Performance measurement and information management are vital assets for supply chain management. In this study, we analyzed the effective combination between blockchain technologies and supply chain management processes. We conducted eighteen interviews with international experts from different areas and analyzed the collected data following a grounded theory approach. We have identified five main categories in this area including accounting and administration, trust, data platform, interoperability, and disintermediation. The main findings concluded with a set of seven statements as key elements to summarize how blockchain-based supply chains fit in with supplier relationship management processes and financial business units for international trade. The seven statements also recommend future research activities and trajectories.
Blockchain-based applications can enhance the sharing of information in processes involving multiple types of stakeholders, as in Supply Chain Management (SCM). A supply chain network can benefit from the visibility of the flow of goods, money, and information enabled by blockchain technology. So far, only limited evidence is available on the perspective of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) on the adoption of blockchain-based applications in their business processes. This may lead to a heavily diminished role for SMEs in SCM if large consortia unilaterally decide to adopt a blockchain-based architecture to improve the performance of the entire supply chain. Therefore, we conducted a study to explore which factors influence SMEsâ intention to adopt blockchain technology. Based on a literature review into technology adoption frameworks, we derived the technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) factors that can play a role in their decision-making process. We distributed a survey amongst European SMEs using the multi-criteria decision-making method of the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to elicit the relative weights of these factors. The data analyses show that in contrast to other studies into technology adoption, the SMEsâ intention to adopt blockchain-based applications is primarily influenced by organizational rather than by technological and environmental factors. This implies that SMEs are best supported by showing blockchainâs organizational benefits and by training senior executives at their company.
Regulating and supervising the energy vehicle (EV) power battery recycling market, improving the utilization rate of EV power battery recycling, and guaranteeing the safety and control of all aspects of recycling treatment require the establishment of an effective traceability system. The decentralization and tamper-proof characteristics of the blockchain can ensure the safety and reliability of relevant data while realizing traceability management. This study establishes the Stackelberg game model to compare and analyze the effects of different government mechanisms on the profits of each subject before and after participating in power battery traceability management. The study further uses the model to explore strategies to improve the enthusiasm of EV power battery recycling subjects to participate in traceability management. The results show that (1) the participation of each recycling subject in EV power battery blockchain traceability can help move more spent power batteries into formal recycling channels; (2) the government should adopt appropriate mechanisms to promote its participation in EV power battery blockchain traceability, the best result being when the government adopts a subsidy mechanism for consumers; and (3) the profit of the EV power battery manufacturer is inversely proportional to the target recycling rate set by the government. Furthermore, the pursuit of a very high target recycling rate is not conducive to the normal implementation of initial EV power battery blockchain traceability management. Therefore, it is crucial for the government to set a reasonable target recycling rate.
Blockchain technology, best known as the decentralised transactional ledger of Internet currencies such as Bitcoin, could provide possibilities for tracking the origin of timber products. As such, it could ease the complex job of timber procurement officers in companies that seek to purchase timber products from trustworthy origins. This study explores how trust among purchasers in suppliers of sustainable timber can be increased and the roles that blockchain technology could play as a factor influencing purchasing decisions. The study examines the attributes influencing purchaser trust in timber products, revealing that the country of origin is the strongest predictor of purchaser trust, followed by the price level for the timber product, the presence of a certification scheme, and the duration of the relationship with the supplier. Blockchain technology also had a significant effect on purchaser trust and could become an important factor for generating trust in timber products during international trade.
George Hatzivasilis, Sotiris Ioannidis, Konstantinos Fysarakis, George Spanoudakis · 5 authors
Eco-friendly systems are necessitated nowadays, as the global consumption is increasing. A data-driven aspect is prominent, involving the Internet of Things (IoT) as the main enabler of a Circular Economy (CE). Henceforth, IoT equipment records the systemâs functionality, with machine learning (ML) optimizing green computing operations. Entities exchange and reuse CE assets. Transparency is vital as the beneficiaries must track the assetsâ history. This article proposes a framework where blockchaining administrates the cooperative vision of CE-IoT. For the core operation, the blockchain ledger records the changes in the assetsâ states via smart contracts that implement the CE business logic and are lightweight, complying with the IoT requirements. Moreover, a federated learning approach is proposed, where computationally intensive ML tasks are distributed via a second contract type. Thus, âgreen-minersâ devote their resources not only for making money, but also for optimizing operations of real-systems, which results in actual resource savings.
