Purpose This paper addresses a gap in research literature in the fields of blockchain technology (BC), supply chain network dynamics (SC) and network effect phenomena (NE). Extant BC and SC literature describes the potential benefits to be reaped through the adoption of BC technology. While BC technology does not yet meet the researched expectations of adoption, performance and efficacy, the authors analyze the three inter-related fields (BC, SC and NE) to bridge this gap in theory. Design/methodology/approach This paper begins with a research review correlating the technological fundamentals of BC technology into fundamental value propositions for SC logistics contexts. The authors review the gap between these theoretical technological functions and the current ecosystem of BC applications. With an overarching understanding of BC in SC contexts, this paper then explores the phenomena of NE and attempts to synthesize various interrelated aspects of the three fields (BC, SC and NE). Research frameworks from extant literature are used for cross-comparing legacy software/information system solutions with potential and existing BC-based solutions. Case studies are utilized to support this analysis. Findings Several key considerations and themes are identified to better inform practitioner and researcher decision-making. Novel insights pertain to BC platform architecture and application modularity, integrated governance and decision-making capabilities, and the automation capabilities that arise from a healthy application and smart contract ecosystem. Originality/value The core contribution is the synthesis of network effect theory with SC phenomena and BC theory and the exploration of how these three fields are inter-related in the maturation of BC technology. Specifically, the authors deepen insights from extant literature by contextualizing findings with relevant interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks.
Giorgia Casella, Barbara Bigliardi, Serena Filippelli, Eleonora Bottani
Blockchain emerged as a leading technology layer for financial applications. Nevertheless, in the past years, the attention of researchers and practitioners moved to the application of the blockchain technologies in other domains. Supply chain is the topic playing more attention to the blockchain. In line with this consideration, this paper focuses on case studies of blockchain implementation targeting the supply chain context. Through a systematic literature review, we derived a list of 107 papers retrieved from the Scopus database and published in the main academic reference journals. Using these studies, this paper tracks and analyses the evolution of the research field based on publication year and journals, most prominent countries and authors and keywords’ analysis. The results provide a clear picture of the existing literature to identify the research gap of the current scientific research and to propose a future research agenda.
This study attempts to determine the optimal production and pricing decisions of E-Agri-SCF (agricultural product supply chain financed by e-commerce) and analyzes the influence of financing parameters on the optimal decision. Research indicates that the optimal purchase price decision increases with the expansion of the financing interest rate and declines with the expansion of the capital opportunity cost. The expected output factor of agricultural products has no influence on the optimal purchase price decision. The optimal production decision of the farmer declines with the expansion of the financing interest rate and the opportunity cost of capital and increases with the increase in the expected output factor of agricultural products. In particular, we show that due to the uncertainty in the output of agricultural products, the losses caused by decentralized decision-making in the E-Agri-SCF will increase. Therefore, this article proposes using a cost-sharing contract to promote the coordination of E-Agri-SCF. We prove that when farmers share more costs, they obtain higher benefits, while the e-commerce platform does the opposite. This is because the participation of e-commerce platforms in financing has changed the revenue structure of the supply chain. The findings of this article are very meaningful, as they provide management opinions on the financing terms of E-Agri-SCF.
Supply chains are experiencing significant advances in digital technologies, particularly those associated with industry 4.0. An example of such technology is blockchain. Blockchain is a disruptive technology characterised by anonymity and identity, consensus mechanism, decentralisation, overall performance and expectancy, reliability of systems and data, and information transparency. Blockchain offers supply chain opportunities to strengthen end-to-end visibility and traceability, leading to enhanced levels of transparency. Supply chains are increasingly exploring blockchain technology and transparency, with many focusing on system development. This paper explores transparency in blockchain-based supply chains to understand the principles underlining its design. A systematic review of literature is used, accompanied by data-driven analysis. The results present the principles within a framework for transparency by design in blockchain-based supply chains. Limitations and areas for future work are also presented.
