Blockchain Papers

Jian Zhang, Xuanjian Zhang, Wei Liu, Ji Ming · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Jaspreet Kaur, Satish Kumar, Balkrishna E. Narkhede, Marina Dabić · 6 authors

Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are suffering from the long-standing challenges related to asymmetric information, high transaction costs, SMEs’ opacity and limited access to credit. Blockchain technology, which is still in its infancy in terms of adoption in India, can facilitate SMEs to counter these challenges. Fuelled by this motivation, the study aims to investigate the significant barriers to blockchain adoption in supply chain finance practices by Indian SMEs. Using fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process, sensitivity analysis, and fuzzy-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory this paper identifies the blockchain barriers, prioritises them and examine their cause and effect relationships. The results of the study indicate that technology barriers are the most influential barriers that impede blockchain adoption. The findings will help the policymakers and practitioners to take suitable measures to overcome these barriers and fuel the adoption of blockchain in Indian SMEs.

Qingyun Zhu, Chunguang Bai, Joseph Sarkis

No abstract is available for this record.

Xiaoyu Wang, Fasheng Xu

Problem definition: Smart contract improves the supply chain efficiency by enabling the supplier’s commitment to postshipment financing decisions, which mitigates the bank’s lending risk exposure and thereby reduces the financing cost. This paper investigates how smart contract adoption could facilitate trade finance activities and create value for supply chain firms. Academic/practical relevance: As the emerging blockchain technology could potentially reshape the trade financing landscape, understanding the impact of smart contract adoption and its interaction with trade finance activities is practically relevant and of great importance. Methodology: We develop a two-stage game-theoretic model and adopt supply chain finance theory to characterize the strategic interactions between supply chain firms in the presence of both operational risk (demand uncertainty) and financial risks (credit and liquidity risks). Results: We find that the value of smart contract depends critically on the trade finance structures, including both preshipment and postshipment financing schemes. Under the baseline trade finance model (with purchase order financing as preshipment financing and factoring as postshipment financing), smart contract alleviates the supplier’s overpricing behavior caused by commitment frictions and helps restore the supply chain efficiency. When buyer direct financing serves as an alternative preshipment financing, smart contract might discourage the retailer from offering buyer direct financing, which significantly hurts the supplier and thus reduces the supply chain profit. When invoice trading serves as the alternative postshipment financing, the supplier always chooses invoice trading over factoring because of its trading flexibility, which in turn, makes the commitment frictions ubiquitous and unresolvable (namely, commitment trap). As a result, invoice trading could unexpectedly lead to a lower supplier’s profit. Luckily, such an adoption dilemma can be resolved by smart contract adoption in conjunction with factoring. Managerial implications: Our findings provide guidelines for and insights into when smart contract should be adopted and its interactions with different trade finance schemes. In particular, smart contract adoption does not always benefit the supply chain.

Wenbo Du, Xiaozhi Ma, Hongping Yuan, Yue Zhu

No abstract is available for this record.

Pedro Reyes, Michael Gravier, Patrick Jaska, John K. Visich

The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of blockchain on global supply chain operational and managerial processes. This article reviews and classifies the existing empirical evidence of blockchain applications in the global suppbly chain. We utilize the Mooneyet al.framework to organize this evidence into operational and managerial business value processes and the effects—automational, informational, and transformational. Our findings indicate that blockchain is not following the Mooneyet al.stage model proposed in 1996 since the empirical evidence is evenly spread between the three effect categories. In addition, we have identified possible reasons why blockchain is not following the Mooneyet al.stage model. Our study concludes with nine propositions as a guide on how to facilitate blockchain deployment and future research. Limitations of this article concerning blockchain are the lack of consistency and understanding of standards and the lack of information on blockchain implementation, which is referred to as the“grey space.”Blockchain today is where radio-frequency identification (RFID) was in 2002 and the bar code was in 1980. Therefore, future research work could be expanded to investigate case studies of blockchain implementations as they become available across the global supply chain. For practitioners, the empirical evidence presented in this article can help identify applications and implementation steps for building the business case where blockchain can have a greater impact on the organization. This article fills a void in the literature by providing practitioners and academics with a better understanding of blockchain and its applications for implementation.

Danielle Khalife, Satya Subrahmanyam, Assaad Farah

The paper analyzed the function of Blockchain Technology (BT) in the Circular Economy (CE) to improve the performance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). It presents a Sustainable Circular Business (SCB) model that utilizes BT to improve the performance of SMEs. A closed-ended questionnaire survey was conducted to gather cross-sectional data from 275 SMEs. A total of 400 questionnaires were issued, of which 285 were received. The CE method in Circular Supply Chain Management (CSCM) provides both ecological and economic advantages to organizations. The advent of the Industry 4.0 era has brought about a strong focus on technology across all industries. The emergence of BT, a relatively new phenomena, has significant potential for enhancing the processes of SMEs. The findings indicate that BT favors the CE due to its characteristics like exposure, accountability, relationship management, and smart contracting. Also, it has been discovered that adopting environmentally friendly methods had a beneficial connection with both the environmental and economic aspects of SMEs performance. Additionally, it was also seen that the ecological sustainability of the business had a favorable relationship with its economic well-being. Finally, it was discovered that both sustainability and economic capabilities were responsible for enhancing the performance of SMEs.

