Ashkan Pakseresht, Ali Yavari, Sina Ahmadi Kaliji, Karin Hakelius
A transition towards a circular economy within the agri-food sector requires the improvement of efficiency in resource utilization, the prevention of food loss or waste, whilst adopting regenerative agricultural practices. In addition to the technical challenges, the agri-food industry needs to address the food safety concerns resulting from biomass recycling processes. Increasingly, blockchain technology is gaining traction, moving towards more sustainable and precision agriculture. The blockchain is a decentralized, immutable, and shared database that records the provenance of digital assets, making it a suitable platform for traceability and food supply chain management. Despite its growing importance, the existing literature regarding these themes and the empirical evidence of blockchain-based solutions for a circular economy is rather fragmented. This paper offers a scoping review regarding the role of blockchain technology in the transition towards a circular food system. A total of 44 papers published in peer-reviewed journals were reviewed to identify new scientific insights into the application of blockchains within the agricultural sector. The results indicate that blockchain technology has a great potential in reducing food loss through optimized eco-efficiency (e.g., digitalization and integration with the Internet of Things) and by alleviating asymmetric information (by increasing transparency and reducing dependence on intermediaries). However, in the case of recycling efficiency, despite its potential, there remains a paucity of evidence regarding the use of blockchain technology in improving the residual valorization processes. Furthermore, there is a stream of literature focusing on the ability of blockchain-enabled traceability (e.g., for organic production or supply chain management). Yet, the role of blockchain traceability in the monitoring of risks from recycled biomass and the reporting of the sustainability performance in the supply chain has received scant attention within research literature. These results provide insights for supply chain management operations with the view of shifting towards a circular economy whilst also suggesting an agenda for future research areas.
Closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) activities ensure flawless Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management by the usage of IoT and Blockchain technology (BCT) is proven as an effective and sustainable solution among developed countries. However, implementation challenges including data integrity, accessibility, and reluctance to change restrict the potential of these digital technologies in developing countries. Thus, to extend the existing literature, the study has relevance. Based on a systematic literature review, Best Worst Method (BWM) is used for determining the most critical BCT implementation barriers affecting WEEE. This study identifies the IoT-enabled BCT implementation issues in closed-loop WEEE management. This study examines the appropriate issues in the context of developing a legislative support system, ineffective database management, low understanding of cognitive technologies, and information security and privacy are the key concerns for BCT implementation in closed-loop supply chains. The model is an effort in the waste management domain for the transition of developing economies towards circularity.
Today, high-tech industries such as consumer electronics commonly face government rules on carbon emissions. Among the rules, carbon emission tax as well as extended producer responsibility (EPR) tax are two important measures. Using blockchain, the policy makers can better determine the carbon target environmental taxation (CTET) policy with accurate information. In this paper, based on the mean-variance framework, we study the values of blockchain for risk-averse high-tech manufacturers who are under the government's CTET policy. To be specific, the government first determines the optimal CTET policy. The high-tech manufacturer then reacts and determines its optimal production quantity. We analytically prove that the CTET policy simply relies on the setting of the optimal EPR tax. Then, in the absence of blockchain, we consider the case in which the government does not know the manufacturer's degree of risk aversion for sure and then derive the expected value of using blockchain for the high-tech manufacturers. We study when it is wise for the high-tech manufacturer and the government to implement blockchain. To check for robustness, we consider in two extended models respectively the situations in which blockchain incurs non-trivial costs as well as having an alternative risk measure. We analytically show that most of the qualitative findings remain valid.
Yu Zhang, Adeel Shah, Syed Abdul Rehman, Sajid Nazir · 5 authors
Today’s world is changed; the only constant thing is digital technologies galloping and enveloping all walks of life; blockchain is the most pertinent of the available technologies. Due to the high demand for the technology, this research tests blockchain technology (BTT) and its influence on organizational performance (ORP) while incorporating recycling and remanufacturing (RRM), green design (GDN), and green purchasing (GPP) as mediators to ascertain the relation between the two constructs. The data for the research is collected from the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The data was collected from four hundred enterprises, and regression analysis was used for statistical inference through Smart PLS. Significant results are found between BTT and RRM, BTT and GDN, BTT and GPP, RRM and ORP, and GDN and ORP. The study’s result also confirms that no significant value was found between GPP and ORP.