Rebekkah Navas, Hyo Jung Chang, Samina Khan, Jo Woon Chong
Consumers and professionals realize the importance of adopting social and environmental responsibility, but it is not easy for companies to implement transparent sustainability strategies that consumers can trust. Thus, it is often hard for consumers to compare brands to make conscious sustainability decisions. Blockchain technology is proposed as a bridge between ecolabels and industry initiatives as this technology provides the transparency of sustainable business practices. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of effectiveness, knowledge of the sustainability initiative, and trust in claims made by a company in ecolabels (i.e., traditional and blockchain ecolabels) on intention to buy products by comparing Generations X and Y. A total of 200 participants completed the survey. The results indicated that both the trust and knowledge measures were higher for the blockchain label than for the traditional ecolabel for Generation Y. Thus, the companies should determine how to effectively integrate this technology to the mutual benefit of the retailer and consumer by different generations.
Open access
Environmental Sustainability in Business
Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
As a disruptive and innovative technology, blockchain will significantly revolutionize how organizations produce and operate as global rivalry intensifies. The global COVID-19 outbreak, combined with the growing complexity of supply chain networks, has exposed supply chainsâ vulnerability to disruption. Therefore, improving the supply chain viability is the primary way to deal with the risk of supply chain disruption. Using the method of literature research, this conceptual paper systematically reviewed and sorted out relevant literature, extracted corresponding capabilities, and put forward relevant research propositions. From the perspective of the resource-based view and resource-dependent theory, this study investigates specific dimensions of the blockchain-enabled supply chain capability: connectivity, network capability, and supply chain reconfiguration and the impact of external resource-dependent capability on the viability of the supply chain. The propositions show that the blockchain-enabled supply chain capability, and external resource-dependent capability will positively impact supply chain viability. It is expected to assist supply chain firms in implementing blockchain technology to increase supply chain viability and improve their capacity to achieve sustainable supply chain development during the crisis.
Trade credit is a crucial source of capital particularly for small businesses with limited financing opportunities. Inventory models considering trade credit financing have been widely studied. However, while there is extensive research on the single-vendor single-buyer inventory model allowing delays in payments, the systems where the vendor supplies to more than one buyer have received less attention. In this paper, we analyze a two-echelon inventory system where a single vendor supplies an item to two buyers who face a constant deterministic demand. The vendor produces the items at a finite rate and offers the buyers a delay payment period. That is, the buyers can delay the payment for the purchased items until the end of the credit period. Therefore, during such a period, the buyers sell the items and use the sales revenue to earn interest. At the end of the credit period, the buyers should pay the purchasing cost to the vendor for which external funding may be necessary. It is widely accepted that, in general, centralized policies reduce the total cost of the supply chain. Therefore, we first deal with an integrated model assuming that the vendor and the buyers make decisions jointly. However, in some cases, the buyers are not willing to collaborate, and the management of the supply chain has to be carried out in a decentralized manner. Hence, we also address the problem under a non-cooperative setting. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate both models. Additionally, we perform a computational experiment to compare both strategies, and a sensitivity analysis of the parameters is also carried out. From the results, we derived that, in general, it was more profitable to follow the integrated policy excepting when the replenishment costs for the buyers were high. Finally, in order to validate the computational results, a statistical analysis is performed.
