agilely to positive changes, be resilient to absorb negative events and re-cover after disruptions and survive at long-term periods.” The study concludes with insightful comments based on the findings and suggestions for eradicating those obstacles and their associated effects.

Operationnal excellence has emerged as a critical factor for organisations competitiveness. Companies in developing countries are striving to elevate their operational performance to new heights. This study aims to explore the effective best practices, drivers and challenges to operational excellence in North African business.

To address the objectives of this study, a qualitative approach is adopted. A total of 13 experienced professionals holding leads initiatives within North African enterprises are surveyed. Following, content analysis method is employed to extract, categorise and analyse the knowledge from the interviews.

The findings indicate that the implemented best practices include process optimisation, performance measurement, standardisation, customer-centric approach, lean manufacturing and total quality management. For a successful adoption, the results shed light on the importance of leadership commitment, upskilling, digitalisation and employee’s empowerment. However, the implementation faces several challenges incorporating unsustainable engagement, resistance to change, disconnected practices, insufficient investment, deficient improvement assessment and limited access to digitalisation.

This study contributes to exploring the best practices, enablers and barriers to successful implementation of operational excellence in emerging economies. Its findings can be used by scholars and decision-makers to advance knowledge around operational excellence, broaden the existing strategies to tailor specific contexts and promote operational performance.

Literature on conflict minerals supply chain management issues has witnessed a significant surge during the last decade. The authors review how CM research addressed supply chain issues over the last decades and present a critical assessment of such literature based on supply chain governance theory.

A systematic literature review approach was adopted, and a sample of 122 papers were identified in relevant journals. A descriptive, thematic and content analysis of the papers is presented to delineate the structure and the main research clusters of the literature.

The authors provide a comprehensive assessment of CMSC literature and identify four main research clusters. Most research has focussed on operational practices and adopted a fragmented approach to CMSC issues. Accordingly, the authors provide research propositions related to under-explored aspects in extant literature.

This study has a number of implications. Practitioners and researchers will gain a greater understanding of specific CMSC issues which have been addressed in current literature and of how responsible CMSC actions can be implemented.

This study is one of the first literature reviews of publications on CMSC from a supply chain governance perspective. This review presents an overarching map of CMSC literature and a series of propositions to inform future research.

As the global focus on supply chain management has shifted toward the importance of digitalization, resilience and sustainability to ensure viability, this paradigm merits special consideration in the industrial supplier selection process in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. Additionally, the increasing geopolitical challenges further complicate the industrial supplier selection process, necessitating robust decision-making frameworks. Thus, this paper aims to present a decision-making system using a fuzzy inference system (FIS) for industrial supplier evaluation and selection, considering a new criterion: viability.

Fuzzy set theory, particularly a FIS, is used to address the subjectivity of decision-makers’ preferences. The suggested method’s validity is evaluated using a real automotive case study for industrial supplier selection situations.

Seventeen key criteria for viable industrial supplier selection were identified and used to evaluate and select the case study firm’s industrial supplier. The chosen supplier (B) demonstrated superior resilience, sustainability and digitalization capabilities, making it preferable to others. Specifically, supplier (B) exhibited exceptional adaptability to disruptions, a strong commitment to sustainable practices and advanced digital integration that enhances operational efficiency.

This study provides valuable insights for researchers and professionals by proposing a comprehensive industrial supplier selection system. Integrating diverse criteria is essential for viable performance in supply chains that enhances robustness and adaptability, supporting more strategic decision-making in supplier evaluation amid global and network-related challenges.

This novel paper introduces a new criterion, i.e. viability, in the industrial supplier selection process in the VUCA environment. In addition, it proposes a decision-making system for viable supplier performance evaluation. Furthermore, it validates the proposed FIS in an automotive case study.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that preestablished contingency plans and resilience practices were insufficient to cope with long-term and global disruptions. Companies thus struggled to develop capabilities that ensure their survivability during similar crises. Building on the adaptation-based view (ABV) of supply chain resilience, this study aims to offer an in-depth perspective on survivability in supply chains (SCs).

The paper empirically tests related relationships between adaptation capabilities and practices that ensure operational continuity. Responses from 252 organisations were collected and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results empirically support the ABV’s theoretical propositions and assess the possibilities of intertwining, digitalisation, a circular economy and maturity for the survivability of SCs.

The derived insights are attractive for managers and researchers to foster supply chain survivability and contribute to the increasing efforts of middle-range theorising in logistics and supply chain management research.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to define factors enhancing the survivability of SCs through the lens of the ABV.

