<abstract> This study aims to better understand the role of centralized and decentralized ledgers in the money supply process. The aim is to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of these tools in the context of finance and banking. A thorough investigation of the prior literature was carried out using sources extracted from various academic databases. A SWOT analysis based on an integrative literature review methodology was conducted to synthesize various research contributions and analyze relevant information related to centralized and decentralized ledgers. The findings reveal that centralized ledgers are still critical in the record-keeping of financial transactions, despite the strengths and opportunities of decentralized ledgers outweighing those of centralized ledgers. This study helps to increase the understanding of financial and banking sector managers concerning the importance of decentralized ledgers in delivering more value to customers. </abstract>
Ahmad Musamih, Khaled Salah, Raja Jayaraman, Junaid Arshad ¡ 7 authors
Healthcare supply chains are complex structures spanning across multiple organizational and geographical boundaries, providing critical backbone to services vital for everyday life. The inherent complexity of such systems can introduce impurities including inaccurate information, lack of transparency and limited data provenance. Counterfeit drugs is one consequence of such limitations within existing supply chains which not only has serious adverse impact on human health but also causes severe economic loss to the healthcare industry. Consequently, existing studies have emphasized the need for a robust, end-to-end track and trace system for pharmaceutical supply chains. Therein, an end-to-end product tracking system across the pharmaceutical supply chain is paramount to ensuring product safety and eliminating counterfeits. Most existing track and trace systems are centralized leading to data privacy, transparency and authenticity issues in healthcare supply chains. In this article, we present an Ethereum blockchain-based approach leveraging smart contracts and decentralized off-chain storage for efficient product traceability in the healthcare supply chain. The smart contract guarantees data provenance, eliminates the need for intermediaries and provides a secure, immutable history of transactions to all stakeholders. We present the system architecture and detailed algorithms that govern the working principles of our proposed solution. We perform testing and validation, and present cost and security analysis of the system to evaluate its effectiveness to enhance traceability within pharmaceutical supply chains.
Santosh Nandi, Joseph Sarkis, Aref A. Hervani, Marilyn M. Helms
Purpose Using the resource-based and the resource dependence theoretical approaches of the firm, the paper explores firm responses to supply chain disruptions during COVID-19. The paper explores how firms develop localization, agility and digitization (L-A-D) capabilities by applying (or not applying) their critical circular economy (CE) and blockchain technology (BCT)-related resources and capabilities that they either already possess or acquire from external agents. Design/methodology/approach An abductive approach, applying exploratory qualitative research was conducted over a sample of 24 firms. The sample represented different industries to study their critical BCT and CE resources and capabilities and the L-A-D capabilities. Firm resources and capabilities were classified using the technology, organization and environment (TOE) framework. Findings Findings show significant patterns on adoption levels of the blockchain-enabled circular economy system (BCES) and L-A-D capability development. The greater the BCES adoption capabilities, the greater the L-A-D capabilities. Organizational size and industry both influence the relationship between BCES and L-A-D. Accordingly, research propositions and a research framework are proposed. Research limitations/implications Given the limited sample size, the generalizability of the findings is limited. Our findings extend supply chain resiliency research. A series of propositions provide opportunities for future research. The resource-based view and resource-dependency theories are useful frameworks to better understanding the relationship between firm resources and supply chain resilience. Practical implications The results and discussion of this study serve as useful guidance for practitioners to create CE and BCT resources and capabilities for improving supply chain resiliency. Social implications The study shows the socio-economic and socio-environmental importance of BCES in the COVID-19 or similar crises. Originality/value The study is one of the initial attempts that highlights the possibilities of BCES across multiple industries and their value during pandemics and disruptions.
