BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION OF IOT

– A STUDY OF UNILEVER

AMJAD HUSSAIN SOOMRO

S2039111

Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for

MSc International Operations and Supply Chain
Management

Glasgow School for Business and Society

GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY

April 2022

1
MRP Declaration for Project

Please download the declaration below and insert a completed and signed form after
the title page in your Project.

Declaration: ‘This project is my own original work and has not been submitted
elsewhere in fulfilment of the requirements of this or any other award. In accordance
with academic referencing conventions, due acknowledgement has been given to the
work of others.’

Please also indicate the final word count on this page.

2
 Abstract

The IoT and its different forms help improve the Business and manage its progression. Apart
from that, it also described the application of IoT within the Business as well as supply chain
along with various challenges faced by Unilever in the IoT implementation. On the other hand, it
is going to describe the application of IoT in overcoming the challenger along with literature gap,
theoretical concept, and conceptual framework.
The research includes discussion on the techniques used in the research for meeting with the
objectives of the research. Justifications have been provided for proper understanding of the
reasons for choosing the techniques for doing this research. Moreover, the ethical guidelines
have also been provided in this chapter.
Research work represents the findings of this research work that states that Unilever Company
faces loss due to improper infrastructure of the company. In addition to that, it has been
identified that proper broad band connections need to implement to increase connectivity among
customer and organization. Moreover, supply chain management system faces problems due to
gathering of large amount of unstructured data. Therefore, performances of Unilever have been
reduced in operational management. Profits from operational management chain need to
improve.
The recommendations have been mentioned under this chapter based on the challenges that
might be faced by the company being discussed. The various limitations of this study have been
discussed along with ways of recovering from them. The future scope of this study has been
included in this chapter.

3
 Acknowledgement

On reaching the end of this research work, I hereby owe my depth of gratitude to my family and
friends without whose cooperation this project “BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION OF IOT –
A STUDY OF UNILEVER” would not be possible. I would also like to express my heartfelt
thanks to my respected supervisor and other associate teachers who have helped me in several
technical ways possible. Last but not the least, I owe my project to the existing articles, and their
data that have helped me complete this research work of mine.

4
Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................9

1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................9

1.2 Research Aim.......................................................................................................................10

1.3 Research Objectives.............................................................................................................10

Research Questions....................................................................................................................11

1.4 Research Rationale..............................................................................................................11

1.5 Research Significance..........................................................................................................12

1.6 Structure of the dissertation.................................................................................................13

1.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................14

2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14

2.2 Definition of IoT..................................................................................................................14

2.3 Different form of IoT technologies......................................................................................14

2.4 Application of the IoT technologies in Business.................................................................15

2.5 Application of IoT within the supply chain.........................................................................16

2.6 Multiple issues in IoT related to organizations....................................................................16

2.7 Application of IoT for meeting the challenges faced by the company................................17

2.8 Literature Gap......................................................................................................................17

2.9 Theoretical Framework........................................................................................................18

2.10 Conceptual framework.......................................................................................................18

Figure 2.3: conceptual framework.........................................................................................18

2.11 Summary............................................................................................................................19

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................20

3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................20

5
 3.2 Research Philosophy..........................................................................................................20

3.3 Research Approach............................................................................................................21

3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................22

3.5 Research Strategy................................................................................................................23

3.6 Sampling Method.................................................................................................................24

3.7 Data collection Method........................................................................................................24

3.8 Data analysis methods.........................................................................................................25

3.9 Search Criteria.....................................................................................................................25

3.10 Data inclusion and Exclusion............................................................................................25

3.11 Ethical Consideration.........................................................................................................26

3.12 Limitations.........................................................................................................................26

3.13 Summary............................................................................................................................26

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................27

4.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................27

4.2 Data analysis........................................................................................................................27

4.4 Summary..............................................................................................................................37

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................38

5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................38

5.2 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................38

5.3 Recommendation.................................................................................................................39

5.4 Limitation of the study.........................................................................................................40

5.5 Future scope.........................................................................................................................41

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................42

6
 Appendices
Appendix A: MRP Student Record of Meeting with Supervisor..................................................50

Appendix B: Ethics Consent Form (EC-5/2020)...........................................................................51

7
 List of figures
Figure 1.1: Use of IoT by organization.........................................................................................10
Figure 2.1: Spending over IoT.......................................................................................................13
Figure 2.2: Supply chain management with IoT intervention.......................................................14
Figure 3.1: Research Philosophy...................................................................................................19
Figure 3.2: Deductive Approach....................................................................................................20
Figure 3.1: Research Designs........................................................................................................21
Figure 4.1: Prisma diagram............................................................................................................26
Figure 4.2: Operational profit in Unilever.....................................................................................29

8
 List of tables
Table 3.1: Exclusion and Inclusion Criteria..................................................................................27

9
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction
With the dawn of globalization and rapid technological advancement, there has been a steady
and momentous change in the business world. The coming up of new age technology like IoT
better termed as Internet of Things has led core impact in business activities. Starting from
software industries to FMCG companies, all are driving magnum profits from the
implementation of IoT. In any organization, irrespective of their nature supply chain corresponds
an integral role. With the help of the upcoming IoT technology, a better and distinct picture can
be drawn on inventory management and authenticating products and shipments. The introduction
chapter will provide a comprehensive understanding on the research objective, aims and the
significance of the topic. In order to make a coherent approach, Unilever is chosen as the
organization for the research proposal.

IoT is developing the implementation segment within organization to increase production,

management and customer’s services. The present study is going to describe the major
challenges in implementing IoT with special references to the Unilever. The application of IoT in
Unilever has been evident about the developing relationship between customers and employees.
Moreover, organizations with advanced technologic and digital innovations are significantly
faced profitability and long-term sustainability. In association with customers relationship
development aspect IoT has allowed to create major advantages for management.

The occurrence of globalisation has a significant impact on the use of technology in businesses.
The business operations are also improved as a result of technological improvement and
facilitated improvement in the supply chain and logistics of the businesses. In the dynamic
business environment, technological improvement is necessary for businesses to attain a
competitive advantage. Supply chain operations are a significant part of business operations that
helps in cutting costs, faster movement of the material and maintaining the quality of the goods.
On the other side, the negative impact of the inconsistency in supply chain management consists
of excessive prices charged by suppliers, risk of substandard quality of goods, delay in delivery,
wastage and so on (Ben-Daya, M., Hassini, E., and Bahroun, 2019).

10
Internet of Things is a system of computing devices embedded with software, sensor and other
technology that helps in faster data exchange and support in improving practices. It supports in
attaining real-time exchange of data that fits with the businesses in supply chain operations
through different information transfer. As a result, the business experiences improvement in
inventory tracking, improving transparency in SCM, better management of fleet, improved
delivery and temperature tracking for specific industry benefits (Mafini, 2016). The role of IoT
becomes significant for companies operating at different geographical locations due to real-time
tracking of the inventory and other benefits that help the companies to manage their supply chain
besides the presence of a complex web of activities to be carried out on daily basis (Yadav,
2019).

In addition, the study identifies the ways adopted by Unilever to deal with the challenges in the
adoption of IoT. The research study will also try to explore the barriers to implementing IoT in
SCM for the company. Therefore, the report also suggests some of the best industrial practices
that are practised by the FMCG companies and can be adopted by Unilever for improving the
SCM network. Unilever is chosen as the company for research because it is one of the well-
known FMCG companies around the globe and has a massive supply chain throughout nations.
Hence, by studying the implementation barrier experienced by Unilever, a better response can be
prepared on the IoT applications so that it can facilitate supply chain operations of such magnum
corporations.

1.2 Research Aim

The fundamental aim of the study is to understand the barriers to implementing IoT in Supply
chain networks in relation to multinational logistic organisations, using a case study secondary
research. The study will spotlight the challenges faced by Unilever and how the company can
overcome these challenges by the use of IoT has been seen. The research study will spread
awareness towards the use of IoT by exploring the barriers and suggesting practices that can be
adopted by the company.

1.3 Research Objectives

The main objective of the study is to identify the barriers in the implementation of IoT in magnum
corporations like Unilever. The study will achieve its aim with the help of the following objectives. The

11
company Unilever has been chosen here because the company Unilever is a multinational retail
company and the supply chain management is most important for this study.
● To evaluate the application of IoT in supply chain management
● To evaluate the barriers faced by supply chain management for the implementation of the
IoT technology in Unilever
● To evaluate the strategic profile of Unilever in supply chain management for the
implementation of the IoT technology
● To find out the recommendation through which all of the barriers can be reduced

Research Questions
The research questions that will be answered by the help of the study that will help to deal with
the barriers related to IoT in SCM are as under:

 What is definition of IoT and the technology applications use in IoT?

