Modeling the Enablers for Blockchain Technology Adoption in the Construction Supply Chain

Abstract

Construction industrialization has become an important topic recently but is not in smooth progress in practice, one of the reasons being lack of the effective supply chain management (SCM). As a distributed ledger technology, blockchain technology (BT) can play significant roles in SCM. Nevertheless, the previous literature suggests a slow rate of BT adoption in the construction supply chain (CSC). This finding may stem from a lack of comprehensive understanding among practitioners regarding the deficiencies in the current CSC and the benefits that BT brings to the CSC. To address this challenge, this study presents a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM)-enabled approach to identify the enablers of BT adoption in CSC; analyze the causal relationships between them and their influence on CSC performance. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to explore the most effective enablers for BT adoption, and a dynamic analysis was performed to analyze the manageability of these enablers. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for the practitioners to design the strategies for BT adoption in CSCs. By exploring and leveraging these enablers, decision makers can facilitate the adoption of BT in CSCs, leading to more efficient and effective SCM in construction industrialization practices.