Exploring social media use in B2B supply chain operations

This research examines current applications and potential capabilities of a wide array of social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others within the context of B2B supply chain operations. Specifically, we use social media affordances (SMA) as a framework to explore how social media is used in B2B supply chain settings. We report findings based on a survey of 209 professionals in supply chain areas. These findings include the extent to which social media and different social media tools are used in B2B supply chain operations, the impact of company size on social media use, the areas in which social media is used, the perceptions of social media, and other relevant issues such as social media policy and security. Based on these findings, this study provides a discussion regarding the current and future use of social media in B2B supply chain operations.