Trust-centered digital supply chain finance adoption model: mitigating opportunistic behavior and enhancing collaboration for Industry 5.0 and social sustainability

The increasing complexity of supply chains and digital transformation have resulted in the emergence of Digital Supply Chain Finance (DSCF) as a key player in enhancing supply collaboration and sustainable social outcomes. This research uses the concepts of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and Trust-Commitment Theory (TCT) to study the factors affecting trust, commitment and adoption of DSCF in the context of a developing country. This study develops a conceptual model using structural equation modeling to analyze how supply complexity, supply dynamics, supply choice, digital strategy management and information sharing affect trust and commitment in the supply chain, as well as the role of supply collaboration in driving DSCF adoption and the impact of DSCF on corporate social sustainability. According to the findings, DSCF adoption and supply collaboration are driven mostly by trust, which greatly helps to lower organizational economic cost and improve efficiency by means of which social sustainable organizational growth is finally achieved. This study offers a conceptual model that companies and legislators may use as a guide to encourage DSCF acceptance thereby improving their competitiveness in the Industry 5.0 era.