Title: Responsiveness and digital technologies in supply chain management: a contingency analysis within the automotive and pharmaceutical industries

Authors: Thomas Goertler; Marcel Papert; Thomas Weiß

Addresses: University of Bamberg, Feldkirchenstraße 21, 96052 Bamberg, Germany ' University of Bamberg, Feldkirchenstraße 21, 96052 Bamberg, Germany ' Rhenus Automotive Services GmbH & Co. KG, Rhenus-Platz 1, 59439 Holzwickede, Germany

Abstract: In an era of ongoing disruption and technological transformation, the responsiveness of supply chains has become a decisive capability for sustaining competitiveness. This study investigates how digital technologies (DTs) enable responsiveness across two distinct industry contexts, the automotive and the pharmaceutical sectors. Building on a theory-driven literature review, 103 publications were analysed, followed by contingency analysis using chi-square tests and Cramer's V to detect strong associations. The results reveal that the resilience dimension exhibits the most consistent and robust links to DTs in both industries. In the automotive sector, agility and flexibility emerge as additional dominant dimensions. In contrast, pharmaceutical supply chains emphasise 'visibility' and 'risk awareness', strongly tied to blockchain, artificial intelligence, big-data analytics, sensor technologies, and wireless networks. The study provides an industry-contingent understanding of how DT portfolios foster responsiveness and derives five propositions that guide future empirical research on platform- and data-enabled supply chain capabilities.

Keywords: digital technologies; resilience; agility; flexibility; adaptability; improvisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2026.154718

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2026 Vol.26 No.1, pp.85 - 106

Received: 14 Nov 2025
Accepted: 19 Feb 2026
Published online: 10 Jul 2026 *

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