Smart Contract Adoption for Supply Chain Transparency and Trust Building

Thesis Abstract

The rapid digitization of global supply chains has intensified the need for verifiable, tamper-evident, and contract-driven governance across multiple autonomous partners, yet current practices frequently rely on opaque processes that hinder transparency and undermine trust. Smart contracts on distributed ledger platforms promise automated execution, real-time provenance, and auditable governance, but their adoption remains uneven due to organizational, technical, and regulatory frictions. This study investigates how smart contract adoption affects supply chain transparency and trust among manufacturers, logistics providers, and retailers within cross-border networks, and how organizational capabilities and institutional pressures shape their deployment and effectiveness. The aim is to develop an empirically grounded understanding of the drivers, mechanisms, and outcomes of smart contract adoption for enhancing transparency and trust in supply chains, and to propose an integrative framework that explains conditions under which value is realized. The specific objectives are (1) to identify the key technological, organizational, and environmental determinants of smart contract adoption in multi-stakeholder supply chains; (2) to examine the impact of smart contract use on supply chain transparency, information sharing quality, and trust among trading partners; (3) to assess how governance mechanisms, compliance requirements, and liability frameworks moderate the relationship between adoption and perceived transparency; (4) to evaluate performance outcomes including lead time, order accuracy, and mismatch costs; and (5) to develop actionable guidelines for firms and policy makers to foster effective, ethical, and scalable implementation. The study adopts a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative survey data with qualitative case insights. The population comprises mid-to-senior managers and IT/SCM professionals from 180 manufacturing firms, 60 third-party logistics providers, and 60 retailers engaged in cross-border supply chains in Europe and North America. A stratified random sample yields 360 completed surveys, complemented by in-depth interviews with 24 participants from six representative dyads across sectors. Data collection instruments include a structured questionnaire measuring constructs derived from technology adoption models (Tam et al., 2016), trust in inter-organizational relationships, and governance quality, alongside semi-structured interview guides focusing on implementation experiences, transaction-level outcomes, and regulatory considerations. Validity and reliability are ensured through pilot testing (n=30), confirmatory factor analysis for construct validity, Cronbach’s alpha testing, and triangulation of survey results with interview findings. Quantitative analysis employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed relationships among determinants, adoption, transparency, trust, and performance outcomes. Multigroup SEM analyzes moderation effects of governance quality and regulatory compliance. Complementary regression analyses examine the direct and indirect effects of adoption on lead time, order accuracy, and mismatch costs. The qualitative component utilizes thematic analysis of interview transcripts, guided by the Diffusion of Innovations theory (Rogers) and the Resource-Based View to interpret how organizational capabilities enable or constrain benefits, with coding validated through intercoder reliability (Cohen’s kappa > 0.70). The study also applies a conceptual model that integrates technology acceptance, transparency benefits, and trust dynamics within contract-driven governance. Expected findings indicate that perceived usefulness and ease of use are significant antecedents of smart contract adoption, while organizational absorptive capacity and robust interoperability standards mediate its effect on transparency. Enhanced transparency is anticipated to positively influence trust among trading partners, with stronger effects in environments with high governance quality and clear regulatory guidance. Performance outcomes are expected to improve modestly in the presence of mature data governance, standardized event logging, and reliable oracle services, leading to reduced mismatch costs and shorter cycle times. However, benefits may be moderated by regulatory uncertainty and concerns over data privacy. The study contributes to knowledge by (a) advancing an integrative model linking technology adoption, transparency, and trust in cross-border supply chains; (b) identifying context-specific determinants and barriers to smart contract deployment; (c) empirically validating the performance implications of blockchain-enabled smart contracts in governance-intensive networks; and (d) delivering practical recommendations for firms and regulators on governance design, standardization, and risk mitigation. The main conclusion is that strategic alignment of organizational capabilities with interoperable technical standards and clear regulatory frameworks is essential to realize the transparency and trust benefits of smart contracts in modern supply chains; recommendations include developing sector-wide interoperability baselines, investing in data governance and privacy controls, and harmonizing liability and compliance regimes to support scalable adoption.