 What are the ways by which Unilever can make application of IoT in supply chain?
 What are the barriers to implementing IoT in the Supply Chain Management of Unilever?
 What are some of the best practices of IoT in the context of Unilever?

1.4 Research Rationale

The increase in the population and efforts of the Unilever to grow globally need the
organisations to improve by adopting new technology. It is analysed that data has become key to
dealing with the different business problems. IoT offers different advantages in SCM and
provides accurate data to the management of supply chain that can be significant in attaining
competitive advantage. The study tries to examine the benefits of data that support the decision
making and play a significant role in improving the SCM due to real-time data, inventory
tracking and other benefits. The accurate forecast is offered by the use of IoT support in sales
forecast and revenue generation tracking.

12
 Figure 1.1: Use of IoT by organization

(Source: Stroud, 2016)

IoT helps in improving the quality of services by the use of GPS technologies. It also helps in
tracking shipments; identifying the real-time location of the products and so on that will help the
company to attain accuracy in SCM operations. There are large numbers of companies that are
planning to make an investment in IoT due to its great benefits for the business.

1.5 Research Significance

It is important for the companies engaged in logistics to improve supply chain operations, which
are offered by the use of the Internet of Things. The company can integrate IoT to sustain over a
long period and improve the pace of SCM operations. In simple words, the advantages drawn
from IoT is indeed inexplicable in managing company resources and maintaining transparency in
supply chain but the implementation challenges can create a technological drawback. Hence,
identifying the challenges can help in coming across mitigation strategies, resulting in better IoT
integration in the company. The study will help in exploring the key barriers and alternatives that
will help the global organisations in effective implementation of the IoT in the SCM. The
ultimate benefit of the study will be for the organisations engaged in FMCG, also known as Fast
Moving Consumer Goods. Logistics and other businesses that are heavily dependent on SCM.

13
1.6 Structure of the dissertation
The dissertation will be divided into five main sections that will help to complete the study in a
systematic manner.

Introduction: This section consists of a discussion on the IoT, research aim and objective,
research questions and its significance that will help in conducting the study. The research
questions are answered with the help of a literature review and the following sections as under.

Literature review: In this section, the secondary data available in relation to IoT in the form of
articles, research, and journal articles is collected and stated based on the objectives determined
in the introduction section. This approach helps in gaining details of the existing practices related
to IoT and supply chain technology adopted by the companies.

Research Methodology: The research methodology section consists of the approach adopted for
the study by the discussion on the research approach, data collection methods, data analysis,
sampling and ethical consideration. This section showcases a clear demonstration of the research
to be carried out.

Analysis of findings:

The section is focus on comparing the available literature with the secondary data available about
the practices by the company. The information has obtained from the website, annual reports and
news articles and compared with the literature for providing greater insights into the use of IoT.

Conclusions and Recommendations: The last section concludes the entire study by
highlighting the key findings of the study and including suggestions that will help the researchers
and other stakeholders in near future.

1.7 Summary
The chapter summarises the significance of the research and introduction of IoT, the benefits of
using IoT, and research questions that will help to complete the study. IoT is analysed to be a
great technological change that will help the businesses to track their inventory, generate real-
time information of the shipments, and generate reports that help in the identification of the

14
issues in SCM and so on. In this paper, the researcher analyses the relation between the IoT and
Supply chain efficiency along with the challenges for Unilever in adopting IoT in SCM.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The literature review will describe the IoT technology and its various forms that help improve
the Business. Moreover, IoT also describes the application of IoT within the Business as well as
supply chain along with various challenges faced by Unilever in the IoT implementation.
Additionally, is going to describe the application of IoT in overcoming the challenger along with
the literature gap, theoretical concept and conceptual framework.

2.2 Definition of IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be referred to as the network of various physical objects that are
inserted with software, sensors and various other technologies for exchanging and connecting
with the Internet. As stated by Boyeset al. (2018), the IoT system is responsible for indicating an
effective pathway to support the connectivity of multiple devices and seamless exchange of the
data. Handling of Big Data and promoting a control over the multiple devices are related to the
context of IoT system (Venkatesh et al. 2020). On the other hand, it can also expand the range of
data and involve the IoT system with ordinary household objects to various sophisticated
industries tools. It has been reported by Kayikci et al. (2022), IoT has connected with higher than
10 billion devices currently, which is also intended to grow its number up to 22 billion by 2025
and expand its network.

2.3 Different form of IoT technologies

There are six types of IoT technologies are leading in the world technology such as cellular,
Zigbee, Bluetooth, BLE, wi-fi, and RFID, which concerns the safety and transfer of data.
Different examples of applying IoT in regular lives involve google smart home, smart light
switches, doorbell cam, air pollution monitors and many others, which helps to save time in
sharing information and manuals with employees within the organization (Jabbaret al. 2020).

15
2.4 Application of the IoT technologies in Business

The major application of IoT in the retailing business of such as Unilever or other retail industry
involve pre-building software as a service like SAAS, machine learning, statistical analysis,
could service and many more. Moreover, it helps to rapidly increase the supply chain process,
human resources, financial services, customer service, and many more (Götz and Jankowska,
2020). It can be explained by example, smart shelves implemented into weight sensor that
indicates the requirement of change into the shelf by IoT platform. On the other hand, it also
improves the tracing as well as ring fencing of various devices that support performance
improvisation with increased brand value on the digital platform of the global retail market. The
associated projects about the IoT in required much more spending for significant outcome and
implementation. Therefore, 1.1tr USD is going to be invested for future projects with IoT. IoT is
using the different platforms for long term performance development. In 2019, 620 platforms
have been identified in association with IoT. Moreover, from 2010 to 2022, the progressive
graph of using IoT has been evident. Thus, the future predication foe the implementation also
being stated which has indicated 1.110 billion USD development (Statista.com, 2022).

Figure 2.1: Spending over IoT

(Source: Statista.com, 2022)

16
2.5 Application of IoT within the supply chain

Internet of things (IoT) helps the supply chain by effectively tracking the product delivery as
well as authenticated product location with the help of GPSD technology with improved
progress. It also assists in monitoring the storage condition of products with the utilization of
smart shelves that improves the quality of the management and supply chain service (Abdelhadi
and Akkartal, 2019). Application of IoT provides opportunity to develop a strategy to promote
stock control, evaluation and maintenance of the logistics. The real time supply chain
sustainability has been implied with IoT implementation in a logistic or any other industry.
Therefore, the major three elementary processes have been involved with application of IoT for
supply chain which are- Tracking, Monitoring and analytics. Thus, the AI, Big data and IoT are
included within the supply chain management process. The execution of plan is being performed
with AI interference, while the action execution has implied with IoT. In case of UK’ total
economic development, impact of using IoT has been significant (Statista.com, 2022).
Manufacturing sectors to government sectors all are involved with applying IoT for profit
enhancement.

Figure 2.2: Supply chain management with IoT intervention

(Source: Statista.com, 2022)

17
2.6 Multiple issues in IoT related to organizations

The major challenge faced by different industries in the implantation of IoT is the advanced
technology maintenance, lack of highly structured data, and utilization of edge computing,
analytical meddling and many more. Apart from that, it also faces issues in the digital
transformation as many of the data remains crashed due to huge data storage by the company and
empowers the digital factories (Parmentolaet al. 2022). For example, Unilever also faces
adaptation issues in the organization as the retailing by the digital platform has huge data
transportation and management of the supply chain, which initially has a different process.
Moreover, many employees show conflict in the acceptance, as they do not have the idea of
controlling such advanced technology.

2.7 Application of IoT for meeting the challenges faced by the company

IoT has played a crucial role in maintaining the challenges as the big data. The cloud-based IoT
as well as the use of edge computing, that is the system for interconnected storage process, which
is overcome by access to various devices with the same data, resolve data issue. Apart from that,
it also influences the consistency in the Business as IoT helps to monitor the performance of
employees and its analysis with statistical approaches (Iftekharet al. 2020). Moreover, the issues
in quality, complexity, as well as security in data storage can also be resolved by the security of
data with various codes and passwords along with a biometric lock that only supplies access to
an authentic person. On the other hand, it also removes the challenges of acceptability by manual
instruction and training to the employees, which can be done in less time due to its lower
complexity in use (Kayιkcι, 2020).

2.8 Literature Gap

The existing knowledge on the IoT has not supplied the information on challenges in implication
on the broader range. Apart from that, IoT also lacks information about companies coordinating
with IoT and its application in the management process with devices connected to the Internet.
Additionally, it also lacks information on the barriers of IoT and its application in the practical
world of huge machine learning analytics, connectivity, conversational artificial intelligence and
many others (Nhat, 2021). Moreover, the other research has faced issues in the accessibility in

18
 the creation of a hypothesis which is committed to describing all the incomplete observations as
well as surprising all the facts.

