Platform Economy and Global Supply Chain Integration: A Technology-Driven Approach to Business Model Innovation

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-642-0_65How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Platform; based economy; Supply chain; integration; Blockchain; Cloud computing; Artificial intelligence; Supply Chain efficiency

Abstract

There is no question that the platform economy has integrated deeply into global supply chains through advanced technologies like blockchain, cloud computing, AI, and IoT. This work investigates how digital platforms can improve the transparency, coordination and efficiency of supply chains by addressing known inefficiencies such as delays in data updates or general time based failures adopted for access. This research uses case study methodology focussing on multinational enterprises (MNEs) which involve platform based technologies in their supply chains. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, operational data from the supply chain system and document analysis. This paper calculated the relative impact of platform technology adoption on supply chain efficiency by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) model. The results indicate a highly significant positive association (0.82) between digitalization and improvements in supply chain productivity In particular, blockchain provided 25% of the efficiency gains, cloud computing added another 30%, and AI & machine learning amounted to just under a quarter (24%), with IoT contributing two in ten. Ability to blend these technologies provide facility in supply chain coordination and flexibility, notably for industries focusing on data based decision making like real time tracking of products. The results of the research provide further confirmation that using platform technologies is an important factor in increasing levels of integration within a supply chain, as has been found elsewhere in the literature. These implications are key to supply chain strategy for global companies, as such technologies enable resilience and agility. However the study was limited by a small sample size, and an early stage in the adoption of platform technologies. Theoretically interesting and highly relevant to practice, future research could study different industries or regions which may vary in response to how disruptions occur so that patterns observed do not simply arise from specifics of a particular industry. Another stream for investigation is whether platform adoption brings long-term changes on overall supply chain performance or just improves resilience against previous types of disruption.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yize Zhao
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/01/24
TI  - Platform Economy and Global Supply Chain Integration: A Technology-Driven Approach to Business Model Innovation
BT  - Proceedings of 2024 6th International Conference on Economic Management and Cultural Industry (ICEMCI 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 612
EP  - 620
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-642-0_65
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-642-0_65
ID  - Zhao2025
ER  -