Purpose Block chain technology (BCT) has emerged as a promising solution for the co-ordination and aid mechanism issues in the context of humanitarian supply chain (HSC). However, implementation of BCT in HSC discerns several barriers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and model the block chain implementation barriers in the context of HSC. Design/methodology/approach In the present study, 14 potential barriers to BCT adoption in HSC have been identified through literature survey. The survey comprises white papers, pilot studies, conference proceedings and journal articles. Further, the identified barriers were finalised in consultation with a team of experts. The team comprised experienced stakeholders working in the humanitarian domain and BCT development. The barriers were categorised into four (technological, organisational, exogenous and economic) perspectives adopting the kappa statistics. Further, the barriers were prioritised using fuzzy best worst method (FBWM) approach. Later, sensitivity analysis was performed to check the robustness and viability of the model. Findings The findings from the study indicate that the barriers, such as âdata privacy, ownership, and security issuesâ (B1), âfunding issues and cost complexityâ (B3) and âtechnological complexitiesâ (B8), are relatively more influential. The HSC stakeholders and BCT developers are required to identify the safety mechanism against the misuse of victimâs data. The funding issues and technological complexities are interrelated and need synergetic cooperation between blockchain developers, donors, humanitarian organisations (HOs) and other HSC stakeholders. Further, âlack of awareness and understanding among stakeholdersâ (B6) and âinteroperability, collaboration and cross-pollination among HOsâ (B5) were identified as least influential barriers to BCT adoption in HSC. Research limitations/implications In literature, limited study has been observed on determining barriers to BCT implementation. A more systematic method and statistical confirmation is necessary to establish further new confronting barriers. This study is limited to Indian context. Originality/value To the best of the authorsâ knowledge, this study is first of its kind to use an FBWM approach for prioritising the barriers to BCT adoption in the context of HSC. The study provides potential barriers to BCT and categorises them into four different perspectives, along with their degree of influence.
A complex web of supply chains is a common feature of construction projects. With the different types of parties involved in a project and the amount of paperwork generated, the supply chain process can be time-consuming, an easy target for fraud and is prone to human errors.
Despite there are some arguments about blockchain, it has been highlighted as an important distributed secure technology in the 21 st century. It is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value. Dobrovnik et al. (2018) suggest that blockchain is a revolutionising technology that would change industries at an international level, add values to firms and supply chain networks, improve commerce, and drive economy. Although blockchain has attracted attentions, very few blockchain studies have been focussed on supply chain integration and collaboration areas. This study illustrates the possibilities of applying blockchain technology in the coordination of activities for effective and efficient supply chain management. The study takes a closer look at the use of blockchain in supply chains beyond cryptocurrency, payment, and finance via the use of smart contract and consensus algorithm (i.e., imposing constraints). The key attributes of blockchain are discussed and potential questions were identified in New Zealand. The expected outcome of this study will advance the understanding of the blockchain and supply chain literature, besides inspire both researchers and practitioners to consider the use of blockchain in different context-aware future studies.
Arvind Upadhyay, Julius Oluwasunkanmi Ayodele, Anil Kumar, Jose Arturo GarzaâReyes
Purpose This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology adoption from the lens of the technologicalâorganisationalâenvironmental (TOE) framework for operational excellence in the UK automotive industry context. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology of this study follows a systematic review approach, which analyses existing academic published research papers in the top 35 academic journals. There was no specific timeframe established for this study and shortlisting the articles through a set of used keywords. A sample of 71 articles was shortlisted and analysed to provide a discussion on technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption from the lens of the TOE framework for operational excellence. Findings The findings of this study present significant theoretical and managerial implications and deep understanding for firms seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities of blockchain adoption for their operational excellence. Research limitations/implications The systematic literature approach was considered for the present study to explore existing academic papers on technological and management challenges and opportunities from the lens of TOE framework for operational excellence, whereas a more specified method meta-analysis can be considered for future research. The study has been explored in the UK automotive industry context, which has been considered as the limitation of generalisation across countries and industries. Originality/value This paper represents the most comprehensive literature study related to the technological and management challenges and opportunities of blockchain from the TOE framework angle for operational excellence.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analytically examine the viability of using blockchain technology (BT) in a public distribution system (PDS) supply chain to overcome issues of shrinkage, misplacement and ghost demand. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a standard news vendor model with two objectives, the first of which includes a reduction of the total cost of stock, while the second includes minimization of the negative impact of human suffering due to the nonavailability of subsidized food supplies to the needy people. Findings The authors applied the model to a real-life case to draw meaningful insights. The authors also analyzed the cost/benefit tradeoff of adopting BT in a PDS supply chain. The results show that the adoption of BT in a charitable supply chain can reduce pilferage and ghost demand significantly. Originality/value The paper is positioned for utilizing inventory visibility via consistent and tamper-resistant data stream flow capability of BT to enhance the overall efficiency of PDS. Notably, Indian PDS faces three major challenges in terms of its supply chain efficiency.