Manal Hader, Abderrahman Elmhamedi, David Tchoffa, Parisa Ghodous · 6 authors

Defined as a distributed ledger enabling the record of transactions between actors verifiably and permanently, the Blockchain technology first appeared as a disruptive technology in the financial sector. However, in the last few years, this technology attracted the attention of several researchers and business stakeholders who were interested in exploring the potential of this technology in other sectors and the supply chain in one of them as it is perceived as a backbone of a new digital supply chain. Among the pillars of Blockchain technology is its ability to guarantee that data will never be altered and that it will be shared in real time with all parties interested in the transaction due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain. This will increase the traceability, transparency, and performance of the supply chain. The literature concerning Blockchain in non-financial applications mainly focused on the technological part and the Business Process Modeling, lacking in terms of standard methodology for designing a strategy to develop and validate the overall Blockchain solution and integrate it in the Business Strategy. The literature concerning Blockchain technology application in non-financial sectors mainly focused on the general integration lacking the technological part and the business process modeling. Thus, this paper aims to overcome this lack by presenting how the blockchain technology can alter the way supply chain processes are designed and executed as an example we chose to work on the procure to pay process. The main purpose of this work is to explore how blockchain technology can be integrated into a typical procure-to-pay process, what opportunities can be identified from the technology. To achieve this purpose, we studied the related literature review, and we analyzed the relevant Academic and practitioner research based on qualitative and deductive methodology. That way, it lays a basis for future research which enables valuable insight for procurement managers and offers opportunities to master the most pressing challenges.

Fang Zhang, Wenyan Song

No abstract is available for this record.

Davide Calandra, Silvana Secinaro, Maurizio Massaro, Francesca Dal Mas · 5 authors

Abstract The paper investigates the relationship between Blockchain technology and new sustainable business models (SBMs). The literature notes a lack of empirical classifications and successful case studies. Using a multiple case studies methodology, our research article aims to answer the research question (RQ): How can Blockchain enable new SBMs and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? We present 20 business stories extracted from a combined analysis of the databases coinmarketcap.com and icobench.com, demonstrating how Blockchain can be used for environmental management. Notably, our analysis finds out four broad research clusters related to (i) smart energy management, (ii) climate change, (iii) waste management, and (iv) sustainable production. Mainly, an actual application of Blockchain toward SBMs is related to supply chain cost reduction. Finally, the research includes investments and their social scalability with Blockchain. Then, the final research cluster discovers social and proof sustainability. This study adds to the empirical literature evidence of SBMs offering a connection with the SDGs.

Mahsa Sadeghi, Amin Mahmoudi, Xiaopeng Deng, Xiaowei Luo

No abstract is available for this record.

Tianjian Yang, LI Chun-mei, Xiongping Yue, Beibei Zhang

Enterprises in low-carbon supply chains have been exploring blockchain technology in order to make carbon data transparent. However, there is still some opaque information in the market, such as the value-added service efficiency. How do supply chain members make decisions between information sharing and blockchain adoption? This study considers blockchain adoption and information sharing in a low-carbon supply chain with a single manufacturer and a single retailer. The retailer has private information about value-added services and decides how to share it with the manufacturer. We examine six combined strategies comprised of blockchain scenarios and information sharing formats (no sharing, voluntary sharing, and mandatory sharing). The results indicate that supply chain members prefer blockchain technology under no sharing and voluntary sharing. Under mandatory sharing, supply chain members have incentives to participate in blockchain when the value-added service efficiency exceeds a threshold value. While the manufacturer prefers to obtain the value-added service information, the retailer decides to share information depending on the value-added service efficiency. Besides, supply chain members’ attitude toward the sharing contract also depends on the value-added service efficiency.

Julia Francesca Wünsche, Fredrik Fernqvist

Food systems are both contributing to and affected by environmental degradation and climate change. The transition towards resilient and sustainable food systems is essential to ensure food security and minimise negative environmental impacts. Innovative technologies can accelerate this transition. Blockchain technology (BCT) is attracting attention as it can deliver transparency to complex global food supply chains and has the potential to guide current food production towards better sustainability and efficiency. This case study investigated the opportunities that BCT can offer to food supply chains. Qualitative interviews with eight main BCT providers were conducted to evaluate the current state of BCT and put it into perspective by mapping out advantages, disadvantages, incentives, motives, and expectations connected to its implementation in global food systems. A thematic analysis showed that, while BCT was considered beneficial by all interviewees, uptake is slow due to high implementation costs and the lack of incentives for companies throughout the food chain from farms to food industry and retail. Results further revealed that the advantages of BCT go beyond communication of trustworthy information and development of closer producer–consumer relationships. In fact, it can provide the opportunity to decrease food waste, enhance working conditions throughout the supply chain, and promote sustainable consumption habits. As BCT may be increasingly used in the food supply chain, the results give a basis for future research that may leverage both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine actors’ behaviours. Also, the importance of improving user experiences through functional applications and software to facilitate the adoption of the technology is stressed.