Wafaa A.H. Ahmed, Bart L. MacCarthy, Horst Treiblmaier
Purpose Blockchain is increasingly being considered for applications in operations and supply chain management. However, evidence from practice is still scarce on why, where and how organizations seek to apply the technology in the supply chain across different industries. The study develops a comprehensive framework to enhance understanding of the application areas of blockchain technology in the supply chain, as well as organizations' motivations in seeking blockchain solutions and relevant contingency factors influencing applications. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate 50 use cases of blockchain applications in the supply chain, covering six industries. Contingency theory is applied in conducting a qualitative textual and correlation analysis to identify and compare blockchain adoption motivations, application areas and contingency factors across different industries. Findings The analysis develops an evidence-based framework that captures ten principal motivations in seeking blockchain solutions, three main blockchain application areas along with important application sub-categories and five clusters of contingency factors that influence blockchain deployment and its uses in different industrial sectors. Research limitations/implications The study expands the limited cross-sectoral research on blockchain applications and motivations in the supply chain. Using contingency theory, it presents a comprehensive framework that captures the drivers and factors relating to blockchain adoption in the supply chain in a nomological network. The study lays the foundation for further theoretical perspectives and empirical research to investigate relevant sectoral characteristics and their importance for different types of blockchain application in the supply chain. Practical implications The study informs practitioners about potential supply chain application areas that can be enhanced through blockchain technology, taking account of the specific characteristics of their products, business and manufacturing processes, supply network configurations, industry standards, regulations and market demand. Originality/value The study is the first to provide cross-sectoral evidence on the relevance of organizations' motivations and numerous contingency factors on blockchain application areas in the supply chain.
Milena Mota Costa, João Felix Barreto Neto, Elaine Pinto Varela Alberte, Álex Pires Carneiro
Abstract There is a current lack of management tools that guarantee control and traceability of actions taken by the generator of construction and demolition waste (CDW). Furthermore, the reinsertion of recycled CDW into productive cycle is necessary to foster a circular economy in construction sector. To address these challenges, this study builds a novel blockchain-based information management framework for CDW management in construction, which extends the applications of blockchain for improving circular economy in the sector. Using design science research as a methodological research strategy, this study presents and analyses a blockchain framework and its development processes. The framework performance was evaluated through simulation and quantitative and qualitative indicators. Through a SaaS (Software as a Service) concept, the system allows strengthens the connection between stakeholders looking for sustainable solutions for CDW management. These solutions are independent of the size or segment of the company and allow the creation of business opportunities within the industry itself that provide expertise to foster the circular economy such as reverse logistics, servitization, and industrial symbiosis.
Blockchain technology has disrupted traditional business processes and hence gained significant attention and popularity in recent years. Consequently, a number of blockchain-based platforms are available today that offer vast applications across multiple sectors and industries. Implementing these blockchain-based platforms as an alternative to traditional product lifecycle management systems (PLMs) is one of the applications. However, before any platform is adopted, its nature, functionalities, and adaptability need to be clearly defined, evaluated, and verified. In this context, the proposed work explores the available blockchain-based platforms that can be used for the purpose of product lifecycle management. We then apply one of the multi-criteria decision-making techniques, i.e., the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), to select the best possible blockchain-based platform for PLM. As transaction speed, data privacy, and scalability are our prime concerns in PLM, we only considered the permissioned (private) blockchain platforms as available alternatives in the final selection process. Results achieved on the basis of considered criteria show that Hyperledger Fabric is the top-ranked among available alternatives to be used for PLM. Furthermore, as blockchain is a new technology, a clear comparison of the available platforms based on the performance-based metrics and key performance indicators is not completely matured and is still in the development stage. However, our proposed approach can be considered an attempt to create a procedure for evaluating blockchain-based platform implementation in any sector.
Inefficient practices in the logistics industry cause huge losses in social resources. Addressing the quality control issues is challenging in multi-stage transport. Due to the structural characteristics of the serial logistics service chains, the real delivery quality of each Third Party Logistics (3PL) is invisible to the Lead Logistics Provider (LLP), and the defects of a single 3PL’s delivery quality will be covered up. Thus, unobservable delivery quality triggers the moral hazard action of 3PL, and strengthens the inequities in a serial logistics service chain. Blockchain technology can be an effective tool to resolve the moral hazard problem. We employ game theory-based models to investigate the blockchain adoption issue in serial logistics service chains. Adopting blockchain technology might bring Pareto improvement in delivery quality and total profit of the service chain. However, 3PL’s profit may be hurt because of blockchain adoption. Therefore, successful blockchain implementation depends on whether the initiator of a blockchain programme can properly incentivise 3PLs.
