Explaining the non-adoption of blockchain technology in global value chains: a micro-foundational perspective

Tsvetelina Hubenova (), Johan P. Lindeque () and Marc K. Peter ()
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Tsvetelina Hubenova: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
Johan P. Lindeque: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
Marc K. Peter: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 2024, vol. 51, issue 2, No 7, 397-429

Abstract: Abstract The business potential of blockchain technology in global value chains (GVCs) includes the creation of permanent records of information, to facilitate specifications regulation, to mitigate risk using smart contracts and through full, transparent transaction traceability at reduced costs. Blockchain as a general-purpose technology (GPT) thus has the potential to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of value creation for firm specific advantages owned and/or controlled by multinational enterprises (MNE), yet adoption of blockchain is uneven. This study adopts a micro-foundational lens to explain the non-adoption of blockchain technology in multinational enterprises’ (MNE) global value chains (GVC), emphasizing the influence of the technology, organization and environment (TOE) influences on the technology acceptance (TAM) for blockchain, due to the impact on managers’ perception of blockchain's usefulness and ease of use. The empirical results are based on a multiple-case study research design, that collected interview data from supply chain managers in small, medium, and large-sized manufacturing MNEs that participate in global value chains that differ in their governance patterns. The results identified fifteen different drivers of the non-adoption of blockchain technology across the technological, organizational and external environments of the MNE. The results of the study allow a parsimonious model of blockchain technology non-adoption that is aligned with the digital technology adoption literature using a TOE–TAM approach.

Keywords: Multinational enterprises; Global value chains; General purpose technologies; Micro-foundations; Blockchain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D21 D22 F23 L23 M16 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s40812-023-00296-8

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