Affordance actualisation in a disruptive environment: The role of blockchain technology

Disruptive environments—marked by volatility, uncertainty, and instability—threaten the continuity of organisational operations, particularly in supply chains. Drawing on 33 expert interviews, this study examines how organisations use blockchain to manage supply chain disruptions. In this study, we followed a phenomenon-based theorising approach to ground our analysis in empirical observations of blockchain-enabled resilience. We applied the affordance actualisation lens and an abductive reasoning to theorise three mechanisms by which blockchain enables supply chain resilience: (1) truth-enforced coordination, which helps prevent disruptions; (2) visibility intelligence, which enables timely disruption detection; and (3) targeted disruption recovery, which accelerates post-disruption restoration. Our study contributes to the literature by shifting the focus from the adoption and use of blockchain to a mechanism-based explanation, demonstrating how use translates into resilience outcomes. Practically, our findings offer actionable guidance for organisations seeking to leverage blockchain to enhance supply chain resilience.