David Gligor, Beth DavisâSramek, Albert Tan, Alex S. Vitale · 7 authors
Abstract Driven by pressures from multiple stakeholders, supply chain transparency (SCT) has emerged as a phenomenon of increased interest. To address concerns about practices and processes at point of origin locations for raw materials in global supply chains, blockchain technology (BCT) has the potential to enhance SCT. Supply chain research has started to advance the field's understanding of SCT, but many questions remain, including how SCT should be conceptualized, how firms can effectively facilitate it, and the benefits of providing it, especially when BCT is utilized. The gaps suggest the need for fundamental theoretical development about the resources and capabilities underlying the development, application, and derived value of SCT. This research designed a case study around a BCT implementation project between a small artisan coffee producer and a startup BCT service provider. Using the resource orchestration perspective, the findings result in theoretical insights about how the mechanisms in structuring, bundling, and leveraging processes operate to offer SCT to stakeholders, and the value creation derived as a result.
Ahmad A. Khanfar, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Morteza Ghobakhloo, Madugoda Gunaratnege Senali · 5 authors
Developing sustainable products and processes is essential for the survival of manufacturers in the current competitive market and the industry 4.0 era. The activities of manufacturers and their supply chain partners should be aligned with sustainable development goals. Manufacturers have faced many barriers and challenges in implementing sustainable practices along the entire supply chain due to globalisation, outsourcing, and offshoring. Blockchain technology has the potential to address the challenges of sustainability. This study aims to explain the applications of blockchain technology to sustainable manufacturing. We conducted a systematic literature review and explained the potential contributions of blockchain technology to the economic, environmental, and social performances of manufacturers and their supply chains. The findings of the study extend our understanding of the blockchain applications in sustainable manufacturing and sustainable supply chains. Furthermore, the study explains how blockchain can influence the sustainable performance of manufacturers by creating transparency, traceability, real-time information sharing, and security of the data capabilities.
Globalization, digitalization and disruptions recently driven by the Covid19 pandemic are affecting today's supply chains and thus are challenging companies in maintaining their businesses. Resulting uncertainties lead to potential over- and undercapacities and therefore to economic inefficiencies in companies. Engaging in intercompany networks can be a way to circumvent inefficiencies by sharing resources via electronic markets. Here, negotiation mechanisms can be used to allocate the exchanged goods tailored to the needs and payment conditions of the network participants. Ensuring trust and enabling cooperation between the participants in such a virtual ecosystem is a major challenge and essential for raising its potentials. Lacks of trust within the single transaction phases impede the negotiation process and in worst case the maintaining of the network. For this reason, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) and their inherent consensus-building functionalities as well as abilities to utilize smart contracts deserve closer investigation. The aim of this paper is to provide a literature review of DLT functionalities coping with behavioral uncertainties, with a closer view on the context of supply chain. The paper examines, to what extend the integration of DLT provides a beneficial contribution to solving trust problems occurring in intercompany negotiations.
Blockchain technology has received wide attention during recent years, and has huge potential to transform and improve supply chain management. However, its implementation in the SSCM (Sustainable Supply Chain Management) strategy is sophisticated, and the challenges are not explored very well, especially in the Moroccan context. To this end, the chief objective of the current endeavor is to investigate the barriers that hinder the adoption of blockchain technology in SSCM from the Moroccan industry and service sectorsâ perspective. Based on a comprehensive literature search and the use of expertsâ viewpoints, the barriers affecting the successful implementation of blockchain are classified into three categories called TEO: technological and system, environmental, and intra-organizational dimensions. In this context, a fuzzy group decision-making framework is organized by combining DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) and IFAHP (Intuitionistic Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process). The IFAHP technique helps to determine the importance/priorities of barriers affecting blockchain adoption, while the DEMATEL technique forms the causeâeffect interconnections between these barriers and classifies them concerning the degree of importance and relationships. The results reveal that âgovernment policy and supportâ and âchallenges in integrating sustainable practices and blockchain technology through SCMâ are significant adoption barriers of blockchain in Moroccan SSCM. The proposed solution can support industrial decision makers to form flexible short- and long-term decision-making strategies to efficiently manage a sustainable supply chain.