2.9 Theoretical Framework

The innovation theory can be referred to as the model of innovation approach and planning that
supplies an ability to rethink the situation of the Business. Moreover, it also considered the
outcome of the revenue streams after implementing ideas of innovative change (Filimonau and
Delysia, 2019). Apart from that, this theory used in this research has improvised the productivity
of Unilever as it implements IoT into the Business that reducing the time and effort into the
delivery with proper maintenance of human resources. On the other hand, it assists Unilever to
manage its competitiveness in the market with analysis of customer demand and improving its
comparative advantage. As per Parmentolaet al. (2022), Innovative theory has influenced
Unilever to implement IoT into the digital platform, which helps the Business to maintain its
sustainability even in a pandemic situation. It helps to understand the requirement of the IoT in
the Business of Unilever, especially in the online retailing business and home delivery.

2.10 Conceptual framework

Different IoT Internet of things

technologies (IoT)

Application of the IoT BARRIERS TO Application of IoT for

IMPLEMENTATION OF IOT - A
technologies in meeting the challenges
STUDY OF UNILEVER
Business faced by the company

Challenges faced in the

Application of IoT
implementation of IoT in
within the supply chain
Unilever

19
 Figure 2.3: conceptual framework

2.11 Summary

This chapter has properly described the definition of the IoT and its different forms, which help
improve the Business and manage its progression. Apart from that, it also described the
application of IoT within the Business as well as supply chain along with various challenges
faced by Unilever in the IoT implementation. On the other hand, it is going to describe the
application of IoT in overcoming the challenger along with literature gap, theoretical concept and
conceptual framework. It also evolves in looking for all the observing patterns into the existing
knowledge on the IoT and its application in the Unilever work process and management.

20
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction
Research works require a specific path to be followed for fulfilling the objectives of the research.
For achieving the aim of the research has to be done in a proper way. The application of wrong
techniques for doing the research would prevent the successful completion of the research work.
This chapter of the research provides discussions on the techniques implemented in the research
for fulfilling the objectives of the research work. The main aim of the research is to find and
analyze the barriers to implementing IoT in Unilever and find out the mitigation techniques for
it. The techniques and their justifications will create a proper understanding of the techniques
used in the research work.

3.2 Research Philosophy

Research Philosophy can be considered a crucial concept to deal with all the resources for
developing knowledge as well as research nature into the study of the topic. Apart from that, four
kinds of philosophy are commonly utilized: positivism, realism, pragmatism, and interpretivism
(Kayikci et al., 2022). Moreover, there are majorly three types of key functions such as
demystifying, informing, and method facilitating the research study to support economic and
business structure.

21
 Figure 3.1: Research Philosophy

(Source: Kayikci et al. 2022)

Justification

The research taken positivism as research philosophy due to its factual knowledge, which is
acquisition by the process of observation related to the facts. Apart from that, it provides realistic
data presentation along with a lower error in the result. On the other hand, It also allows the
researcher to play a limited role in the data collection process and interpret objectively (Lim et
al. 2020). Moreover, positivism involves measurements of common issue related to the context
of IoT system implementation in an organization related to the research environment to observe
natural reactions.

3.3 Research Approach

A research approach can be associated with this study that spreads the steps from a huge
prediction to explaining methods of data gathering, analysis as well as interpretation. Apart from
that, it is majorly of three types, namely deductive approach, inductive approach as well as
abductive approach (Iftekharet al. 2020).

22
 Figure 3.2: Deductive Approach

(Source: Iftekharet al. 2020)

Justification

The researcher has selected the deductive approach in this study as it initiates the observation
process and also proposes several theories to end this step of this research process. On the other
hand, it also allows the research to be independent for giving direction about the research
alteration on this commenced process (Parmentolaet al. 2022). Apart from that, it also provides
better reasoning and logical presentation of data selection and establishes all the research theory
expansion with the help of hypothesis series (Kayιkcι, 2020).

3.4 Research Design

Different designs of doing research are followed for the research that are of different types.
These designs of doing research have been developed based on the requirements of different
researches. There are mainly three different research designs that are used by the researchers to
fulfilling their research aims (Sovacoolet al.2018). These are the Explanatory, Exploratory, and
Descriptive designs of doing research. These three designs of research include different
techniques for proceeding with the research work.

23
 Explanatory

Research
Exploratory
Designs

Descriptive
Figure 3.1: Research Designs

(Source: Ronget al. 2020)

Here for doing this research, the Descriptive design of doing research had been \chosen.
According to this design of research, the data have been collected through the data collection
techniques and then the data have been used for the explanation of the barriers faced in the
implementation of the IoT technologies in Unilever and also identify the challenges faced in the
implementation procedure. The techniques used for mitigating the challenges of implementation
have also been described through the descriptive procedure of research design. This has led to
the fulfillment of the research work as the objectives of the research are met with the help of the
data.

3.5 Research Strategy

Different types of research require different strategies for doing the research work. There are
mainly three research strategies that are used for doing the research work. These include the
Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed strategies of doing research (Ronget al. 2020). Qualitative
research is oriented with the collection of pieces of information about a phenomenon; on the
other hand, quantitative research work is oriented with the collection of data that includes
statistical as well as numerical data. These two strategies are chosen based on the requirement of
the research work.
The research strategy of Qualitative research has been chosen for doing this research work. This
is the most suitable research strategy for doing this research as with the help of this research
strategy the pieces of information that are required for understanding the IoT technologies and

24
their implementation will be collected. On the other hand, the pieces of information regarding the
challenges faced in the implementation of the IoT technologies in Unilever have also been
collected.

3.6 Sampling Method

Different sampling methods are applied to different types of research work. These sampling
methods are used for choosing the sources of information that are used in the research for
fulfilling the objectives of the research work. There are mainly two different sampling methods
present (Xu and Goodacre, 2018). These include Simple Random Sampling and the systematic
sampling techniques that are used for collecting the pieces of information for different types of
research work.
The data sources regarding IoT and the challenges faced in the implementation of the IoT had
been selected using this technique. Initially, 180 articles were selected. Among these samples, it
can be detected there were samples included wrong pieces of information, incomplete data, and
many more, therefore, they were excluded. The selection of the sources is done following the
PRISMA framework.

3.7 Data collection Method

The data required for performing research work is collected in different research in different
ways. There are mainly two different techniques of data collection and they are Primary and
secondary modes of data collection (Bleikeret al. 2019). In the case of primary data collection,
the researcher is directly involved with the data collection directly. On the other hand, in the case
of the secondary data collection method, the researchers collect data from various secondary
sources such as PubMed, Google Scholar, various articles, journals, and many more.
Thematic analysis has been chosen here as the sampling method for this secondary research. This
research includes the collection of data through Secondary data collection methods. With the
help of this method, the data from various online sources have been collected. These included
various websites, the annual report of Unilever, online articles, journals, and many other pieces
of sources that provided pieces of information regarding IoT and its implementation challenges.
The secondary data collection method incurs less cost compared with Primary data collection;
however, a large amount of data can be collected with the help of this process in a short time
period.

25
3.8 Data analysis methods
The data analysis method includes various techniques that are implemented according to the
nature of the data collected and the requirements of the research. However, there are mainly two
different categories of data analysis include Qualitative and Quantitative data analysis
techniques (Coy, 2019). These are used with respect to the type of data collected.
Quantitative data collection has been chosen here based on thematic analysis for this secondary
research. For analysing the thematic analysis mainly, the themes have been chosen here based on
the objectives of this secondary research. In this process, themes are formed from the collected
articles and then they are analyzed with the help of the collected data. The results of the analysis
have provided pieces of information that aided in meeting the aim of the research.

3.9 Search Criteria

The search criteria are very crucial for selecting the words for finding the most appropriate
literature oriented to the research work. Without being able to choose proper wordings oriented
to the research work proper results and proper materials cannot be found.
This research is aimed at finding out the pieces of information relating to IoT and the issues
faced in implementing IoT in company. Therefore, the search criteria include the usage of the
words such as IoT, Unilever, Challenges, Issues, and many more (Dickerson et al. 2020).
Moreover, the sources of information that have been collected are from the time period of fewer
than 5 years older. The materials published more than five years ago have been excluded from
the search criteria. Moreover, the journals that have been selected include only peer-reviewed
journals that are published by only authentic publications. Moreover, the journals providing
irrelevant pieces of information have been excluded from the research work.

3.10 Data inclusion and Exclusion

Exclusion criteria Inclusion criteria

● More than five years older. ● Articles containing keywords.
● Contains irrelevant pieces of ● Containing related pieces of
information. information that is useful for the
● Not peer-reviewed. research.

