Building Sustainable Transparency: A Dynamic Capabilities Framework for Blockchain-Enabled Supplier Traceability and Ethical Sourcing

Dear Students,

For your group project, you are to develop a conceptual model grounded in Stakeholder Theory, exploring how stakeholder pressure drives the adoption of blockchain technology to improve traceability and reduce supply chain risk.

Your selected real-world company for reference is Walmart, which has adopted blockchain technology (via IBM Food Trust) to track and verify food products in its supply chain for greater traceability and safety.

Your model must include:

• One mediator: Enhanced Traceability
• One moderator: Rollout Effectiveness

Below is a breakdown of what you must complete:

Research Motivation, Company Case, and Research Questions

Your Tasks:

1. Research Motivation (1 paragraph)

• Explain why supply chain transparency and risk management are critical, especially in food safety, ESG compliance, and stakeholder trust.
• Describe how stakeholder pressure (e.g., from regulators, consumers, and investors) influences companies to adopt technology for accountability.

1. Company Case: Walmart (1 paragraph)

• Describe how Walmart partnered with IBM to implement blockchain for tracing leafy greens and pork in China.
• Show how this system improves product tracking, reduces contamination risks, and meets growing stakeholder demands for transparency.

1. Research Questions (1–2 only)

• Example 1: How does stakeholder pressure influence Walmart’s adoption of blockchain for supply chain transparency?
• Example 2: Does enhanced traceability through blockchain lead to reduced supply chain risk?

Conceptual Model and Theoretical Justification

Your Tasks:

1. Conceptual Model Diagram

• Finalise the model with these elements:
• Independent Variable: Stakeholder Pressure
• Mediator: Enhanced Traceability
• Dependent Variable: Supply Chain Risk
• Moderator: Rollout Effectiveness
• Use arrows to show direction, keep it clean and logical.

1. Hypotheses (4 total)

• H1: Stakeholder pressure positively influences blockchain adoption.
• H2: Blockchain adoption improves traceability.
• H3: Enhanced traceability reduces supply chain risk.
• H4: Rollout effectiveness moderates the relationship between traceability and risk reduction.

1. Theoretical Justification (1–2 paragraphs)

• Stakeholder Theory explains how external groups influence Walmart’s strategic choices.
• Emphasise that pressure from health agencies, media, and customers drove the blockchain initiative.

Contribution, References, and Slide Deck

Your Tasks:

1. Expected Contribution (1 paragraph)

• Practical: Your model can help companies like Walmart build more transparent and resilient supply chains.
• Academic: This model applies Stakeholder Theory in the context of digital supply chain transformation, expanding its use in operations management.

1. References (3–4 total)

• At least one academic article supporting Stakeholder Theory.
• At least one industry or case-based source on Walmart’s blockchain work (e.g., IBM Food Trust reports or Walmart supply chain articles).
• Follow APA or Harvard style.

1. PowerPoint Slides (5–6 slides)

• Slide 1: Project title + group members
• Slide 2: Motivation and Walmart case summary
• Slide 3: Research questions
• Slide 4: Conceptual model diagram
• Slide 5: Theory and hypothesis explanation
• Slide 6: Contributions and references (Atotal of 12 slides)

NOTE THIS SHOULD INLCUDE SPEAKER NOTE.