Blockchain adoption for supply chain resilience: a dynamic capability perspective

Purpose This study examines how blockchain adoption is associated with supply chain resilience through operational process capabilities. Drawing on dynamic capability theory (DCT) and a business process management (BPM) perspective, it investigates organizational readiness and technology mindfulness as adoption antecedents and supply chain visibility, transparency and flexibility as mediating process capabilities linking blockchain adoption to supply chain resilience. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 320 U.S. senior managers who had relevant knowledge of blockchain-related supply chain initiatives were collected via Dynata. The research model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. Serial mediation analysis was conducted to examine theoretically ordered indirect pathways among visibility, transparency, flexibility and resilience. Findings Organizational readiness and technology mindfulness significantly predict blockchain adoption. Blockchain adoption is positively associated with visibility, transparency and flexibility. Transparency and flexibility each significantly predict resilience, while visibility does not directly predict resilience. The indirect-effect results indicate that blockchain adoption is associated with resilience through transparency and flexibility, while the direct blockchain adoption–resilience path is not significant. Serial indirect-effect results indicate that visibility contributes to resilience through theoretically ordered pathways involving transparency and flexibility. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design restricts the ability to draw causal conclusions. The U.S.-only sample restricts generalizability. Future research should use longitudinal designs and multi-informant data across diverse contexts. Practical implications Managers may view blockchain as a process-enabling technological infrastructure and consider strengthening organizational readiness before adoption, while focusing implementation on workflows that support transparency and flexibility as resilience-related capabilities. Originality/value This study provides process-level empirical evidence on how blockchain adoption is linked to resilience-related outcomes through operational process capabilities. It advances DCT by clarifying theoretically ordered capability pathways in which visibility serves as an information foundation for transparency and flexibility.