26
 ● Not form authentic publication. ● Less than five years older.
● Provides vague pieces of information. ● Peer-reviewed and from authentic
● Does not relate to the topic properly. sources of publication.

Table 3.1: Exclusion and Inclusion Criteria

(Source: Kecmanovicet al. 2020)
The above table contains the exclusion as well as the inclusion criteria that have been used for
finding the related articles from which the data for doing this research have been collected. These
criteria provided authentic pieces of sources that are relevant to the topic of the research.

3.11 Ethical Consideration

The ethical guidelines have been strictly followed while doing the research. It has been taken
into consideration that the terms of the Data Protection Act of 1998 have been followed
throughout the research in order to prevent any legal issues faced in the research regarding any
misuse of the pieces of information (Naepi, 2019). Moreover, it has been made sure that the
pieces of information that have been accessed are for academic purposes and not for any
commercial usage. The copyright of any pieces of information has not been infringed.

3.12 Limitations
Various accessibility issues were faced while looking for authentic sources that are relevant to
the topic of the research. These include the issues of incomplete data and many more. Many of
the articles were found to be requiring access for being able to access (Keikelame and Swartz,
2019). On the other hand, many articles with similar topics were found to not be from authentic
sources. Therefore, those articles were also rejected.

3.13 Summary
This chapter of the research provided pieces of information that are crucial for understanding the
procedure of performing this research. The justification provided against the techniques
implemented in the research work has provided a clear idea about the necessity of the techniques
being applied and also the reason for selecting those specific techniques in this research.

27
Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Introduction
In this chapter selected articles will be analyzed with help of thematic data analysis method.
Based on considered articles different supporting themes will be developed that will help in
answering the research questions and help in achieving research objectives for This research
work. Based on findings of theme discussion will be produced relating to literature review
findings.

4.2 Data analysis

Theme 1: Application of IoT: Application of IoT within the supply chain management

The implementation process and issues of IoT in the case of business have been faced with significant
challenges for costing. The financial predisposition has been asserted as the main issue of an organization
to impose this technologic advanced tool. The application of IoT in the case of retails, manufacturing
industries, and other sectors mainly developed productions and business relationships between employees
and customers. The relationship development between marketing and sales is significantly associated with
the major profitability enhancement. The application of IoT helps in improving the management of
the supply chain. The internet of things helps in facilitating the management by monitoring and
tracking goods. Moreover, the application of IoT within the supply chain management of the
company Unilever helps in bringing a huge amount of transparency for improving the
communication process and increasing planning development.
Therefore, human capital refers to the skills and knowledge of employees in handling the
processual dimension of the IoT implementation. Thus, the organization-specific model for the
IoT implementation has been experiencing significant issues with human capital.

The present study has identified major challenges associated with human capital for implementing this
process in business. In the case of Unilever, the application of IoT is stated with developing Customers
relationships. This relationship has been recognized in developing interaction and information exchanges
between employees and customers. However, the relevant applications with major preferences for other
parts of the organization to work accordingly are required to depend on this technological bridge. As
opined by Nižetićet al. (2020), the cost and implementation process issues are the key issue for this

28
company associated with IoT. Within the company Unilever, the supply chain management helps in
improving the profitability development. In that case, the implementation of IoT helps in
improving the supply chain management process (Makhdoomet al.2018). Therefore, the
mitigation and strategic planning to reduce threats from the external environment of this
company has been effective. The employee's skills and knowledge for handling this technology
to monitor, track and implement actions are relevant. The supply chain sustainability from
organization to end-users satisfaction is a crucial aspect of business development. The company
associated with regular supply chain contingencies effectively reflects the need for IoT. The
worldwide project development of IoT is going to reach 1.1 tr USD in 2028(Pustišek and Kos,
2018). The spending on IoT has been developing and the interest of organizations is parallel
growing. The advantages associated with customer development and satisfaction increase is the
main aspect. The planning of route and designing of schedules for product supply has been
created with IoT. It has been found that Unilever faces problem with provision of training
regarding internet of things use. Moreover, acceptability of internet if thing is a problem that is
faced by Unilever company that has effect on overall performance of company.
Theme 2: Barriers of IoT: Barriers faced by the company Unilever regarding the
implementation of the IoT in supply chain management
Mainly the digital platform that is knowledge platforms have been used by the company
Unilever.
In the case of Unilever, it has been found that digital transformation is targeted to increase the
connectivity between organisation and customers (Unilever.com, 2022). As mentioned by Kayιkcι (2020),
increasing efficiency is an obvious benefit of digital transformation that includes internet of things
systems. However, findings show that various barriers are faced by organisations while using internet of
things systems. Vast amounts of structured and unstructured data are generated with information
technology systems. Sorting this data is difficult without technical and analytical knowledge of data
management. As per the article analysis, it has been found that a lack of understanding of technical
perspectives and relation between beneficiaries' expert's perspectives diminishes the acceptance of IoT in
business (Padyabnet al. 2020). For supply chain management purposes Unilever also uses IoT to meet
customer demand In that case, the implementation of IoT helps in increasing productivity. In that
case, the production and economic development can be done within the company Unilever. But
the implementation of the IoT in supply chain management some of the problems can be faced
by them that help in reducing the economic development within the company Unilever. On the

29
other side, the mismanaged implementation of the internet of things can negatively impact the
supply chain process by service redundancy, missing deadlines, and wasted labour that can
significantly help in reducing the cost of the company.
The internet of things tracks physical things and with real-time data are transmitted, retrieved,
and stored using a constant networking system. All types of unstructured data are also stored in
storage systems with an increased number of device connectivity (Ingemarsdotter, Jamsin, and
Balkenende, 2020). In Unilever as a globalized store, it will try to connect all the customers in a
single chain of networks that increase the complexity of the supply chain management system
(Unilever.com, 2022). It has been evaluated that all types of operational data are fed into twin
systems in the internet of things that enable continuous monitoring.it has been found that
predictive data provision with use of real-time data reduces operational costs. Therefore,
Unilever faced a problem with data management as lots of unstructured data comes in the way of
operational management (Unilever.com, 2022). In addition to that irrelevant unstructured data
increase time for analysis which increases delivery time and reduces customer satisfaction.

Theme 3: Strategic improvement: Strategic improvement of the supply chain management

for the implementation of IoT within the company Unilever
The Internet of things helps in identification of operational chains with information about
products, retail stores, wholesale, and customers. As mentioned by Kamble et al. (2020), in
transformation of physical assets problems relies on between human interface and physical
interface. Unilever faced problems while dealing with transformation of physical assets to twin
digital systems. Security-related problems are major problems with the internet of things. Data
security is less as a huge number of networks are connected with a single distributed networking
system. As stated by Götz and Jankowska (2020), a lack of technical knowledge can hamper the
complete and successful implementation of the internet of things. Unilever faces obstacles with
transformation of physical resources to technological data due to a lack of technical knowledge
among staff within the company. In addition to that, it has been found that with the internet of
things application Unilever reduces operational profit in the initial years which has increased in
recent years.

30
 Figure 4.2: Operational profit in Unilever

(Source: Statista.com, 2022)

As per the above picture, it has benefits that operational profit was highest in 2018 which is about 12535
million Euros which is currently 8702 million Euros (Statista.com, 2022). The IoT is mainly used in
the development of the supply chain management within the company Unilever. After facing
some of the challenges or negative impacts of this IoT implementation of the supply chain
management, the company has faced a lot of positive impacts that help in improving its strategic
development within this company in the future. The IoT implementation within this company
helps in making a positive impact in perceive visibility, proactive replenishment, and mainly the
predictive maintenance in supply chain management. Due to that reason, global sustainability
can be improved which helps in improving overall efficiency and economic development that
helps in achieving strategic achievements.
In addition, operational profit in-home care products are 4.47 billion euros (Statista.com, 2022).
It has been clearly stated that cost of implementation is high in case of interest in things
therefore, more financial resources are demanded (Kayikciet al. 2022). As well as in
transformation of physical resources data security management is an important fact that also
demands extra financial investment. Increased connectivity creates risk for sharing of data as
complexity in the value chain is a marked feature in the internet of things.