Modern blockchains guarantee that submitted transactions will be included eventually; a property formally known as liveness. But financial activity requires transactions to be included in a timely manner. Unfortunately, classical liveness is not strong enough to guarantee this, particularly in the presence of a motivated adversary who benefits from censoring transactions. We define censorship resistance as the amount it would cost the adversary to censor a transaction for a fixed interval of time as a function of the associated tip. This definition has two advantages, first it captures the fact that transactions with a higher miner tip can be more costly to censor, and therefore are more likely to swiftly make their way onto the chain. Second, it applies to a finite time window, so it can be used to assess whether a blockchain is capable of hosting financial activity that relies on timely inclusion. We apply this definition in the context of auctions. Auctions are a building block for many financial applications, and censoring competing bids offers an easy-to-model motivation for our adversary. Traditional proof-of-stake blockchains have poor enough censorship resistance that it is difficult to retain the integrity of an auction when bids can only be submitted in a single block. As the number of bidders $n$ in a single block auction increases, the probability that the winner is not the adversary, and the economic efficiency of the auction, both decrease faster than $1/n$. Running the auction over multiple blocks, each with a different proposer, alleviates the problem only if the number of blocks grows faster than the number of bidders. We argue that blockchains with more than one concurrent proposer have can have strong censorship resistance. We achieve this by setting up a prisoner's dilemma among the proposers using conditional tips.
Establishing a well-functioning Supply Chain Management (SCM) system is paramount during challenging times such as pandemics, natural disasters, and international conflicts. The complexity of global supply chains necessitates efficient systems, procedures, and personnel to ensure optimal results. Poor coordination among entities can lead to increased counterfeit products, increased ocean transportation costs, more expensive freight brokerage, bottlenecks in cargo flow, congestion, and complications in product accountability. To ensure a smooth and hassle-free operation, it’s essential to maintain unambiguity and accuracy throughout every process. Therefore, it is vital to have effective systems, procedures, and personnel in place for SCM. The challenges encountered in SCM can be effectively tackled by utilizing blockchain technology. The architecture of blockchain technology is characterized by its distributed, decentralized and robust safety measures, which guarantee the integrity of data storage and its distribution across a meticulously organized ledger. Users can confidently rely on this innovative design’s transparency, reliability, and safety. Implementing blockchain technology carries immense potential in bolstering safety and privacy measures in diverse sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, Goods and Services Tax (GST), academics, e-voting and automobile. This investigation delves into the practical applications of blockchain technology for SCM. It thoroughly analyses existing research and literature to uncover the latest advancements and potential future breakthroughs in this area.
Supply chain management processes and systems in different industries include multiple variables. This study examines the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain in Malaysia. Data were collected through questionnaire designed as open ended question through 300 respondents while only 256 is used according to completed surveys, statistical analysis of the data obtained in this study was carried out by one sample t-test using the statistical software package (SPSS). we find that, perceived ease, Inter-Organizational Trust, Perceived Usefulness, Data transparency and confidentiality have significant impact on adoption Blockchain in supply chain, while Blockchain technology simplifies inventory financing. The paper use open ended questions so in future can use different kind of scale and different variables which can affect the adoption decisions.
We study the determinants of transaction fees in the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, particularly focusing on the recent Merge – Ethereum's transition from a Proof-of-Work to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. Using multivariate regression analysis, we find that blockchain fees in USD increase with network congestion, measured by the mempool count, in a non-linear manner as hypothesized by Huberman, Leshno, and Moallemi (2021). Additionally, the fees are positively influenced by the respective native currency's returns over the past six months. The Merge resulted in a fee reduction for both Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains.
This paper presents a multiple case study analysis on how blockchain technology (BCT) has been adopted in organisations to support supply chain finance (SCF) based on secondary data. Findings from the multiple case analysis indicate that BCT can cope with challenges in traditional SCF, including financing range, financing cost, financing efficiency, and risk management. Before the implementation of the BCT, multiple parties’ decision on jointly operating the blockchain-based SCF platform enables them to take full advantage of their inherent resources and blockchain characteristics. Also, both the BCT and enterprises need internal and external adjustments, which are interrelated. The unexpected issues may emerge from the pilot stage, but the adjustments are still involved in the previous stages, leading to a feedback loop from the pilot stage to the redefining/restructuring stage. To realise large-scale implementation of blockchain-based SCF solutions, more stakeholders need to be motivated to adopt the BCT, and new laws and regulations should be developed to promote the BCT adoption. Based on these findings and by applying innovation adoption theory, an overall implementation framework is proposed to provide a meaningful guidance for organisations to adopt BCT in SCF.