Susanne Köhler, Simon Laursen Bager, Massimo Pizzol
Blockchain-based technologies have emerged as a mechanism for governing sustainability in agro-food supply chain, where voluntary sustainability standards have been the main governance mechanisms over the past decades. Despite a growing body of research on blockchain-based technologies, the relationship between these two mechanisms for supply chains remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims at addressing this research gap and explaining their interaction. We described and assessed 16 cases of blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards against twelve sustainability-related assessment criteria. The results show that the relationship between blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards can be co-existing, synergistic, and antagonistic. While most cases fall under the co-existing relationship, we identified a few cases with synergistic relationships, and one case with an antagonistic relationship. We explain each type of relation and show how the system architecture and goal of a blockchain-based technology implementation are key determinants of this relationship. This study can support stakeholders in agro-food supply chain in better understanding the application of blockchain-based technologies for sustainability governance in relation to existing voluntary sustainability standards. It can further inform those stakeholders of possibilities to constructively collaborate and focus on positive social and environmental impacts within agro-food supply chains.
The emerging blockchain technology is believed to be a disruptive innovation in the fields of both supply chain management and financial management. Yet, little is known on the interaction of the two domains. In this paper, we conducted a thematic literature review in the novel field of blockchain and supply chain finance (SCF), which is based on 52 papers published from 2017 to 2021 in academic journals, proceedings and books. Based on thematic analysis, the current status of this field is concluded and presented in this research, including the challenges in traditional SCF, factors influencing blockchain adoption in SCF, blockchain-based SCF solutions, and the blockchain adoption mechanism and system design in SCF. Furthermore, a conceptual framework of blockchain adoption in SCF is developed, which combines the emerged themes. Finally, three future research directions are proposed for further research, including cost optimization of blockchain adoption in SCF, risk management of blockchain operations in SCF, and blockchain and sustainable SCF. This research presents a timely and useful summary on existing research and points out the future research directions on blockchain and SCF.
The objectives of this paper are to analyse how blockchain can help in transaction time reduction and quality improvement in supply chains. It also aims to identify the social and technical capabilities needed by the service providers for blockchain implementation and how those capabilities vary between the projects. To achieve the above mentioned objectives, a multiple case study approach is followed, and data are collected from the service providers that have implemented blockchain technology with their customers. We conduct task-technology fit (TTF) analysis to assess the suitability of blockchain to address the tasks to be completed, considering customer needs. The TTF analysis shows that some additional technological solutions related to communication support and user experience design need to be implemented together with the blockchain platform. We then identify common social and technical capabilities, such as empathising with customers and system design, to facilitate implementation and contingent capabilities that vary across different types of blockchain implementation projects. We also develop a process model, a generalisable framework for blockchain implementation and related propositions. The findings from this study will provide guidance to the blockchain service providers to emphasise social and technical capabilities for quality improvement and transaction time reduction from blockchain implementation.
Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced since the early 1950s; however, only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. In this article, we propose a plastic credit driven system consisting of a recyclability index (RI) and plastic credit to impel plastic recycling and increase the quality of recyclable plastics through a market self-regulation mechanism. The RI is designed to evaluate the recyclability value of different plastic products based on their material compositions. The plastic credit, defined by the quantitative relation between the RI and product information, can be issued or traded by system stakeholders. Instead of setting rigid industry standards to regulate plastic quality, we construct a governance community among industry participants using blockchain-enabled smart contracts to self-regulate and monitor plastic production and trading. The proposed system is constructed on a consortium blockchain and a public blockchain to negotiate the RI, issue credits, and trade credits using smart contracts. Through the overall system performance analysis, the experimental results demonstrate that the designed plastic credit system can promote a demand shift toward plastic products with higher plastic recyclability and achieve a lightweight operation for resource requirements and system maintenance.
Purpose Creating visibility in the supply chain (SC) helps in making it resilient. Integrating the SC with Industry 4.0 key enabling technologies creates visibility and sustainability in SCs. It also fosters intelligent decision-making, thereby making a SC smart. However, how Industry 4.0 technologies affect key performance indicators (KPIs) of a resilient SC and may help achieve sustainability is rarely studied. Design/methodology/approach Sixteen KPIs were identified from the literature review and analyzed using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) using expert opinions. Further, a sensitivity analysis was conducted for the KPIs by varying the weightage of the criteria. Later, KPIs results were analyzed, and (1) how and which Industry 4.0 technology helps improve the KPI? (2) Resilience relationship with sustainability? were discussed. Findings The analyses show that the time-oriented (TO) is an essential criterion and organizational (OR) is the less important comparatively. Lead time, time to market and risk assessment frequency are the top KPIs that need a focus. Blockchain, Big Data and Cyber-physical systems enhance KPI's value and, in turn, foster economic, environmental and social sustainability of the SC and help in better decision making in terms of smart contracts, better forecasting and enhanced real-time information sharing. Originality/value Identification of the KPIs, the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies and the impact on sustainability; this kind of interplay is rarely evident in the literature. Understanding the findings of this research will help managers develop smart systems that may work intelligently to overcome risks associated and enhance sustainability. Academicians can use the findings and conduct future research that can overcome the limitations of this research.
