Unraveling the blockchain technology adoption barriers in the fast-moving consumer goods supply chain: An integrated fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis approach

The widespread adoption of blockchain technology (BT) contributes to optimizing the supply chain (SC), especially for rapid product development, on-time product delivery, and a wide range of customized product offerings. Since the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) SC requires a shorter lead time and higher turnover rate compared to the usual SC, BT adoption can significantly benefit FMCG SC. This study, therefore, focuses on presenting an overall analysis of the barriers to adopting BT in the FMCG SC in an emerging economy like Bangladesh, utilizing an integrated approach that combines the Pareto analysis and the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), to uncover complex, multi-dimensional causal configurations that explain the barriers to BT adoption in the FMCG supply chain. The fsQCA approach enables a more nuanced understanding of how different combinations of factors interact to hinder adoption. This methodological contribution is particularly relevant for emerging economies such as Bangladesh, where traditional linear models often fail to capture the complexity of real-world decision-making environments. In this study, nineteen barriers were initially identified through a comprehensive literature review and discussions with academics and industry experts. After the Pareto analysis, the ten most significant barriers were finally selected to be analyzed using the fsQCA approach. The results from fsQCA indicate that the top four barriers are insufficient SC collaboration, communication, and coordination ; immaturity of the technology ; insufficient commitment and support from top management ; and limited data sharing among SC partners . The high consistency of 96.4 % and solution coverage value of 94.8 % underscores the results' robustness and ensures that the proposed solutions are both reliable and widely applicable. The study has the potential to offer a nuanced understanding of the interplay between the barriers and, thus, provide actionable insights to decision-makers, industrial leaders, and policymakers to formulate long-term strategies to facilitate BT adoption in the FMCG sector and improve its overall SC responsiveness and efficiency.