Blockchain is a ground-breaking technology that is transforming supply chain management. This study aims to empirically investigate the impacts of blockchain technology on consumer behavior. We conduct this research in collaboration with a Chinese e-commerce company that has introduced a blockchain platform for tracing. We use a multimethod design by combining natural experiment- and case study methods. First, we collected data from four industries (i.e. milk powder, seafood, alcohol and nutrition) to conduct the experiment, and the findings reveal that the firms that adopted the blockchain tracing system have an increase in product sales and a decrease in product returns compared to those that did not. Second, we conducted a multiple case study with four cases from the four industries. The findings reveal that the adoption of a blockchain tracing system improves supply chain transparency and process management, which then enhances consumer service and trust. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that adopting blockchain technology can improve firmsâ marketing performance. The findings also reveal how the adoption of blockchain technology affects consumer behavior.
Data transparency is essential in the modern supply chain to improve trust and boost collaboration among partners. In this context, Blockchain is a promising technology to provide full transparency across the entire supply chain. However, Blockchain was originally designed to provide full transparency and uncontrolled data access. This leads many market actors to avoid Blockchain as they fear for their confidentiality. In this paper, we highlight the requirements and challenges of supply chain transparency. We then investigate a set of supply chain projects that tackle data transparency issues by utilizing Blockchain in their core platform in different manners. Furthermore, we analyze the projectsâ techniques and the tools utilized to customize transparency. As a result of the projectsâ analyses, we identified that further enhancements are needed to set a balance between the data transparency and process opacity required by different partners, to ensure the confidentiality of their processes and to control access to sensitive data.
Abstract The study investigates the relationship between the information and communication-enabled supply chain integration (SCI) and sustainable supply chain performance (SSCP). Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical evidence on the impact of blockchain technologies (BT) on the SSCP. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to assess the relationship between BT and SSCP. More specifically, the study was conducted to examine the direct influence of BT on SCI and SSCP and the interactive effect of BT and SCI on SSCP. Based on the dynamic capability theoretical lens, the present study conceptualizes the use of BT as a specific IT resource to collaborate and reconfigure the ties with the upstream and downstream supply chain members to achieve SSCP. The results of the study support the hypothesis stating that BT positively influences the SSCP. The results recognize the role of SCI as a significant mediating variable between the BT and SSCP. The result indicates the strong influence of SCI with full mediation effect on the relationship between the BT and SSCP.
Using a systematic review of literature, this study identifies the potential impact of blockchain solutions for augmenting supply chain resilience (SCR) to cybercrime. This rich literature synthesis forms the basis of a novel theoretical framework that provides guidance and insight for blockchain adopters and vendors as well as delineate palpable benefits of this novel technology. An interpretivist philosophical design and inductive reasoning are adopted to conduct the systematic review of literature. A total of 867 papers were retrieved from Scopus database between the years of 2016 and 2020 and subsequently analysed via abductive reasoning, grounded theory and a thematic meta-analysis; where the latter was achieved using a scientometric approach and software tools such as VOS viewer and NVivo. Scientometric analysis revealed the most prolific countries, sources, publications and authors who reside at the vanguard of blockchain developments and adoption. Subsequent grounded theory analysis identified six main clusters of research endeavour viz: âcase studyâ, âchallenges and opportunityâ, âtraceabilityâ, âsmart contractâ âblockchain and IoTâ and âdata securityâ. From 28 SCR metrics identified within literature, five were found to have been positively impacted by blockchain technology solutions, namely: âvisibilityâ, âcollaborationâ, âintegrationâ, ârisk managementâ and âinformation sharing.â Prominent applications of blockchain technology in practice were âtraceability systemsâ and âsmart contractsâ which are often implemented separately or in combination and primarily in food supply chains. This research constitutes the first study to critically synthesise extant literature for evaluation of blockchain solutionsâ implication on SCR metrics. New perspectives obtained provided a basis for the novel theoretical framework for implementation that will be valued by software developers and adopting organizations, whilst creating new direction for researchers interested in blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology has received significant attention from the food industry; however, due to the scarcity of successful Blockchain projects and sector-specific studies, a step-by-step approach for implementing Blockchain in food supply chains (FSCs) is still missing. A systematic literature review of 69 high-quality, peer-reviewed articles is utilized to capture Blockchain adoption drivers and barriers, applications, and implementation stages within FSCs. Current Blockchain issues such as scalability, regulations, privacy, and incentivization are identified as future research opportunities. Following innovation adoption theory, a three-stage conceptual framework for Blockchain implementation in FSCs is developed. The proposed framework is novel and is expected to benefit food chain managers in establishing the suitability of Blockchain for their organization and/or wider supply network. Identified influential factors, case examples, and implementation stages are expected to guide practitioners in developing a roadmap for adopting Blockchain in the food industry.