Over the last 5 years, research into the use of blockchain technology in supply chains (SCs) has increased significantly. This is because many firms are faced with the necessity of enhancing SC visibility not just to fulfill statutory obligations, but also to streamline operations, assure the quality of deliverables, and ensure the sustainability of activities. This review article provides a summary of all scientific work published since 2016, with a special emphasis on the business management & accounting and decision science domains, in order to better comprehend the constantly rising knowledge clusters linked with this topic. The prominent contributors and knowledge clusters were identified using suitable bibliometric algorithms on a review corpus of 308 articles extracted from the SCOPUS database. There are five identified knowledge clusters: 1) blockchain for food SC transparency, 2) distributed ledger for sustainable SCs, 3) traceability systems using smart contracts, 4) internet of things for logistics, and 5) the emergence of Ethereum and hyperledger in SCs. This scholarly assessment, in conjunction with PageRank analysis and content mining, assisted in identifying research articles that are prominent in each cluster, which in turn helped in formulating future research avenues for aspiring researchers.
Optimizing customer structure is worthy of developing because products/services offering can promote a delightful financial situation. Inspired by this, we examine the moderation effect of customer concentration targeting at the relationship between financial stress and sustainable operations of China’s manufacturers that exercise substantial impacts on climate change and industrial prosperity. Many industrial sectors, for example, shipbuilding, nonferrous metals, electronic component manufacturing, and food processing, are involved in this study. Empirical results indicate that a higher asset-liability ratio (embodying debt-level stress) and a higher ratio of tax payment to tax rebate (embodying social-level stress) both do not impose a constraint to sustainable operations, but such operations indeed need a response from a lower ratio of total operating cost to total operating revenue (embodying operation-level stress) and a decentralized customer structure. Moreover, customer concentration offers a power to be able to enhance the anti-risk capability of financial stress at the operation-level, thus suggesting narrowing the gap between tax payment and tax rebate. Our analysis transpires that a disharmony between financial stress and sustainable operations can be buffered by decentralizing customer structure. This study contributes to a new insight around the effect of customer in harmonizing finance and sustainability issues in manufacturers of emerging markets, thereby inspiring backbone industries to reach business sustainability assisted by a broad customer group.
Dilupa Nakandala, Yung Po Tsang, H.C.W. Lau, C.K.M. Lee
In view of increasing supply chain disruption events, for example the China–United States trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia–Ukraine war, the complexity and dynamicity of global freight management keeps increasing. To build a resilient and sustainable supply chain, industrial practitioners are eager to systematically revamp the freight management decision process related to the selection of carriers, shipping lanes, and third-party logistics service providers. Therefore, this study aims at strengthening decision-making capabilities for global freight management, in which an industrial blockchain-based global freight decision framework (IB-GFDF) is proposed to incorporate consortium blockchain technology with the Bayesian best-worst method. Through the blockchain technology, pairwise comparisons can be conducted over the international freight network in a decentralized and immutable manner, and thus, a secure and commonly agreed-on pairwise comparison dataset is acquired. Subsequently, the pairwise comparison dataset with multi-stakeholder opinions is analyzed using the Bayesian best-worst method in order to prioritize the selection decision criteria related to carriers, shipping lanes, and 3PL service providers for global freight management. To verify the methodological feasibility, a case study of an Australian agricultural supply chain firm was conducted to support the development end-to-end (E2E) supply chain solutions originated from Australia. It was found that port infrastructure, ports of call and communication effectiveness were the major criteria for the selection decision, which can be emphasized in future global freight collaboration. In addition, an immutable and append-only record of pairwise comparisons can be established to support the visibility of time-varying stakeholders’ preferences.
The existing multi-person collaborative design scheme of Building Information Modeling (BIM) integrated with blockchain faces problems such as poor reliability of BIM drawing, inconsistent drawing information, redundant information, and inaccurate protection of copyright interests. This paper proposes a multi-person collaborative design model for BIM drawing that combines blockchain and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). This model uses blockchain to store drawing design information to protect the copyright interests of designers and combines IPFS to ensure the reliability of drawing. A cycle division mechanism is designed to solve the problem of drawing information synchronization when multiple people collaborate in design. The Semantic Differential Transaction (SDT) method is used to achieve incremental update of drawing and reduce the information redundancy of the blockchain. Finally, a comparative analysis and validation evaluation of the scheme is carried out, and the usability of the scheme is illustrated with an illustrative example. The results show that: (1) proposed scheme is feasible for multi-person collaborative design; (2) proposed scheme can effectively ensure the reliability of drawing and reduce the redundancy of blockchain information, so as to achieve copyright protection for designers.