Internet of things in supply chain management: A systematic review using the paradigm funnel approach

In recent years, the number of articles studying the Internet of Things technology in supply chain management and logistic has grown rapidly. The purpose of this paper is analyzing the studies that have been done in this area by reviewing the relevant literature and while identifying the existing theoretical gaps, introduces future research opportunities. This paper collects and analyzes information using a systematic literature review methodology and paradigm funnel approach. Systematic literature review is a methodology reliable and recommended by a large number of scientific papers. However, selection of certain criteria for inclusion and exclusion of papers introduces publication bias, which should be considered an intrinsic limitation to systematic literature review. Numerous studies have been conducted in the area of Internet of Things and supply chain management, but there is no synthesis of the knowledge that would allow one to draw conclusions regarding the evolving nature Internet of Things in supply chain management and to extend the theories in this area. This paper will address that gap, applying the paradigm funnel technique. For this purpose, Scopus, Science Direct, Emerald and Francis & Taylor databases were searched and a total of 209 articles were retrieved. After initial screening, 105 articles were excluded due to inconsistency with inclusion criteria and after qualitative screening, a total of 36 studies were selected for analysis. The selected 36 articles focus mainly on level 2 and 3 of the paradigm funnel. Only two articles were placed in the first level of the paradigm funnel and no studies in the level of deep hypotheses (fourth level) were observed. Most studies used qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. Also, the findings show that future researches can use empirical observations and data generation to further exploration of internet of things in supply chain management and logistic.