31
Theme 4: Lack of infrastructure of IoT within Unilever that can reduce the supply chain
management process
The Internet of things demands huge scale infrastructural support which is lacking in Unilever.
Though Unilever is a renowned company it has been seen that a lack of infrastructure creates
problems in successful implementation of internet of things for organisations (Unilever.com,
2022). Therefore, customer satisfaction reduces which in turn denotes improper service provision
to customers. As mentioned by Agrawal, Narain, and Ullah (2020), an interpretive structural
model is required to implement in internet of things implementation that can reduce problems
related to implementation. Digital structure is a factor that has been ignored by Unilever which
causes problems in implementation of the internet of things. In addition to that improper digital
strategy has been a barrier to implementation of IoT in Unilever (Unilever.com, 2022). Usually,
an infarct structure is required for implementation of sensors, cloud systems, and end-users.
Connectivity is required to make between these settings with a proper broad banding system.
With proper system implementation, monitoring systems can be strengthened. However, the
presence of improper infrastructure increased the amount of unstructured data and decreased the
efficiency of the supply chain. In addition to that, the edge computing system also creates
problems related to crashes of data (Venkateshet al. 2020). Unilever recorded that use of
improper infrastructural internet of things causes an increased amount of crashed data storage
cases which produce decreased quality analytical data. Moreover, the internet of things uses real-
time data therefore, constant and continuous data storage is demanded by the organization
(Oncioiu et al. 2019). However, with problematic infrastructure models for the internet of things,
it is difficult to store and use real-time data. In addition to that low-capacity cloud storage system
which is a physical infrastructural problem in implementation of IoT causes decreased
performance in supply chain management (Sony et al. 2021). Unilever also analyzed with an
internal analytical tool that clouds computing capacity is less in Unilever which is a barrier to
development of the internet of things in an organisation.

Production and traceability problems in supply chain management in Unilever. The Internet of
things needs organisation to get information from end-users that helps in management of data
with a real-time data analysis process. Data is tracked with sensors in the internet of things that
helps in management of the supply chain. Social sustainability is improved with application of
the internet of things (Perkhoferet al. 2019). In the case of Unilever, it is also applicable that

32
sustainability of the management system is increased with the internet of things. Communication
between stakeholders is also sustained with internet of things applications. However, it has been
found that social sustainability requires constant attachment to devices.

Discussion on thematic analysis

The barriers identified from the IoT implementations and outcomes process are mainly due to the
internal and external factors interferences. According to Oteafy and Hassanein (2018), the cost-
effectiveness of using the IoT in the case of an organization has been complex. Therefore, the
present study has allowed the users to find out the significant applications for the IoT. The IoT
application with product visibility and improvement cycle is significantly involved with
organizational performance development. Therefore, extracted information from existing
research studies has asserted the major interventions of supply chain continuity. Moreover, the
effective scenarios of this application depend on several parts of the organization. In the case of
Unilever, the employees and customers are merely a shared complex bond. The application of
IoT helps in improving the business server that helps in improving the supply chain management
process. This complex bond between coming times and the present pandemic is crucial.
Therefore, the monitoring to tracking of information and actions for the developing
organization's national and international market is more or less.
The supply chain maintenance has been critical for Unilever to demonstrate the major reflection
on the current market and present threats in the market. Hence, the reduction of cost of
production and manufacturing process has seemed to be significant in technology
implementations. According to Dachyaret al. (2019), the application of IoT is being ranged from
health sectors to manufacturing sectors. Therefore, the supply chain management is being
destroyed by the covid-19 pandemic at a severe rate. The fall of GDP and economy of an
organization, at national and international platforms is threatened. Automotive companies with
technologically advanced tools and digital platforms used by retail companies have experienced
major customer-based relationship development.

The connection with devices to continue the exchanges of information and data for the
management and resources management are significant allowed Unilever to extract market
profitability. The following steps for IoT application are mainly involved with connection,
management, and process; these three elements are broader divisions for the application. Hence,

33
this study has asserted that Unilever has been affected by applying the IoT in the case of supply
chain management. The products delivered to the end-users are commonly faced with major
challenges with time and the costing process. With this view and problem demonstration present
study has been able to define the application IoT with evidence that the growth of customer
relationships with IoT implementation in the supply chain (Dachyaret al. 2019). Therefore, the
indicators of barriers associated with IoT are mainly cost. The cost to apply this process requires
a higher amount of investment. This phase of time with the global economic crisis has been
stated as the most lowered. Although, the connectivity and security risks are also identified with
the organization application issue for IoT. The recognition of human capital issues with the skills
of employees and knowledge to handle this process is significant for this study. Therefore, the
concerned company is required to look over these all-recognized issues to mitigate and sustain
the supply chain management with IoT.

The testing and malware of software have been an effective aspect of implementation barriers.
Therefore, technological issues are frequent in case of a continuous process, hence, human
capital is required to promote sustainability in supply chain management. The significant
management decision about the application of IoT. However, ransomware is a common threat at
internal functional destruction prospects. As suggested by Islam and Rahaman (2020), the
worldwide distribution supply chain continuity has been experienced historical challenges due to
the pandemic spread. In association with the impact of covid-19, companies are mainly turned to
change the strategic planning and execution process. The monitoring and tracking with
significant intervention from the technologic support is required to deliver the processual
support.

The quality of products and distribution of products are commonly followed by the decision
making of management for long-term continuity. Hence, the IoT in automotive companies is
being effective not only in performance but also in product development. Unilever has been
tested with descriptive analysis with existing evidence for the major interpretation about the
selected factors. Therefore, the recommended part is needed to focus on these factors associated
with Unilever. The study of Budiartiet al. (2019), have mentioned that the quality of products
and services are created with IoT. The concerning company is objectified this quality
development and supply chain continuity at the prime to promote customers satisfaction.

34
Therefore, the internet network with connecting differences apart to evaluate data and
monitoring over the systems are significantly helpful and provide greater competencies.

Approximately 75% of IoT implementations have faced significant failure due to the above-
mentioned factors (Jo et al. 2020). Hence, the costing support and human capital are two
commonly used aspects for implementation sustainability. The effectiveness of the market and
customer satisfaction have been regulating overall processual development. Nevertheless,
sustainability with customer stratification is a complex process to imply over the whole chain.
Therefore, the research retaliation has covered a greater sphere of management of the supply
chain (Lakhwani et al. 2019). This wider coverage has been involved recognizing different types
of issues impact on the core competencies. The application AI, Big data, and IoT are commonly
related to an organization's supply chain. The discussion has been evaluated with major
interventions of different factors affecting the overall supply chain management at Unilever. In
the case-based analysis of Unilever has demonstrated cost, human capital, and management are
major issues for IoT implementations. Though, strategic planning and recommendation can
reduce these threats.

Based on the above result data it has been described that the IoT implementation process is much
more complicated than other useful technology such as blockchain or artificial intelligence.
According to the result of this study, it has been evaluated that IoT requires a good team to
manage the whole system. Along with this, From the discussion of the literature review, it can be
interpreted how its process, IoT needs specific staff to flow an organized working formation
within the business operational area. As a result, it can develop entire working outsources
through working systematically, and concerned with how everyone gets benefits from IoT-based
policy.

Based on the comparison with present data which was conducted in this research and literature
review it has been described that during the implementation of IoT-based policy, Unilever faced
challenges in dealing with data privacy and security concerns. As per the view of Chowdhury et
al. (2021), data privacy is a huge issue that can be dangerous for those who are involved in IoT-
based policy at Unilever. According to the result from this study, it has been analyzed that
Unilever has a secure data privacy service but for many reasons, sometimes it failed to place

35
secure data privacy. As a result, it can require a good data privacy policy and raise more
concerns about their security.

Based on the present result and data it has been described that during the implementation of IoT
technology at Unilever, this company has faced many negative circumstances in warehouse
management, transportation, and retailing areas. As per the address of Abdelhadi and Akkartal
(2019), warehouse management, retailing, and also transportation play a huge role in the
implication of IoT-based policy. The transport system is the base of any company to achieve its
goals. If transportation systems are not working properly, it takes a huge time for the company to
perform badly. In a previous study, it was noticed that well transportation made the company
grow repeatedly. According to the result of this study, Unilever has problems in these specific
areas. As a result, Unilever has more staff to manage all of these areas and build a proper
transportation sector.

According to the record of gathered data and results, it has been described that, as per this
research, digitalization in the economy and innovation has maintained a positive relationship
with the implementation of IoT-based technology in Unilever. In the words of Afonasovaet al.
(2019), IoT technology is direct gets affected by social and economic conditions. As a result, it is
important to convey positive news about IoT-based technology to people. Digitalization is
important to grab the future market. In the 21st century, digital markets capture a huge area and
these areas capture the maximum by the young people. In occupying this market, digitalization is
the best opportunity for the company. Social and economy is considered the best medium to
generalize the modern system of IoT technology within the organization's working area.

Depending on the comparison with present data which was conducted in this research and
literature review it has been described that face difficulties during the implication of IoT based
technology in Unilever company because they failed to understand the people's perception. As
mentioned by Kayikciet al. (2022), there was a lack of opportunities to equally distribute the IoT
technology depending on people's performance. Along with this, the implication of an IoT
technology company was to understand people's perceptions. Perception of people is most
important to capture the market, people's thinking pattern, and their needs. These are all of the
key points to knowing the demand for IoT technology and manufacturing them as well. As a

36
result, knowledge about this IoT technology is important to reach people to get a clear idea about
IoT technology.