Selecting the optimal supplier is a challenging managerial decision that involves several dimensions that vary over time. Despite the considerable attention devoted to this issue, knowledge is required to be updated and analyzed in this field. This paper reveals new opportunities to advance supplier selection (SS) research from a multidimensional perspective. Moreover, this study aims to formalise SS knowledge to enable the appropriate selection of sustainable, resilient and circular criteria.

This study is developed in two stages: first, a systematic literature review is conducted to select relevant papers. Descriptive and thematic analyses are employed to analyze criteria, solving approaches and case studies. Second, a criterion knowledge-based framework is developed and validated by experts to be implemented as ontology using Protégé software.

Evaluating the viability of suppliers need further studies to integrate other criteria and to align SS objectives with research advancement. Artificial intelligence tools are needed to revolutionize and optimize the traditional techniques used to solve this problem. Literature lucks frameworks for specific sectors. The proposed ontology provides a consistent criteria knowledge base.

For academics, the results of this study highlight opportunities to improve the viable SS process. From a managerial perspective, the proposed ontology can assist managers in selecting the appropriate criteria. Future works can enrich the proposed ontology and integrate this knowledge base into an information system.

This study contributes to promoting knowledge about viable SS. Capitalizing the knowledge base of criteria in a computer-interpretable manner supports the digitalization of this critical decision.

This research aims to review how current supply chain management (SCM) research addresses cultural issues, presents a critical assessment of literature and discusses future research avenues.

The literature is reviewed using systematic literature review, bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis. A total of between 1995 and 2019 in Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science’s database.

Descriptive data related to chronological evolution of literature, geographical location, influential papers and methodology are presented. Four main research areas were categorized, namely, papers on SC integration and performance; research on continuous improvement and lean initiatives; studies on the role of culture in sustainability, corporate social responsibility and green practices; and studies on emerging topics of research. Most studies focused on organizational culture frameworks, adopted a static approach to culture and targeted mainly developed countries and Asian emerging countries. A research agenda is suggested based on a multilevel cultural framework including operational and SCM culture.

Practitioners and researchers will gain a greater understanding of how cultural issues have been addressed in current literature. A multilevel framework is proposed based on the concept of “operational” and “SCM culture”, to address some of the issues identified in current literature.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first literature reviews that considers both national and organizational culture dimensions in SCM research, whereas prior approaches were fragmented or one-dimensional.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions and revealed the fragilities in supply chains. This crisis has re-opened the debate on supply chain resilience and sustainability. This paper aims to investigate distinct impacts of COVID-19 on supply chains. It identifies both short- and medium-to-long-term measures taken to mitigate the different effects of the pandemic and highlights potential transformations and their impacts on supply chain sustainability and resilience.

To address the purpose of the study, a qualitative research approach based on case studies and semi-structured interviews with 15 practitioners from various supply chain types and sectors was conducted. Studied organizations included necessary and non-necessary supply chain sectors, which are differently impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study reveals five main challenges facing supply chains during COVID-19, including uncertain demand and supply, suppliers' concentration in specific regions, globalized supply chains, reduced visibility in the supply network, and limited supplier capacity. To help mitigate these challenges and develop both sustainability and resilience, this paper identifies some mitigating actions focusing on the promotion of the health and wellbeing of employees and supply chain stabilization. Further, in the post-COVID era, sustainable and resilient supply chains should consider regionalization of the supply chain, diversification of the supply network, agility, collaboration, visibility, and transparency; and should accelerate the use of smart technologies and circular economy practices as dynamic capabilities to improve supply chain resilience and sustainability.

This study contributes to exploring the sustainability- and resilience-related challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings can be used by researchers and supply chains decision-makers to limit disruptions and improve responsiveness, resilience, sustainability, and restoration of supply chains. The results support benchmarking through sharing of the best practices and organizations can also integrate the different capabilities discussed in this study into the processes of selection and auditing of their suppliers.

This article presents a review of the existing state-of-the-art literature concerning Supply Chain Management 4.0 (SCM 4.0) and identifies and evaluates the relationship between digital technologies and Supply Chain Management.

A literature review of state-of-the-art publications in the subject field and a bibliometric analysis were conducted.

The paper identifies the impact of novel technologies on the different supply chain processes. Furthermore, the paper develops a roadmap framework for future research and practice.

The proposed work is useful for both academics and practitioners as it outlines the pillar components for every supply chain transformation. It also proposes a range of research questions that can be used as a base to guide the future research direction of the field.

This paper presents a novel and original literature review-based study on SCM4.0 as no comprehensive review is available where bibliometric analysis, motivations, barriers and technologies' impact on different SC processes have been considered.