Abstract Blockchain technology plays a very positive role in promoting the development of the port supply chain. Although there are some practical examples of blockchain in the port supply chain (eg. Trade Len or Cargo Smart), there are few application scenarios. Therefore, blockchain technology has yet to be widely used in the port industry. This may be related to the construction of blockchain. This paper analyzes the impact of blockchain technology on the port supply chain and the technology sharing on the shipping market. It is found that the investment of blockchain technology in a competitive environment has different characteristics. When the efficiency of technology investment and the proportion of market expansion reach a certain combination, there are two different equilibrium strategy choices: Only technology investment or technology sharing. Based on the above research results, this paper further investigates the results of the comprehensive influence of different factors such as competition intensity and market expansion proportion.
Purpose The authors seek to understand the process of digital servitization as a shift of manufacturing companies from the provision of standard products and services to smart solutions. Specifically, the authors focus on changes in the business model (i.e. the value proposition, the value delivery system and the value capture mechanism) for digital servitization. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine a Chinese air conditioner manufacturer, Gree, who became the global leader with their smart solutions. These solutions included performance-based contracts underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI)-powered air conditioners that automatically adjust to environmental changes and are capable of remote monitoring and servicing thanks to its Internet of things (IoT) technology. Findings To successfully offer smart solution value propositions, a manufacturer needs an ecosystem value delivery system composed of suppliers, distributors, partners and customers. Once the ecosystem relationships are well aligned, the manufacturer gains value with multiple value capture mechanisms (i.e. efficiency, accountability, shared customer value and novelty). To arrive at this point, a manufacturer has to pass through different stages that are characterized by both discontinuous and continuous interplay between business models and digital technologies. At the beginning of each stage, new value propositions and value delivery systems are first discontinuously created and then enabled with digital technology. As a result, new value capture mechanisms are activated. Meanwhile, the elements of the existing business model are continuously improved. Research limitations/implications By combining process-perspective and business-model lenses, the authors offer nuanced insights into how digital servitization unfolds. Practical implications Executives can obtain insights into the business model elements, they need to change over the course of digital servitization and how to manage the process. Originality/value A longitudinal case study of a traditional manufacturer that has achieved stellar success through digital servitization business models development.
As a disruptive tool, blockchain technology can eradicate the product-counterfeiting problem in supply chains. However, a blockchain-supported platform charges an operating fee to legitimate manufacturers and retailers for product traceability and authentication. In this study, we employ enterprise profit-driven analytical models using Stackelberg equilibrium theory and highlight the values of blockchain-supported e-commerce platforms in addressing the product-counterfeiting problem. To measure the actual benefits of blockchain technology, we compare the profits of all agents in two different supply chains, traditional and blockchain-supported. Results show that the application of blockchain technology is not always beneficial to manufacturers, retailers, and customers. However, when the manufacturing cost of a legitimate manufacturer is sufficiently high, the manufacturer generates more profits using blockchain technology. Further, for a price-sensitive market, a retailer tends to trade in a blockchain-supported e-commerce platform if the retailerâs qualification in the platform is lower than that in a traditional supply chain, and the manufacturing cost of the counterfeit manufacturer in the platform is higher than that in a traditional supply chain.