Barriers to Using Digital Technologies in Pharmaceutical Supply Chains in Emerging Economies: A Comparative Study on Manufacturers and Distributors in Turkey

With increasing population and demand, supply chains are becoming more global and operationally complex. In particular, pharmaceutical supply chains have a dynamic structure that is constantly changing and thus more vulnerable to unexpected disruptions. The use of digital technologies (DTs) in pharmaceutical supply processes is critical to ensuring its supply chain's sustainability and resilience. Considering that even in developed countries, there are some practices that encourage technology use and innovation, it is seen that this process can be more challenging for developing countries. Therefore, in the context of Turkey's pharmaceutical supply chains as a case study, the study aims to identify these barriers to using DTs and present a structure that will enable a comparative analysis with emerging economies to be conducted. The findings are expected to serve as a guide for manufacturers and distributors on which barriers to overcome in implementing DTs in pharmaceutical supply processes.