Purpose: This paper aims to encourage the study of blockchain technology from an operations and supply chain management (OSCM) perspective, identifying potential areas of application, and to provide an agenda for future research.Design/methodology/approach: An explanation and analysis of blockchain technology is provided to identify implications for the field of OSCM.Findings: The hype around the opportunities that digital ledger technologies offer is high. For OSCM, a myriad of ways in which blockchain could transform practice are identified, including enhancing product safety and security; improving quality management; reducing illegal counterfeiting; improving sustainable supply chain management; advancing inventory management and replenishment; reducing the need for intermediaries; impacting new product design and development; and reducing the cost of supply chain transactions. The immature state of practice and research surrounding blockchain means there is an opportunity for OSCM researchers to study the technology in its early stages and shape its adoption.Research limitations/implications: The paper provides a platform for new research that addresses gaps in knowledge and advances the field of OSCM. A research agenda is developed around six key themes.Practical implications: There are many opportunities for organisations to obtain an advantage by making use of blockchain technology ahead of the competition, enabling them to enhance their market position. But it is important that managers examine the characteristics of their products, services and supply chains to determine whether they need or would benefit sufficiently from the adoption of blockchain. Moreover, it is important that organisations build human capital expertise that allows them to develop, implement and exploit applications of this technology to maximum reward.Originality/value: This is one of the first papers in a leading international OSCM journal to analyse blockchain technology, thereby complementing a recent article on digital supply chains that omitted blockchain.

The use of inter-rater reliability (IRR) methods may provide an opportunity to improve the transparency and consistency of qualitative case study data analysis in terms of the rigor of how codes and constructs have been developed from the raw data. Few articles on qualitative research methods in the literature conduct IRR assessments or neglect to report them, despite some disclosure of multiple researcher teams and coding reconciliation in the work. The article argues that the in-depth discussion and reconciliation initiated by IRR may enhance the findings and theory that emerges from qualitative case study data analysis, where the main data source is often interview transcripts or field notes. To achieve this, the article provides a missing link in the literature between data gathering and analysis by expanding an existing process model from five to six stages. The article also identifies seven factors that researchers can consider to determine the suitability of IRR to their work and it offers an IRR checklist, thereby providing a contribution to the broader literature on qualitative research methods.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how organisations report on the detection and remediation of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains and to understand their approaches to disclosing information in response to modern slavery legislation. Design/methodology/approach: An analysis of secondary data based on the statements is released in response to the 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act by 101 firms in the clothing and textiles sector. Findings: Many firms use the same practices to detect and remediate modern slavery as for other social issues. But the hidden, criminal nature of modern slavery and the involvement of third party labour agencies mean practices need to either be tailored or other more innovative approaches developed, including in collaboration with traditional and non-traditional actors. Although five broad types of disclosure are identified, there is substantial heterogeneity in the statements. It is posited however that firms will converge on a more homogenous set of responses over time. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to one industry, responses to UK legislation and the information disclosed by focal firms only. Future research could expand the focus to include other industries, country contexts and stakeholders. Practical implications: Managers must consider how their own firm’s behaviour contributes to the modern slavery threat, regulates both their stock and non-stock supply chains and ensures modern slavery is elevated from the procurement function to the boardroom. In making disclosures, managers may trade-off the potential competitive gains of transparency against the threat of information leakage and reputational risk should their statements be falsified. The managers should also consider what signals their statements send back up the chain to (sub-)suppliers. Findings also have potential policy implications. Originality/value: The study expands the authors’ understanding of: modern slavery from a supply chain perspective, e.g. identifying the importance of standard setting and risk avoidance; and, supply chain information disclosure in response to legislative demands. This is the first academic paper to examine the statements produced by organisations in response to the UK Modern Slavery Act.

The aim of this article is to provide an understanding of how the supplier selection process used by buying organisations to establish socially sustainable supply chains has evolved from the traditional purchasing function. Through the application of a socially responsible purchasing (SRP) approach, organisations are attempting to address the challenges of selecting appropriate suppliers to engage with. To achieve SRP, behavioural agency attributes were found to complement traditional agency forms of governance from the start of the process. Through the use of an exploratory case study approach, three focal (purchasing) firms pursuing a strong sustainability agenda, and two supply chain intermediary organisations were investigated. The results show that supplier development activities previously positioned post-selection are now performed at the pre-selection stage, moving them to the beginning of the process. Suppliers must now demonstrate commitment to sustainability through implementing improvements highlighted in corrective action reports at the pre-selection point before any financial transactions occur. The movement of post-selection supplier development activities to the pre-selection stage, to align sustainability goals and reduce risk, is a significant finding of this article that purchasing personnel and suppliers should consider in the establishment of a socially sustainable supply chain.

Reverse exchange (RE) in dealing with the return, recycle and reuse of products is receiving a growing focus. When properly handled, RE in healthcare can deliver an economic benefit of cost minimisation and has extensive positive impacts on both human health and the environment (Li and Olorunniwo 2008 Li, X. , and F. Olorunniwo. 2008. “An Exploration of Reverse Logistics Practices in Three Companies.” Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 13 (5): 381–386. doi:10.1108/13598540810894979 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) but to date, RE research is mostly limited to pharmaceutical return. This paper investigates the potential for RE benefits in the UK National Health Service (NHS) supply chain for medical devices. Hearing aids supplied to adults with hearing loss are used as an illustrative example. This research applied a consensus approach through the use of dispersed nominal groups in order to obtain qualitative data on information, barriers, solutions and priorities to support findings. Findings illustrate that the end user behaviour of returning the device, and the requirement by NHS Procurement for manufacturers to meet RE targets are secondary to the importance of audiology departments who have the autonomy to design RE processes and successfully implement initiatives. A schematic highlighting the information and materials flow of the supply chain and the barriers and facilitators to RE is presented for hearing aid devices with potential for transferability to other small medical device supply chains.