On December 10th, We are honored to have Fa-Sheng Xu, Assistant Professor of the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University, bring you an academic report titled Blockchain-Enabled Traceability in Food Supply Chain Networks. Professor LI Guo OF SCHOOL OF Management and Economics of Beijing Institute of Technology INTRODUCED PROFESSOR XU Fasheng and presided over the report.
Mr. Xu first introduced Walmart's adoption of blockchain technology to reduce the risk of food contamination and food waste. Based on this, the paper develops a three-tier supply chain model with multiple upstream (tier 2) suppliers to investigate: how blockchain adoption affects the incentives of supply chain members, and whether and how to achieve their expected benefits. The results show that blockchain traceability provides direct revenue gains for each supply chain member by sparing uncontaminated food from disposal (traceability effect), but also leaves each layer of the supply chain vulnerable to exploitation by its immediate downstream buyers by strategically reducing the amount of purchases (strategic pricing effect). The interplay of these two effects could make blockchain adoption worse for some supply chain members (and even retailers) and expose the system to a higher risk of contamination; The latter is due to a reduced incentive for upstream suppliers to reduce pollution risks. In addition, the supply chain network structure also affects the distribution of benefits when adopting blockchain: in a network structure where the strategic pricing power of tier 1 suppliers is eliminated or weakened, retailers always benefit from blockchain adoption. Finally, we show that alternative risk mitigation options, such as secondary coordination, can reduce the value of blockchain adoption and may be more beneficial to retailers than the blockchain adoption scenario.
Mr. Xu's excellent report attracted many teachers and students from colleges and universities at home and abroad. In the report, Mr. Xu also communicated with the participants for nearly 40 minutes. His kind guiding attitude and profound knowledge were highly praised by the participants.