Based on the above result data it has been described that the IoT implementation process is much
more complicated than other useful technology because of the problem of IoT-based technology
manufacture in Unilever. As per the suggestion of Escoto, Gebrehewot, and Morris (2022), there
were barriers to manufacturing sustainable policies. These barriers created different problems
like trust issues, for this problem the implication of IoT is also happen. As a result, many
organization areas are not covered by this policy because of these barriers. This problem is
directly related to the implication of IoT technology. Sustainable manufacturing is another
medium to generalize the modern system of IoT technology within the organization's working
area.

According to the present research work and data, it has been described that business strategy
plays an important role in the implication of IoT policy in Unilever. And per view of Petrilloet al
(2022), sustainable development of IoT policy is easier to get a huge customer base.
Environmentally friendly sustainable development is beneficial not only for people and also for
companies. Modern generation of people are more careful about their environment and they
mostly prefer the environmentally friendly product. This environmentally friendly implication of
IoT technology is highly recommended for 21st-century youth. On the other hand, companies
make the proper distribution programs for easy availability. As a result, huge manufacturing and
environmentally friendly sustainable technology are more beneficial for companies. The Cost of
huge manufacturing and environment-friendly IoT technology is more cost-effective. Cost-
effective, easily available, and also untrustworthy IoT technology is more profitable and easier to
implicate.

The current research has described that the implication of IoT policy is harder than other policies
because of many reasons; one of the most important reasons was the lack of standards policy in
Unilever. As per the view of Kayιkcι (2020), IoT policy is important for every company in the
21st century. It plays an important role in increasing company growth. Lack of standardization of
policy is affected by IoT policy implications. In the previous research, Standard policy always
helped people build trust in a company and a trustworthy company made good business. As a
result, companies have to find the problem behind the lack of standardization and solve that

37
problem to go with the flow. Making good company policies will help the implication of IoT
technology. On the other hand, companies keep an eye on the implications of these policies.
From all of the above data and research work, it has been described that the business plan of the
implication of IoT technology is the most important thing to growing IoT technology at
Unilever.

Business planning is an important thing of the implication of IoT technology. As per the
suggestion of Götz and Jankowska (2020), a good business plan helped the company to
understand IoT technology and helped its implications of IoT technology. Good plans get higher
results and poor business plans get worse results of implication. As a result, companies need
highly qualified and experienced staff to plan business plans. Also, companies need to provide
proper training programs for individual employees. It is also beneficial to upgrade the skills of
workers. A good business plan also includes the whole systematics work process and monitoring
them as well.

Depending on the comparison with present data which was conducted in this research and
literature review it has been described that lack of information is the barrier to the implication of
IoT in the practical world. According to that (2021), people had a lack of knowledge about
operating the IoT technology and its application in the practical world like artificial intelligence,
machine learning, and many others. As a result, companies need to develop their technical
infrastructure to modify each area which is effective to generate modern uses of IoT technology
in every section. Besides that, using training programs for individual employees is also beneficial
to upgrade the skills of workers. On the other hand, Unilever is concerned with reshape its
awareness program to implement modern policy which is completely based on a perimeter of IoT
based technical era.

4.4 Summary
In this chapter, it can be summarized that these chapter findings state that in Unilever company
lack of infrastructure for implementation of the internet of things is a major problem which is
due to cloud storage capacity problem. In addition to that selected article, support for the
transformation of physical resources is not secured with using the internet of things as a huge
networking hub is built which can reduce the security of data. Data hacking cases increased with
the use of the internet of things with lowered infrastructure in organisations. In this chapter

38
themes on barriers to implementation of IoT have been developed that are supported by selected
articles.

39
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion
IoT has a series of applications in both personal and official lives and when it comes to bigger
organizations like Unilever, the applications can be huge. Starting from packaging and
processing of products to tracking and identifying issues, all of these include the help of IoT.
Some of these problems can be overcome with strategies while some cannot and there has been
no possible recovery from these issues to date. There has been very little research on the use of
IoT in the supply chain management of Unilever and this has made the analysis of other
companies tough too. Huge companies require IoT installations for several daily purposes but
one issue has not yet been solved to that extent and that is data breaching. The dependency of
humans on new technologies cannot be avoided and hence the primary requirement would be to
make these processes safe rather than avoiding them. Security breach issues can be solved
partially with simple strategies that might not even involve extra charges. It can also be
concluded from the study of Unilever that the same practical steps cannot be applied in the case
of small companies considering their budget and employee number. In that case, separate
techniques or strategies should be thought about to help small companies implement IoT
technologies without the fear of complications.

5.2 Linking with objectives

Objective 1
The first objective is based on the application of the internet of things within the supply chain
management process of the company Unilever. The first objective is highly linked with the 2.5
points of the literature review and theme 1 of the thematic analysis. From the theme and
literature review analysis, the importance of IoT and its application has been carried out.
Objective 2
The second objective is based on the barriers faced by the company Unilever has been evaluated
and it is highly linked with the 2.7 points of the literature review and theme 2 of the thematic
analysis. From both kinds of analysis, some of the major barriers have been come out that can
impact the development of the supply chain management process.

40
Objective 3
The third objective is based on the impact of the IoT on the strategic development of the supply
chain process in the future. The third theme is linked with themes 3 and 2.4 points of the
literature review. From both the evaluation, the importance of IoT in supply chain development
and strategic development has been evaluated.
Objective 4
The fourth objective is mainly based on the strategies to reduce the negative impacts of the
supply chain management process through the implementation of IoT. The fourth objective is
mainly based on the 2.9 points of the literature review and theme 4 of the thematic analysis that
helps in signifying the research objectives.

5.3 Recommendation
Recommendation 1: Application of IoT strategies for improving the supply chain
management
The implementation of new technology and giving proper training about this technology helps in
reducing the negative impacts of the supply chain process.
The primary problem that might be encountered while implementing IoT technologies in a
company is the cost of implementation. In such cases, the company needs to come up with
certain cost-cutting strategies and some of them are “employee lay off, reducing employee pay,
closing facilities, and office downsizing". Strategies like “laying off employees” and reducing
their pay might not be acceptable to the employees and hence have negative repercussions (Cole,
Stevenson and Aitken, 2019). However, "downsizing of the office” and closing of unnecessary
departments might bear positive results without affecting the mental state of the employees.
Other cost-reducing methods include avoiding advertising agencies or contractors and these
might be very helpful (Seyedghorbanet al. 2020). The other challenge that might be faced during
IoT installation is the time required that happens to hamper the other processes. Time
management strategies like prioritizing work and focusing on one job at a time might be helpful.

Recommendation 2: Implementing new strategies to ensure data privacy in IoT

implementation

41
Privacy of data is one of the most important crises being faced when the implementation of IoT
technologies for the supply chain management. Several steps might be taken to ensure data
privacy and prevent data from being misused. One of them is changing the passwords regularly
and providing access to the devices only to trusted people of the organization (Natarajan, Ng,
and Katina, 2021). The dependency on cloud technology might prove to be beneficial for the
storage of huge data, but it is recommended to avoid it for security purposes. Data stored in
clouds is a heterogeneous and open platform hence accessible to all kinds of people. To avoid
breaching by hackers, other storage technologies like normal hardware must be depended upon.
Another strategy would be to update the IoT devices after certain intervals such that the previous
data is removed and out of the hands of hackers.

Recommendation 3: Warehouse management protocols and dependency on the blockchain

might help in the uninterrupted supply chain management

The basic principles of warehouse management include “accuracy, cost control, efficiency,
cleanliness, safety, and security". The maintenance of proper accuracy of the processes like
packaging and storing might include both manual and machinery labor (Kayikciet al. 2022). Cost
control strategies are to be followed as pre-mentioned by the authorities and the cleanliness of
the warehouses is to be maintained. As said by Adamashviliet al. (2021), the safety of the
workers is in the hands of the warehouse manager and a breach of security is something that the
manager can be held responsible for. By following strict rules, these factors can be well
maintained within the warehouse premises and another strategy might be depending on
blockchain technology for the supply chain management. This not only reduces manual labor but
also reduces the risk of errors by making the processes digital.

5.4 Limitation of the study

There have been several challenges that have failed to be recovered from during this research
work. The first limitation was that secondary data collection had to be performed because of the
pandemic and that put the authenticity of collected data in question. To avoid human contact,
interviews of actual workers associated with Unilever could not be communicated and this made
previous studies left as the only resource. The study could have been more detailed if there was
more time allocation, however that could not be achieved. Research work is based on team effort
and that was another limitation faced during this research. On being allocated to one person, the

42
singlehanded effort might have led to inconsistent data and that has affected the results in this
research. The previous studies have focused on several big companies but there has been very
little research on Unilever. This was another limitation that was faced as there was the very little
source to be relied on.

