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The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the intention to adopt blockchain technology (BT) in operations and supply chain and to explore the moderating role of sustainability-oriented supplier development on the effects studied.

The authors developed a conceptual framework based on the integration of technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory along with several strands of the literature in supply chain management and information systems. Drawing on survey data from 412 supply firms, a novel model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was empirically tested in the context of the apparel industry of Bangladesh – the world's second-largest apparel supplier nation.

The findings supported the theoretical framework developed. In particular, the findings suggested that supplier firms' intention to adopt blockchain in supply chains is influenced by relative advantage, compatibility, perceived trust, top management considerations, absorptive capacity, information sharing and collaborative culture, and trading partners' influence. However, regulatory support is yet to play a significant role in blockchain adoption behaviour. The findings also suggest that supplier development for sustainability significantly moderates the relationship between the several drivers' (e.g. relative advantage, compatibility, top management considerations and trading partners' influence) effects on blockchain adoption.

The findings could help in developing an enabling environment for introducing blockchain-based apparel operations and supply chains.

The study contributes to and expands the embryonic research stream of sustainable supply chain management and BT. In particular, the paper provides neoteric evidence on how supplier development towards achieving sustainability moderates the effects of organizational, technological, and environmental drivers on the intention to adopt BT.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how sub-suppliers decouple the implementation of sustainable supply management practices in supply chains, and what institutional logics permit these suppliers to do so.

Following a qualitative design, we conducted 23 in-depth semi-structured interviews with owners and managers of apparel sub-suppliers. To corroborate research findings, the views of owners and managers were triangulated by further interviewing 18 key representatives of wide-ranging institutional actors.

The findings suggest that owners and managers of sub-suppliers use two decoupling responses: (1) consensual strategy to compromise sustainability requirements (2) concealment strategy. In addition, this paper identifies multiple institutional types of conflicting logics: instrumental logic, legitimacy logic complexity and gaps in normative logic, which interplay amongst sub-suppliers whereby permit to decouple the implementation of supply management practices.

While the current paper provides an early contribution from the perspectives of second-tier and third-tier suppliers, future research could be extended to include further upstream sub-suppliers and downstream tiers including the end consumers.

It is important for brand-owning retailers and first-tier suppliers to predict sub-suppliers' decoupling behaviour and conflicts for supply management practices implementation since they may present potential vulnerability for buyers and lead suppliers.

This study extends the application of institutional theory and contributes to the literature on extended suppliers' supply management practices in a developing country context, which is an under-researched area.

The purpose of this study is to examine how multi-tier suppliers respond to the institutional pressures for the implementation of sustainable supply management (SSM) practices in supply chains, and what institutional logics allow them to do so.

This study employs a qualitative research design, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 46 owners and managers of multi-tier suppliers and 18 key informants of diverse stakeholders. Following an abductive approach, institutional theory conceptually guides the analytical iteration processes between theory and interview data.

The findings demonstrate two kinds of thematic responses to institutional pressures – coupling (good side) and decoupling (dark side) of the supply chain – used by the factory management of multi-tier suppliers. This paper also identifies multiple institutional logics – market-led logic, values-led logic and holistic sustainability logic – that are perceived to conflict (trade-offs) and complement (synergies) the SSM implementation.

By investigating the perspectives of the factory management of upstream apparel suppliers, this study enhances the understanding of the connection between (de)coupling responses and institutional logics inside the multi-tier supplier firms. Further research would be required to include more downstream tiers including the ultimate users.

The findings may be of particular attention to brand-owning apparel retailers, industry leaders and policymakers who are seeking to understand multi-tier suppliers' challenges, conflicts and (de)coupling responses, and become aware of how they can be dealt with.

This study contributes to and expands the embryonic research stream of sustainable multi-tier supply chain management by connecting it to the wider application of institutional theory.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why multi-tier apparel suppliers integrate social sustainability practices into their supply chains and what barriers these suppliers encounter while embedding social sustainability practices.

This study employs a qualitative research design, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 46 owners and managers from 33 multi-tier apparel suppliers in Bangladesh, an important outsourcing hub for the global apparel industry. To corroborate research findings, the views of owners and managers were triangulated by further interviewing 11 key representatives of institutional actors such as third-party auditors, a donor agency, industry associations, regulatory agencies and a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The authors' findings suggest a range of divergent institutional drivers and barriers – coercive, mimetic and normative – that determine the implementation of multi-tier suppliers' social sustainability practices. The key reported drivers were buyers' requirements, external stakeholders' expectations, top management commitment and competition. Conversely, cost and resource concerns and gaps in the regulatory framework were identified as key social sustainability implementation barriers. In particular, owners and managers of second-tier and third-tier supplier firms experienced more internal barriers such as cost and resource concerns than external barriers such as gaps in values, learning and commitment (i.e. compromise for mutual benefit and non-disclosure of non-compliance) that impeded effective social sustainability implementation.

Social sustainability in supply chain management has received significant attention from academics, business practitioners, governments, NGOs and supranational organisations. However, limited attention has been paid to investigating the drivers and barriers for social sustainability implementation from a developing country's multi-tier supplier perspective. The authors' research has addressed this knowledge gap.

The evidence from the authors' study provides robust support for key assumptions of institutional theory and has useful implications for both managers and policy-makers.

The authors' study contributes to the embryonic research stream of socially sustainable multi-tier supply chain management by connecting it to the application of institutional theory in a challenging institutional context.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the concept of multi-stakeholder partnerships in relation to the United Nations' sustainable development goals and propose a renewed multi-stakeholder partnerships framework that enables the implementation of the sustainable development goals.

This paper employs an integrative review methodology to assess, critique and synthesize the extant literature on the multi-stakeholder partnerships and sustainable development goals.

We propose a conceptual framework of multi-stakeholder partnerships to support the sustainable development goals implementation. Thus, this paper contributes to the conceptual understanding of the multi-stakeholder partnerships mechanism that enhances the sustainable development goals implementation.

We propose a conceptual framework of multi-stakeholder partnerships to support the sustainable development goals implementation. Thus, this paper contributes to the conceptual understanding of the multi-stakeholder partnerships mechanism that enhances the sustainable development goals implementation.

We contend that this is one of the few early papers that contributes to the conceptual development of a collaborative multi-stakeholder partnerships paradigm by which such partnerships are formed and institutionalized among multiple interacting sectors to achieve the sustainable development goals.