Multi-tier Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Blockchain Technology Solutions

More organizations are realizing that implementing sustainability strategies cannot rely on internal operations or first-tier suppliers alone; they also need to engage cross-tier suppliers to coordinate sustainability initiatives. However, a multi-tier sustainable supply chain (MT-SSCM) involves complex network structures, and sub-suppliers are often perceived as the ‘iceberg’, creating invisible threats to promoting sustainability practices and supplier compliance. Brands usually do not have direct leveraging power over sub-suppliers, including lack of contractual relationships and limited information, resulting in the limited rollout of sustainable initiatives. Blockchain technology (BCT) offers innovative solutions to disrupt traditional MT-SSCM. The inherent transparency, immutability, decentralized, and smart contract features of BCT are expected to tackle the bottlenecks of MT-SSCM implementation. However, research on BCT is still in its early stages, and there is even less about the BCT application in SSCM from a multi-tier perspective. Therefore, this chapter explores how BCT drives effective MT-SSCM implementations. This chapter first reviews the existing MT-SSCM research, including conceptual frameworks, empirical practices, and theoretical perspectives. This is then followed by discussions of the underlying concepts of BCT, SSCM applications, and potential MT-SSCM solutions with a case study.