5.5 Future scope

The scope of this project is that by analyzing the barriers to implementing IoT in Unilever, The
possibility of analyzing the same for other huge companies has been increased. The strategies
that were thought about to overcome these barriers have been thought about in the course of this
study. Hence, these strategies can be made use of in case of facing these barriers in other
companies (Kayιkcι. 2020). As not much study has been conducted on Unilever, this research
will help to focus on this company on an organizational level.

43
REFERENCES
Abdelhadi, A. and Akkartal, E., 2019. A framework of IoT implementations and challenges in
Warehouse Management, Transportation and Retailing.

Abdelhadi, A. and Akkartal, E., 2019. A framework of IoT implementations and challenges in
Warehouse Management, Transportation and Retailing.

Adamashvili, N., State, R., Tricase, C. and Fiore, M., 2021. Blockchain-Based Wine Supply
Chain for the Industry Advancement. Sustainability, 13(23), p.13070.

Afonasova, M.A., Panfilova, E.E., Galichkina, M.A. and Ślusarczyk, B., 2019. Digitalization in
economy and innovation: The effect on social and economic processes. Polish Journal of
Management Studies, 19.

Agrawal, P., Narain, R. and Ullah, I., 2020. Analysis of barriers in implementation of digital
transformation of supply chain using interpretive structural modelling approach. Journal of
Modelling in Management, 15(1), pp. 297-317.

Alansari, Z., Soomro, S., Belgaum, M.R. and Shamshirband, S., 2018. The rise of Internet of
Things (IoT) in big healthcare data: review and open research issues. Progress in Advanced
Computing and Intelligent Engineering, pp.675-685.

Anitah, J.N., 2019. Industry 4.0 Technologies and Operational Performance of Fast Moving
Consumer Goods Manufacturers in Kenya: a Case Study of Unilever Kenya and L’oreal East
Africa (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).

Aryal, A., Liao, Y., Nattuthurai, P. and Li, B., 2018. The emerging big data analytics and IoT in
supply chain management: a systematic review. Supply Chain Management: An International
Journal.

Ben-Daya, M., Hassini, E. and Bahroun, Z., 2019. Internet of things and supply chain
management: a literature review. International Journal of Production Research, 57(15-16),
pp.4719-4742.

44
Ben-Daya, M., Hassini, E., &Bahroun, Z. (2019). Internet of things and supply chain
management: a literature review. International Journal of Production Research, 57(15-16),
4719-4742.

Bleiker, J., Morgan-Trimmer, S., Knapp, K. and Hopkins, S., 2019. Navigating the maze:
Qualitative research methodologies and their philosophical foundations. Radiography, 25, pp.S4-
S8.

Boyes, H., Hallaq, B., Cunningham, J. and Watson, T., 2018. The industrial internet of things
(IIoT): An analysis framework. Computers in industry, 101, pp.1-12.

Budiarti, R.P.N., Tjahjono, A., Hariadi, M. and Purnomo, M.H., 2019, October. Development of
IoT for automated water quality monitoring system. In 2019 International Conference on
Computer Science, Information Technology, and Electrical Engineering (ICOMITEE) (pp. 211-
216). IEEE.

Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., Davison, R.M., Fernandez, W., Finnegan, P., Pan, S.L. and Sarker, S.,
2020. Advancing qualitative IS research methodologies: Expanding horizons and seeking new
paths. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 21(1), p.1.

Chang, Y., Iakovou, E. and Shi, W., 2020. Blockchain in global supply chains and cross border
trade: a critical synthesis of the state-of-the-art, challenges and opportunities. International
Journal of Production Research, 58(7), pp.2082-2099.

Chowdhury, M.C. and Scerri, M., 2021. Anwara Happy, KaziWaziur Rahman, Md.
MarufHossan. The Routledge Companion to Global Value Chains: Reinterpreting and
Reimagining Megatrends in the World Economy, p.137.

Cole, R., Stevenson, M. and Aitken, J., 2019. Blockchain technology: implications for operations
and supply chain management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.

Coy, M.J., 2019. Research methodologies: Increasing understanding of the world. International
Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 9(1), pp.71-77.

Dachyar, M., Zagloel, T.Y.M. and Saragih, L.R., 2019. Knowledge growth and development:
internet of things (IoT) research, 2006–2018. Heliyon, 5(8), p.e02264.

45
Dickerson, D., Baldwin, J.A., Belcourt, A., Belone, L., Gittelsohn, J., Kaholokula, K.A., Lowe,
J., Patten, C.A. and Wallerstein, N., 2020. Encompassing cultural contexts within scientific
research methodologies in the development of health promotion interventions. Prevention
Science, 21(1), pp.33-42.

Escoto, X., Gebrehewot, D. and Morris, K.C., 2022. Refocusing the barriers to sustainability for
small and medium-sized manufacturers. Journal of Cleaner Production, p.130589.

Ferrantino, M.J. and Koten, E.E., 2019. Understanding Supply Chain 4.0 and its potential impact
on global value chains. Global Value Chain Development Report 2019, p.103.

Filimonau, V. and Delysia, A., 2019. Food waste management in hospitality operations: A
critical review. Tourism management, 71, pp.234-245.

Götz, M. and Jankowska, B., 2020. Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and company
competitiveness: case studies from a post-transition economy. Форсайт, 14(4 (eng)), pp.61-78.

Götz, M. and Jankowska, B., 2020. Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and company
competitiveness: case studies from a post-transition economy. Форсайт, 14(4 (eng)), pp.61-78.

Happy, A., Rahman, K.W., Chowdhury, M.M.H., Chowdhury, M. and Scerri, M., 2021.
Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain. The Routledge Companion to Global Value
Chains: Reinterpreting and Reimagining Megatrends in the World Economy.

Hochbein, C. and Smeaton, K.S., 2018. An Exploratory Analysis of the Prevalence of

Quantitative Research Methodologies in Journal Articles. International Journal of Education
Policy and Leadership, 13(11), p.n11.

Iftekhar, A., Cui, X., Hassan, M. and Afzal, W., 2020. Application of blockchain and Internet of
Things to ensure tamper-proof data availability for food safety. Journal of Food Quality, 2020.

Ingemarsdotter, E., Jamsin, E. and Balkenende, R., 2020. Opportunities and challenges in IoT-
enabled circular business model implementation–A case study. Resources, conservation and
recycling, 162, p.105047.

46
Islam, M. and Rahaman, A., 2020. Development of smart healthcare monitoring system in IoT
environment. SN computer science, 1(3), pp.1-11.

Jabbar, A., Akhtar, P. and Dani, S., 2020. Real-time big data processing for instantaneous
marketing decisions: A problematization approach. Industrial Marketing Management, 90,
pp.558-569.

Jardas, M., Dundović, Č., Gulić, M., & Ivanić, K. (2018). The Role of Internet of Things on the
Development of Ports as a Holder in the Supply Chain. Pomorski zbornik, 54(1), 61-73.

Jo, J., Jo, B., Kim, J., Kim, S. and Han, W., 2020. Development of an IoT-based indoor air
quality monitoring platform. Journal of Sensors, 2020.

Kamble, S.S., Gunasekaran, A., Parekh, H. and Joshi, S., 2019. Modeling the internet of things
adoption barriers in food retail supply chains. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 48,
pp.154-168.

Kamble, S.S., Gunasekaran, A., Parekh, H. and Joshi, S., 2019. Modeling the internet of things
adoption barriers in food retail supply chains. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 48,
pp.154-168.

Kayikci, Y., Subramanian, N., Dora, M. and Bhatia, M.S., 2022. Food supply chain in the era of
Industry 4.0: Blockchain technology implementation opportunities and impediments from the
perspective of people, process, performance, and technology. Production Planning &
Control, 33(2-3), pp.301-321.

Kayikci, Y., Subramanian, N., Dora, M. and Bhatia, M.S., 2022. Food supply chain in the era of
Industry 4.0: Blockchain technology implementation opportunities and impediments from the
perspective of people, process, performance, and technology. Production Planning &
Control, 33(2-3), pp.301-321.

Kayikci, Y., Subramanian, N., Dora, M. and Bhatia, M.S., 2022. Food supply chain in the era of
Industry 4.0: Blockchain technology implementation opportunities and impediments from the
perspective of people, process, performance, and technology. Production Planning &
Control, 33(2-3), pp.301-321.

47
Kayikci, Y., Subramanian, N., Dora, M. and Bhatia, M.S., 2022. Food supply chain in the era of
Industry 4.0: Blockchain technology implementation opportunities and impediments from the
perspective of people, process, performance, and technology. Production planning & control,
33(2-3), pp.301-321.

