Transition of the pharma supply chain towards intelligent sustainability according to the effect of circular supply chain practices in Industry 4.0 and transformational leadership

Abstract

Resource depletion and climate change are forcing business managers to transform towards intelligent sustainability-based models, and the pharmaceutical industry is no exception. With the aid of management approaches and technologies of industry 4.0, it is possible to become efficient with least costs, while considering environmental and social principles. Based on these issues, the present study provides some important findings. First, circular economy practices are effective on technological innovation in Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 technologies increase the efficiency of circular economy practices. Second, innovation technology is positively related to supply performance from a sustainability perspective. Finally, by relying on the transformational style and creating plans, a way to change towards sustainability and sustainable creation can be gained. Hence, the study provides a deeper understanding of the concepts of the circular economy and Industry 4.0 technologies and provides insights into ways to improve intelligent sustainable performance in the current digital age. The statistical population of the current research is various pharmaceutical companies such as buying companies (Exir, Alborz Daro, Caspian Tamin, etc.), raw materials producer (Sina Glass Company) and glass pharmaceutical company that are related to the supply of upstream and downstream products, and this makes the present study comprehensive.