JesĂşs Osorio CalderĂłn, Theophanis C. Stratopoulos
ABSTRACT Reports by professional organizations (e.g., AICPA, CPA Canada, and ICAEW) argue that blockchain adoption is likely to reduce the need for recordâkeeping tasks and shift the accounting focus to higherâlevel activities. To evaluate such expectations and form their own opinions, accounting professionals need to understand the way blockchain works in a business setting. The primary objective of this article is to provide the reader with the foundational knowledge needed to better understand reports such as those suggesting that blockchain will change the way auditors execute their engagements and generate new assurance opportunities for configuring policies in blockchain networks. Building on evidence indicating that the most promising use cases are from the logistics industry, we describe a blockchain implementation in a supply chain setting. Using a scaffolding approach, we start with a supply chain and describe how blockchain is implemented in one of its segments, before we show how a complete transaction is recorded on the ledger.
The next-generation technologies enabled by the industry 4.0 revolution put immense pressure on traditional ISA95 compliant manufacturing systems to evolve into smart manufacturing systems. Unfortunately, the transformation of old to new manufacturing technologies is a slow process. Therefore, the manufacturing industry is currently in a situation that the legacy and modern manufacturing systems share the same factory environment. This heterogeneous ecosystem leads to challenges in systems scalability, interoperability, information security, and data quality domains. Our former research effort concluded that blockchain technology has promising features to address these challenges. Moreover, our systematic assessment revealed that most of the ISA95 enterprise functions are suitable for applying blockchain technology. However, no blockchain reference architecture explicitly focuses on the ISA95 compliant traditional and smart manufacturing systems available in the literature. This research aims to fill the gap by first methodically specifying the design requirements and then meticulously elaborating on how the reference architecture components fulfill the design requirements.
Kevin Gordillo Orjuela, Paulo Alonso Gaona-GarcĂa, Carlos Montenegro
In recent years an effort has been made to improve supply chain management (SCM) and traceability control in different industrial sectors, for example, in agriculture one of the main concerns is about to know where is the product in particular moment and where it will be next. Problem here is, as many other systems, the centralisation of information and trust problems derived from human interaction with transactions in the system. Based on this context of lack of trust, we propose the design and development of a platform using a database based on Blockchain technologies, the platformâs main effort is to propose a solution for agriculture SCM and control over internet taking as study case Colombian agriculture negotiation process.
In this paper, a new digital business model for independent construction logistics consultants, which features the conceptualization of a sociomaterial blockchain solution for integrated information, material and economic flows, is proposed. Theoretically, we offer an understanding of the economic flow, stress the optimization of construction logistics through flow integration, analyse current approaches to understanding blockchain, adopt sociomateriality to envision a suitable blockchain solution, and consider the way blockchain can constitute part of the value proposition of a related digital business model. Methodologically, we systematically reviewed the literature on blockchain-related construction research, and conducted empirical studies on independent logistics consultants in the Swedish context for more than a year. On the one hand, the literature review reveals that core blockchain properties can generate value for construction logistics (e.g. shared ledger structure and reduction of accounting rework) â however, apart from visions and prototypes, there currently exist no use cases, and potential implementational constraints and security issues are limitedly considered. One the other hand, the empirical findings show that independent construction logistics consultants in the sociomaterial Swedish context are suitable candidates for the proposed digital business model. By combining the literature and empirical insights, a permissioned private proof-of-authority blockchain solution integrating the supply chain flows in a generic sociomaterial setting is conceptualized. This solution is then embedded in the value proposition of a digital business model for an independent construction logistics consultant. The proposition includes, among others, improved process management and increased productivity, while the consultantsâ competitive advantage through innovation is facilitated. Other business model segments, like key resources, are also updated via the blockchain solution, while some, like channels, are not significantly affected. To not hinder the realization of this digital business model, issues like the lack of blockchain awareness, and the existing power balances within sociomaterial constellations, have to be addressed.
The Pharmaceutical supply chain needs a huge attention while developing technology based solutions as there is a great need of surveillance in production and distribution of fake, substandard, counterfeit and grey market medicines which account for hundreds of billions per year across the globe. Counterfeit drugs have captured the global markets over the period and affecting and risking many lives in a large [7], solutions to address these have become inevitable. Studies have uncovered a lot of pharmaceutical products, medical devices and biologics have been subject to counterfeiting the entire drug supply chain which is susceptible to lots of pharmaceutical crime. The international growth of the pharmaceutical market and a rise in global drug sales leading to emergence of various forms of technology and digital health platforms has given rise to many supply chain solutions. In addition to pharmaceutical frauds, improving security and addressing vulnerabilities of the medical commodities is a priority area. This leads to the formation of many technology solutions aimed at making supply chains secure, trustable and removing counterfeit drugs from it by applying various different methods and approaches. Our system proposes to leverage blockchain technology to make the supply chain of drugs transparent to increase trust among actors and provide security, authenticity and traceability with the help of IoT.
