Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers

Blockchain technology has gained global attention with potential to revolutionize supply chain management and sustainability achievements. The few applied ongoing use cases include blockchain for food, healthcare, and logistics supply chains have emphasized blockchain's untapped potential. Potential support for supply chain and sustainability issues include improving efficiency, transparency, and traceability in addition to billions of dollars in corporate financial savings. Given its promise, the adoption of blockchain technology, although hyped for years, has not seen rapid acceptance. In this study, the technology-organization-environment framework and force field theories are utilized to investigate blockchain adoption barriers. Using various literature streams on technology, organizational practices, and sustainability, a comprehensive overview of barriers for adopting blockchain technology to manage sustainable supply chains is provided. The barriers are explored using technology, organizational, and environmental – supply chain and external – framework followed by inputs from academics and industry experts and then analyzed using the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) tool. The results show that supply chain and technological barriers are the most critical barriers among both academics and industry experts. We further determine the similarities and differences among academics and practitioners in perceiving the barriers. This exploratory study reveals interesting relative importance and interrelationships of barriers which are necessary, theoretically and practically for further adoption and dissemination of blockchain technology in a sustainable supply chain environment. It also sets the stage for theoretical observations for understanding blockchain technology implementation in sustainable supply chains. A series of research propositions and research directions culminate from this exploratory study.