Evaluating the Adoption of Expert Systems, Inventory Management Practices and Digital Readiness in Nigerian Pharmaceutical Retail Organizations
Abstract
Pharmaceutical inventory management is vital for ensuring medicine availability, patient safety, and operational sustainability. However, pharmaceutical retail organizations in developing economies continue to experience persistent stock-outs, drug expiries, and supplier delivery delays due to reliance on manual and semi-digital inventory systems. Despite the growing potential of Expert Systems (ES), empirical evidence on organizational readiness and behavioural intention toward ES adoption remains limited. This study investigates inventory management challenges and evaluates the organizational, technological, and behavioural factors influencing Expert System adoption in Nigerian pharmaceutical retail organizations. The novelty of this study lies in the development and empirically the validation of an integrated Expert System framework that combines technology adoption determinants with intelligent inventory optimization. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework, and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), a cross-sectional survey of 293 pharmacy professionals was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings reveal high levels of stock-outs (Mean = 3.70), recurring drug expiry (Mean = 3.59), and supplier delivery delays (Mean = 3.77), indicating persistent operational inefficiencies. Conversely, strong digital readiness (Mean = 3.65), organizational willingness (Mean = 4.00), perceived decision accuracy improvement (Mean = 4.15), and behavioural intention toward ES adoption (Mean = 4.30) indicate a favourable implementation environment. The proposed framework integrates automated stock alerts, machine learning–based demand forecasting, and rule-based decision support to improve medicine availability, reduce inventory waste, enhance operational efficiency, and advance technology adoption theories within pharmaceutical retail supply chains in developing economies.