Paolo Bottoni, Claudio Di Ciccio, Remo Pareschi, Domenico Tortola · 6 authors
Smart contracts show a high potential to make supply chain management strategies epochally leap towards higher levels of productivity, not only in the functioning of production processes but also in terms of product innovation and overall economic returns. This article illustrates the principle of Income Sharing as a highly performing economic strategy for supply chains with a natural implementation in blockchain smart contracts. It proposes a blockchain-based architecture that uses smart contracts to implement various algorithmic versions of the Income Sharing principle among companies participating in a supply chain. The formation of the total income and its consequent redistribution are calculated taking into account the role of the technological platform automating these procedures, which therefore becomes a party to the inter-company business project of a supply chain in the alternative roles, as feasible in business practice, of Blockchain-as-a-Service and Blockchain-as-a-Partner. The approach is implemented on Hyperledger Fabric, the most widespread platform for private and consortium blockchains. We compare and justify this design choice with the alternative given by public blockchains, with specific attention to Ethereum.
The supply chain plays an important role in daily life, and its traceability ensures product quality and safety. Therefore, an efficient and reliable solution to improve supply chain traceability is urgently needed. Because of its advantages of being decentralized, tamper-proof, and transparent, the emerging blockchain technology should address the problems of unreliable data and low tracking efficiency in traditional traceability systems. This paper explores blockchain-based supply chain traceability solutions, reviews recent research, and identifies challenges. First, the basics of blockchain are introduced, and the traditional traceability model and stakeholder needs are described. Then, the existing publications and enterprise applications are reviewed and analyzed in detail. Using blockchain is found to bring many benefits. It is also found that the current academic solutions are mostly based on mainstream blockchain platforms and lack specific and comprehensive evaluation. Finally, challenges and future research questions are discussed. Future research could focus on designing targeted consensus mechanisms, designing appropriate access control, the role of regulators in the supply chain, etc. This review shows that blockchain has great potential to address traceability issues, but many challenges remain.
Purpose The aim of the research is to identify and prioritise the implementation challenges of blockchain technology and suggests ways for its implementation in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach Underlined by the technology, organisational, and external environment model, a conceptual framework with four challenge categories and sixteen challenges is proposed. Data collected from three stakeholder groups with experience in the implementation of blockchain technology in India is analysed by employing an analytical hierarchy process method-based case study. Further, a criticality–effort matrix analysis is performed to group challenges and suggest ways for implementation. Findings The analysis revels that all stakeholders perceive complexity challenge associated with the technology, organisational structure, and external environment, and issues of compatibility with existing systems, software, and business practices to be high on the criticality and effort scales, which thus require meticulous planning to manage. Likewise, top-management support issues related to insufficient understanding of how technology fits with the organisation’s policy and benefits offered by the technology requires high effort to address this challenge. Research limitations/implications The results were obtained by focusing on the Indian context and therefore may not apply to other nations’ contexts. Practical implications By investigating the challenges that the developers, consultants, and client organisations need to address, this study assists managers in developing plans to facilitate coordination among these organisations for successful blockchain implementation. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge this study is the first to identify and prioritise the challenges from the perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups with experience in blockchain technology implementation.
As an emerging information technology, blockchain has aroused extensive discussions around the world and been suggested as a solution to address current issues in supply chain finance (SCF). The Chinese government also attaches great importance to this technology, and many Chinese state-owned enterprises have invested in establishing their own blockchain research and development centres. However, there is a lack of studies on identifying challenges when deploying this technology; theoretical framework and conceptual exposition are also scarcely seen. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the challenges and obstacles in the adoption of blockchain technology in SCF. An exploratory case study of a Chinese state-owned enterprise was conducted to build up an initial conceptual framework. Semi-structured interview was applied to collect data from the case firm's employees, top management, and technical specialists. The results of the analysis indicate that in the adoption of blockchain technology, there are technological, operational, and other challenges. From a technological perspective, framework identification, cross-chain interoperability, and data governance are major barriers; whereas, from an operational perspective, the new business process and transformation in the entire supply chain are identified as challenges. Besides, other obstacles such as the elimination of jobs and regulatory issues are also not neglectable. This study contributes to research on blockchain and supply chains by shedding light on the challenges of blockchain adoption through an exploratory case study of a Chinese state-owned enterprise. A conceptual framework was generated as a basis for future research, and the findings also provide insights for companies that may or are planning to adopt blockchain technology.
