Sustainable Supply Chains in the Industry X.0 Era: Overcoming Integration Challenges in the UAE

Khaoula Khlie, Aruna Pugalenthi () and Ikhlef Jebbor
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Khaoula Khlie: Department of Industrial Management, College of Business, Liwa University, Abu Dhabi 41009, United Arab Emirates
Aruna Pugalenthi: Department of Industrial Management, College of Business, Liwa University, Abu Dhabi 41009, United Arab Emirates
Ikhlef Jebbor: National School of Applied Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra 14000, Morocco

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: This paper reveals profound obstacles to sustainable supply chain integration in Industry X.0 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by utilizing a hybrid Fuzzy Delphi-TOPSIS approach and enriching the viewpoints of 102 experts in oil/gas (45%), logistics (30%), government (15%), and academia (10%). The top obstacles are a lack of favorable leadership (Fuzzy Delphi Threshold (FDT), FDT = 0.82) and insufficiency of sustainability professionals (FDT = 0.82), with strategy prioritization training (Rank 1, Closeness Coefficient Index (cci) cci = 0.1255) and employee engagement (Rank 2, cci = 0.1499) being among the most important solutions as opposed to technological solutions. Most importantly, AI-related technologies had a low ranking of seventh place because of their lack of implementation, which proves that human capital enhancement is always prioritized before technological adaptation. The oil/gas industry values AI with respect to regulatory compliance commitments to emissions monitoring, whereas SMEs accentuate the problem of training because of the limited resources available to them, which also indicates the societal relevance of the concept of AI to social entrepreneurship and the blockchain-based transparency and access to green technologies. This study contributes (1) a decision-oriented framework bridging the traditional 2050 vision of the UAE and the realities it faces day to day, (2) empirical insights into the need for cultural principals within governance so as to prevent the so-called paperwork syndrome, and (3) a theoretical advancement that sees AI as an enhancer of human-centric methodologies. The conclusions provide policymakers with knowledge of the importance of the ability to contextualize investments in organizational culture prior to technology implementation in order to provide effective sustainability transitions.

Keywords: supply chain management; Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM); sustainability; SDG; resilience; smart industry; Industry X.0; AI; social entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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