Construction industry are facing trust and transparency issue that has caused loose collaboration among stakeholders. Blockchain technology is found as one of the disrupting digital technology that can response to the problems faced. Recent paper reviews on blockchain application in construction industry are still lacking concrete and not up to state-of-the-art applications. The aim of the paper was therefore to discover how blockchain technology can disrupt construction industry. Two research objectives were established to identify the potential areas blockchain could disrupt construction industry and to identify future research direction of blockchain in construction industry. This study presented systematic mapping study and content analysis of 57 papers from three high quality scientific databases and google scholar. The findings identified six potential areas for blockchain application in construction industry, where supply chain management, building information modelling and contract management are the 3 major aspects highly focussed. Future research may concentrate on developing simulation models, conduct case studies on the real life blockchain applications in construction project, and focus on the blockchain application on the existing systems that are currently in use in construction industry. Other recommendations can be found at discussion of the study.
Ali Ä°hsan Ăzdemir, Ä°smail Erol, Ä°lker Murat Ar, Ä°skender Peker ¡ 7 authors
Purpose The objective of this study is to investigate the role of blockchain in reducing the impact of barriers to humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) using a list of blockchain benefits. Design/methodology/approach A decision aid was used to explore the suitability of blockchain in humanitarian supply chains. To achieve that, first, a list of barriers to HSCM was identified. Then, the intuitionistic fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (IFâDEMATEL) method was utilized to determine the relationships and the level of interdependencies among the criteria. Finally, the intuitionistic fuzzyanalytic network process (IFâANP) technique was employed, as it successfully handles dependencies among the criteria. Findings The findings of this study suggest that interorganizational barriers are the most suitable ones, the impacts of which blockchain may alleviate. This study further suggests that trust turned out to be the most significant benefit criterion for the analysis. Research limitations/implications The readers should construe the findings of this study with caution since it was carried out using the data collected from the experts of a particular country. Moreover, the proposed decision aid contemplates a limited set of criteria to assess a possible role of blockchain in overcoming the barriers to HSCM. Practical implications The findings of this study can assist humanitarian supply chain managers to make more judicious assessments on whether they implement the blockchain in humanitarian supply chain operations. Specifically, this research may help decision makers to identify the certain barriers, the impact of which may be reduced by using the blockchain. The findings of this research will also help various decision makers make more rational decisions and allocate their resources more effectively. Originality/value To the best of authorsâ knowledge, no single study exists to investigate the role of blockchain in reducing the impact of barriers to HSCM using an intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach.
Clara Walsh, Philip OâReilly, Rob Gleasure, John McAvoy ¡ 5 authors
Blockchain technology has received much attention in the media and there is an increasing interest amongst organizations within financial services due to the potential benefits. As blockchain-based systems are a nascent technology, the requirements of the technology need to be understood, to allow blockchain systems to be successfully integrated within financial service organizations. There are gaps in academic research in understanding how managers evaluate the value of a blockchain-based system. This study develops a model to explain manager resistance to implementing blockchain-based systems in financial services organizations. This research advances the theoretical understanding of managersâ perspectives on blockchain-based systems and models their resistance to blockchain technology.
Blockchain is a distributed and digital ledger which has transformed supply chains in various ways. In this chapter, we will investigate how blockchain can add value to the supply chain management system. This chapter will further investigate the influence of integrating blockchain technology to the current supply chain system and discuss its long-term implications. In essence, research has been carried out to verify if blockchain technology is capable of providing the transparency and the accountability the current Supply Chain Management (SCM) system lacks. The chapter looks at advantages and disadvantages of such integration and provides feedback and recommendations on the same. The research findings aim to provide better insight into current practices used by large logistic and supply industries and what the future holds for such companies using the SCM system.
SUMMARY As companies begin to explore and develop technology solutions based on blockchain and smart contracts, there is a need to understand the impact of blockchain and smart contracts on the assessment of internal controls and enterprise risk. Especially since the distributed ledger and smart contracts blur the system boundaries between trading partners, there is a need to understand whether internal control assessments based on a single company approach is adequate in an integrated and collaborative environment. This paper provides an overview of smart contracts for practitioners and describes the associated risks of engaging in a blockchain consortium. We also list potential questions related to internal controls that may be considered when either engaging in a consortium or executing a smart contract. We then discuss whether current frameworks, specifically the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations' (COSO) integrated and COSO's Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) frameworks, adequately address a collaborative supply chain ecosystem.