Hongdan Han, Radha K. Shiwakoti, Robin Jarvis, Chima Mordi · 5 authors
This paper surveys the published work on how blockchain technology will impact accounting in general, but AI-enabled auditing specifically. The purpose is to investigate how blockchain technology can improve transparency and trust in accounting practice and how professionals can use blockchain data to improve decision-making, based on the qualities of immutability, append-only, shared, verified, and agreed-upon (i.e., consensus-driven) blockchain data. The multi-party validation of blockchain protocols adds real-time trusted data for the AI systems used by auditors to improve assurance and efficiency. This review summarizes four themes emerging from the literature focusing on how blockchain technology has changed record-keeping in accounting: event approach to accounting; real-time accounting; triple entry-accounting and continuous auditing. The research interprets the findings using agency theory and stakeholder theory to advance how using blockchain to mitigate information asymmetry and improve stakeholder collaborations is understood. The investigation also summarizes the challenges and clarifies organizations’ reasons to be cautious about adopting blockchain. Lastly, the study suggests that future researchers use this study in two ways that enrich blockchain literature: first, to apply the themes and answer the questions identified within this review to improve the business methods of practitioners and policymakers; and second, to encourage stakeholders such as practitioners, system designers/developers, and policymakers to collaborate in designing blockchain ecosystems that suit accounting and auditing as they transform digitally.
Blockchain is attracting tremendous attention in the logistics industry on account of its cutting-edge appeal, potential for integration within the sector, and capacity to disrupt established practices. Among other things, blockchain technology promises to open up new horizons in traceability, transparency, accuracy, and safety throughout the supply chain. However, as an emerging technology, blockchain is still relatively nascent, and familiarity with the technology is limited, as are its implementations. In addition, there is a dearth of studies concerning blockchain technology specifically, as it pertains to transport and logistics, as opposed to finance and cryptocurrency. It remains unknown what factors enable blockchain adoption by logistics service providers and how its adoption affects firm performance and capabilities. This research examines extant literature and conducts research on an eminent global transportation company to elucidate the potential influence of blockchain adoption on firm performance. The results of this work support the model that advancing theory-driven and empirical blockchain studies will increase firm capabilities and foster a competitive edge in the emerging digitalized era.
Transport and Logistics stakeholders utilise Blockchain to interact within their networks in a transparent and secure manner. This creates islands of disconnected communities which prohibits visibility across the entire supply chain. This paper introduces a framework, which aims at unifying multiple proprietary Blockchain systems, offering an opportunity to empower stakeholders across the entire supply chain to collaborate and exchange information seamlessly. The Blockchain Interoperability framework employs smart contracts, which aspire to automate previously cumbersome processes and bring value to the Physical Internet (PI) paradigm. Smart contracts guarantee a trustworthy and distributed process of contract negotiation and execution that significantly reduces time, administrative overheads, and costs which are currently typically spent on manual inter-organisational processes.
Blockchain technology is an emerging technology, and cryptocurrency is the most well-known and successful blockchain application. With the development of the concept of blockchain technology, scientists and practitioners have found the potential of blockchain technology in the supply chain, which has led to much research on blockchain applications. There have been many reviews on the subject, but most of them are specific to particular supply chains and lack specific research on published papers. This paper addresses this research gap by examining, through qualitative analysis, the study finds that blockchain applications are moving in the direction of efficient automation. Appropriate consensus algorithms in different supply chain contexts will improve efficiency while reducing costs, while smart contracts play a huge role in security. Therefore, this paper explored articles related to the topic and explored articles in recent years by keyword combination.
COVID-19 has recently affected global trade flows, and the primary reason is that shipping failed to adapt rapidly to meet the need for on-time delivery. Given blockchain's “revolutionary” potential, this paper aims to understand how blockchain can address longstanding inefficiencies and challenges in the shipping industry. This analysis proposes a model of how an industrywide blockchain-based consortium powered by smart contracts could resolve end-to-end contract issues with trustworthiness, thus improving efficiency in terms of time and cost. A mixed-method approach was conducted. That included 27 surveys and 20 interviews with representatives of shipping industry members. This study contributes to the blockchain and shipping supply chain literature by offering empirical data about the application of an industry-led consortium blockchain with cost, scalability, and volatility perspectives. As for the managerial implications, incentives and education are required to stimulate collaboration and commitment to blockchain for more efficient and effective global shipping trade flows.