Abstract

Background: Supply chain refers to the processes from the initial raw materials to the final consumption of the final product connecting the supplier-user companies and to operations inside and outside a company that enable the value chain to produce products and provide services to the customer. The negative effect of the pandemic on global supply chain has lead to a significant interest for its sustainability and how it can be obtained. Technological advances, such as Universal Product Code, QR, blockchain and RFID, have literally transformed the global supply chain. The use of such technologies in supermarkets is of most importance for the sustainability of their supply chain system.

Aim: The aim of the study was the investigation of the crucial role of technology in sustainable chain management in Lidl.

Methods: This research was quantitative and involved a case study of Lidl Hellas. The data were collected from 21 Lidl workers through a self-reported questionnaire. Those participants worked in various positions. In particular, a total of  26 questions were used, which were divided into five main categories. These categories were 1) benefits of using technology in the sustainable supply chain 2) knowledge of the role of technology in the sustainable supply chain 3) attitudes towards a sustainable supply chain 4) the role of individual technologies 5) barriers to using technology in the sustainable supply chain. It is therefore a questionnaire that assesses individual parameters of employees' perceptions of the role of technology in Lidl's sustainable supply chain. Employees were asked to give answers from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The analysis carried out by descriptive and inductive statistics. The sociodemographic variables were used as independent variables in the inductive analysis. The analysis of the data was carried out by SPSS.

Results: There was a highly positive perception for the benefits from the use of technology in supply chain, since the mean value was 29.61 and the potential range for this scale 7-35. The knowledge was high, since the potential range was 3-15 and the participants mean value 12.19. The perceptions for the role of sustainability in supply chain were positive, since the mean value was 28.85 (potential range 7-35). The perception towards the role of separate technologies was high, since the mean value was 20.76 (potential range 5-25). The barriers in the use of technology in supply chain were low (mean value 10.80-potential range 5-25). Those with higher work experience at Lidl perceived the benefits to be higher (p=0.015). In addition, work position had a significant relationship with benefits, with clerks having the less positive perception, followed by loaders, administrative staff and office workers (p=0.046). Those with higher work experience at Lidl had more knowledge regarding the use of technology in supply chain (p=0.029). Work experience in the current position was negatively related with the perception for the role of sustainability in supply chain, while total work experience was positively related (p=0.026 & 0.015). Those with higher work experience in the current position had a less positive perception compared to the others for the role of separate technologies (p=0.049). Finally, those with higher work experience in the current position perceived more barriers in the use of technology in supply chain (p=0.035).

Conclusions: The perception regarding the use of technology to enhance sustainable supply chains is very positive. Employees were distinguished by competent knowledge and low perception of barriers. Since employees with longer tenure at Lidl had more knowledge, knowledge sharing programs could be implemented among employees to enhance the knowledge of employees with less tenure on the use of technology in the sustainable supply chain of this supermarket. Management could also promote job rotation along the career path, as employees who had been employed in the same position for many years seemed to have more barriers to using technology in the supply chain.