Do blockchain and circular economy practices improve post COVID-19 supply chains? A resource-based and resource dependence perspective

Abstract

PurposeUsing the resource-based and the resource dependence theoretical approaches of the firm, the paper explores firm responses to supply chain disruptions during COVID-19. The paper explores how firms develop localization, agility and digitization (L-A-D) capabilities by applying (or not applying) their critical circular economy (CE) and blockchain technology (BCT)-related resources and capabilities that they either already possess or acquire from external agents.Design/methodology/approachAn abductive approach, applying exploratory qualitative research was conducted over a sample of 24 firms. The sample represented different industries to study their critical BCT and CE resources and capabilities and the L-A-D capabilities. Firm resources and capabilities were classified using the technology, organization and environment (TOE) framework.FindingsFindings show significant patterns on adoption levels of the blockchain-enabled circular economy system (BCES) and L-A-D capability development. The greater the BCES adoption capabilities, the greater the L-A-D capabilities. Organizational size and industry both influence the relationship between BCES and L-A-D. Accordingly, research propositions and a research framework are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the limited sample size, the generalizability of the findings is limited. Our findings extend supply chain resiliency research. A series of propositions provide opportunities for future research. The resource-based view and resource-dependency theories are useful frameworks to better understanding the relationship between firm resources and supply chain resilience.Practical implicationsThe results and discussion of this study serve as useful guidance for practitioners to create CE and BCT resources and capabilities for improving supply chain resiliency.Social implicationsThe study shows the socio-economic and socio-environmental importance of BCES in the COVID-19 or similar crises.Originality/valueThe study is one of the initial attempts that highlights the possibilities of BCES across multiple industries and their value during pandemics and disruptions.

On Deploying Blockchain Technologies in Supply Chain Strategies and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Outlook

“…Nandi et al [91] The findings from use cases demonstrate that BCT can help improve the global economy during the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting SC monitoring, traceability, and reactivity.…”

“…With ten articles, visibility was also one of the most common BCT [5,20,[77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84]. Sixteen of the papers looked at the impact of both digitization and visibility on the SC and the COVID-19 pandemic simultaneously [5,23,[85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98]. While transparency technology has received little attention in prior research, and only one study has addressed this issue [99], the combination of visibility and transparency has been the subject of nine studies in the literature that was reviewed [98,[100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107].…”

“…Eight articles discuss various areas of the industry. Studies that covered more than two sectors at the same time were included in the multiple industries category [13,20,60,61,63,84,86,91]. From the findings, 26 of the 72 reviewed publications did not identify a specific sector and instead discussed the general function of BCT in SC and its applications in the management of COVID-19 situations.…”

Theoretical Exploration of Supply Chain Viability Utilizing Blockchain Technology

“…However, dependencies themselves can evolve. In today's society, organizations rely more or less on external environments [134]. This study relies on the theory of resource dependence to describe the resources and capabilities that organizations may have to rely on their external environment to obtain supply chain viability.…”

Guest editorial

“…Capabilities include types of characteristics and abilities that characterize each technology. For example, blockchain offers transparency, traceability, smart contract and security capabilities (Nandi et al , 2021). The capabilities may offer opportunities that go beyond broad collection but exist for monitoring, validating and maintaining reliability of performance measures along the supply chain.…”