Kayιkcι, Y., 2020. Blockchain driven supply chain management: the application potential of
blockchain technology in supply chain and logistics. In Logistics 4.0 (pp. 146-155). CRC Press.

Kayιkcι, Y., 2020. Blockchain driven supply chain management: the application potential of
blockchain technology in supply chain and logistics. In Logistics 4.0 (pp. 146-155). CRC Press.

Kayιkcι, Y., 2020. Blockchain driven supply chain management: the application potential of
blockchain technology in supply chain and logistics. In Logistics 4.0 (pp. 146-155). CRC Press.

Kayιkcι, Y., 2020. Blockchain driven supply chain management: the application potential of
blockchain technology in supply chain and logistics. In Logistics 4.0 (pp. 146-155). CRC Press.

Keikelame, M.J. and Swartz, L., 2019. Decolonising research methodologies: lessons from a
qualitative research project, Cape Town, South Africa. Global Health Action, 12(1), p.1561175.

Koroniotis, N., Moustafa, N., Sitnikova, E. and Turnbull, B., 2019. Towards the development of
realistic botnet dataset in the internet of things for network forensic analytics: Bot-iot
dataset. Future Generation Computer Systems, 100, pp.779-796.

Krings, K. and Schwab, J., 2021. Blockchain technology in supply chains: What are the
opportunities for sustainable development? (No. 2/2021). Briefing Paper.

Lakhwani, K., Gianey, H., Agarwal, N. and Gupta, S., 2019. Development of IoT for smart
agriculture a review. In Emerging trends in expert applications and security (pp. 425-432).
Springer, Singapore.

Lim, M.K., Wang, J., Wang, C. and Tseng, M.L., 2020. A novel method for green delivery mode
considering shared vehicles in the IoT environment. Industrial Management & Data Systems.

Mafini, C. (2016). Barriers to public supply chain management strategy implementation: an

exploratory diagnosis. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 14(3), 256-265.

48
Makhdoom, I., Abolhasan, M., Lipman, J., Liu, R.P. and Ni, W., 2018. Anatomy of threats to the
internet of things. IEEE communications surveys & tutorials, 21(2), pp.1636-1675.

Naepi, S., 2019. Pacific research methodologies. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.

Natarajan, G., Ng, E.H. and Katina, P.F., 2021. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND
DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAINS: TOWARDS REVOLUTIONIZING THE INDUSTRY OF THE
FUTURE.

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.2020.Using Internet of Things to Reduce Office Workers’ Sedentary Behavior:

Intervention Development Applying the Behavior Change Wheel and Human-Centered Design
Approach. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7424484/ [Accessed
on: 10th April 2022]

Nhat, P., 2021. The Implementation of Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management.

Nižetić, S., Šolić, P., González-de, D.L.D.I. and Patrono, L., 2020. Internet of Things (IoT):
Opportunities, issues and challenges towards a smart and sustainable future. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 274, p.122877.

Nozari, H., Fallah, M. and Szmelter-Jarosz, A., 2021. A conceptual framework of green smart
IoT-based supply chain management. International Journal of Research in Industrial
Engineering, 10(1), pp.22-34.

Oncioiu, I., Ovidiu, C.B., Türkeș, M.C., Căpușneanu, S., Topor, D.I., Tamaș, A.S., Ileana-
SorinaRakoș and Hint, M.Ș., 2019. The Impact of Big Data Analytics on Company Performance
in Supply Chain Management. Sustainability, 11(18), pp. 4864.

Oteafy, S.M. and Hassanein, H.S., 2018. IoT in the fog: A roadmap for data-centric IoT
development. IEEE Communications Magazine, 56(3), pp.157-163.

Padyab, A., Habibipour, A., Rizk, A. and Ståhlbröst, A., 2020. Adoption Barriers of IoT in Large
Scale Pilots. Information, 11(1), pp. 23.

Parmentola, A., Petrillo, A., Tutore, I. and De Felice, F., 2022. Is blockchain able to enhance
environmental sustainability? A systematic review and research agenda from the perspective of

49
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), pp.194-
217.

Parmentola, A., Petrillo, A., Tutore, I. and De Felice, F., 2022. Is blockchain able to enhance
environmental sustainability? A systematic review and research agenda from the perspective of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), pp.194-
217.

Perkhofer, L.M., Hofer, P., Walchshofer, C., Plank, T. and Hans-Christian Jetter, 2019.
Interactive visualization of big data in the field of accounting: A survey of current practice and
potential barriers for adoption. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 20(4), pp. 497-525.

Pustišek, M. and Kos, A., 2018. Approaches to front-end IoT application development for the
ethereumblockchain. Procedia Computer Science, 129, pp.410-419.

Rong, S., Wang, L., Peng, Z., Liao, Y., Li, D., Yang, X., Nuessler, A.K., Liu, L., Bao, W. and
Yang, W., 2020. The mechanisms and treatments for sarcopenia: could exosomes be a
perspective research strategy in the future?. Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 11(2),
pp.348-365.

Seyedghorban, Z., Tahernejad, H., Meriton, R. and Graham, G., 2020. Supply chain
digitalization: past, present and future. Production Planning & Control, 31(2-3), pp.96-114.

Shahzad, A., Zhang, K., & Gherbi, A. (2020). Intuitive development to examine collaborative
IoT supply chain system underlying privacy and security levels and perspective powering
through proactive blockchain. Sensors, 20(13), 3760.

Sobb, T., Turnbull, B. and Moustafa, N., 2020. Supply chain 4.0: a survey of cyber security
challenges, solutions and future directions. Electronics, 9(11), p.1864.

Sony, M., Antony, J., Douglas, J.A. and Mcdermott, O., 2021. Motivations, barriers and
readiness factors for Quality 4.0 implementation: an exploratory study. TQM Journal, 33(6), pp.
1502-1515.

50
Sovacool, B.K., Axsen, J. and Sorrell, S., 2018. Promoting novelty, rigor, and style in energy
social science: Towards codes of practice for appropriate methods and research design. Energy
Research & Social Science, 45, pp.12-42.

Statista.com, 2022. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/611004/global-industrial-

internet-of-things-market-size/ [Accessed on 14th April, 2022]

Statista.com, 2022. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/608357/iot-supply-chain-

management-efficiency-benefits-uk/[Accessed on 14th April, 2022]

Stroud, A. (2016). Internet of Things (IoT) Changing the Game in Supply Chain. The APQC
Blog. Available at: https://www.apqc.org/blog/internet-things-iot-changing-game-supply-chain
[Accessed 16 Mar. 2022].

Tu, M., Lim, M.K. and Yang, M.F., 2018. IoT-based production logistics and supply chain
system–Part 2: IoT-based cyber-physical system: a framework and evaluation. Industrial
Management & Data Systems.

Unilever.com.2022. About us. Available at: https://www.unilever.com/ [Accessed on: 10th April
2022]

Venkatesh, V.G., Kang, K., Wang, B., Zhong, R.Y. and Zhang, A., 2020. System architecture for
blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability. Robotics and Computer-
Integrated Manufacturing, 63, p.101896.

Venkatesh, V.G., Kang, K., Wang, B., Zhong, R.Y. and Zhang, A., 2020. System architecture for
blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability. Robotics and Computer-
Integrated Manufacturing, 63, p.101896.

Venkatesh, V.G., Kang, K., Wang, B., Zhong, R.Y. and Zhang, A., 2020. System architecture for
blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability. Robotics and Computer-
Integrated Manufacturing, 63, p.101896.

Venkatesh, V.G., Kang, K., Wang, B., Zhong, R.Y. and Zhang, A., 2020. System architecture for
blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability. Robotics and Computer-
Integrated Manufacturing, 63, p.101896.

51
 Xu, Y. and Goodacre, R., 2018. On splitting training and validation set: a comparative study of
cross-validation, bootstrap and systematic sampling for estimating the generalization
performance of supervised learning. Journal of analysis and testing, 2(3), pp.249-262.

Yadav, N. (2019). The Biggest Barriers to IoT Adoption. Available at:

https://darkbears.com/blog/the-biggest-barriers-to-iot-adoption/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2022].

Appendices

Appendix A: MRP Student Record of Meeting with Supervisor

Date Review of Topics Identification Actions Student Supervisor
actions discussed of issues for next signature signature
Is Are
from last meeting
progress goals
meeting
being being
made? met?
16/03/202 Review Writing Sufficient Not yet Not yet Review Amjad
2 Aim and objectives data for objectives Hussain
Objectives and start research and
literature project Literature
review Review;
meet with
academic
librarian;
complete
ethics
form
Yes/No Yes/No

52
Appendix B: Ethics Consent Form (EC-5/2020)

53
54