Supply Chain Visibility: A Theoretical Framework

The concept of supply chain visibility has provided a great number of pivotal contributions to supply chains such as dealing with crises more comfortably, exceptional appraising risks in disruptions, raising flexibility and performance, creating more resilient supply chains and enabling sustainability; hence, it is accepted as a dynamic competence that critically affects the achievement of supply chain management in the digital transformation era. Although supply chain visibility is crucial to enable and enhance visibility, there is no universally accepted definition. It has been defined by different researchers, emphasising its various features. Therefore, understanding, measuring and improving it is quite difficult. This study aims to create a broad theoretical framework for the supply chain visibility concept. In this direction, its definitions were gathered under a single roof and their dimensionality in the literature was presented. The study guided for companies and supply chains aiming to ensure and enhance their visibility. Additionally, it uncovered the contributions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to visibility. Companies and their supply chains can have superior visibility by utilising them. The study ended with the appraisal of the findings.