Hana Trollman, Guillermo Garcia‐Garcia, Sandeep Jagtap, Frank Trollman

Background: This research aims to identify how blockchain technology could support the ecological embeddedness of the coffee supply chain. Ecological embeddedness is a subset of the circular economy (CE) that demands legitimacy through design changes to product, production and/or packaging for benefits to economic actors and the environment. This is in contrast with legitimacy as a public relations exercise. Blockchain is a digital transformation technology that is not fully conceptualized with respect to supply chain implementation and the related strategy formulation, particularly in the context of sustainability. Furthermore, the integration of consumers into the CE remains not well understood or researched, with the main focus of CE being the cycling of resources. Methods: This research employs a qualitative case study methodology of the first coffee business in the USA to use blockchain technology as an exemplar. Gap analysis is then applied to identify how blockchain could be used to advance from the current state to a more sustainable one. Results: Findings indicate that the implementation of blockchain is not ecologically embedded in the example studied. Conclusions: The extension of blockchain technology to consider the by-products of production and valorizable waste throughout the supply chain as assets would support ecologically embedded CE for coffee.

Luís Alves, Estrela Ferreira Cruz, António Miguel Rosado da Cruz

In the current days, the Textile & Clothing industry sector is one of the largest and one with the greatest environmental impact, not only due to the consumption of water and the use of toxic chemicals, but also due to the increasing levels of textile waste. In addition, this industry often resorts to countries with cheap labor where workers’ rights are typically not met. The solution may involve the final consumer who, while purchasing these products, supports the entire value chain. If the final consumer chooses to buy products that are more socially and environmentally sustainable, it inspires the industry to follow this trend. For this, the final consumer must know the social and environmental indicators of the entire value chain and must trust on the information received. In this paper, Design Science Research is being used to build a system architecture capable of tracing these environmental and social indicators using decentralized and distributed technologies, like blockchain and smart contracts, to build Decentralized Applications (DApp).

Yang Wu, Ziyang Wang, Zhou Xiaohao, Jianming Yao

As an information technology that could significantly improve supply chain visibility and process automation, blockchain has been extensively applied in the field of supply chain finance (SCF). However, tradeoffs among the security, the operation cost, and the efficiency of the blockchain system may cause the SCF system dominated by a financial institution to inevitably fall into the dilemmas of risky or un-economic if the blockchain technology is applied inappropriately. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to optimise the blockchain application in the financial institution-based SCF system. We first analyse the application of blockchain security in SCF, and then the performance tradeoffs of blockchain and its impact on the performance of the supported SCF system. Based on the analysis above, an optimisation approach has been proposed and a corresponding non-linear integer programming (NIP) model has been constructed to select the best blockchain design schemes for the SCF system to achieve overall optimal in terms of security, cost, and efficiency. A designed ant colony algorithm is used to solve the optimisation problem. An application case analysis is used to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the optimisation model.

Fabio A. Ribeiro, Miguel A. Brito

The fashion industry is considered unsustainable as products are made and disposed quickly causing damage to the environment due to huge amounts of water consumption, pollution, and large carbon emissions. To fight this growing problem, more and more companies in the fashion industry are required to show proof of sustainability which can be a very difficult task as this industry needs global supply chains for their activities, and these are very fragmented and have serious transparency and traceability issues. Thus, there is very poor data quality control, disruptions are hard to communicate and searching for data is very difficult as it often gets lost. A potential solution to these issues is the application of an emerging technology known as Blockchain. Blockchain is a distributed shared ledger technology where all data can be stored in the same network in a secure and immutable way and be accessed by every stakeholder in the supply chain. This article seeks to explore how Blockchain technology can be implemented to improve the sustainability of the production processes of the fashion industry’s supply chain.

Karim Zkik, Amine Belhadi, Syed Abdul Rehman Khan, Sachin Kamble · 6 authors

Blockchain technology (BT) is a disruptive technology to achieve sustainable supply chain performance. The previous literature suggests a slow rate of BT adoption in improving sustainable supply chain performance (SSCP) in the agriculture context. This study explores and evaluates barriers and enablers to the adoption of BT for SSCP in e-enabled agriculture supply chains. using a novel hybrid technique integrating the Pythagorean Fuzzy sets (PFS), Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT), and VIKOR. Data was collected data from 215 agriculture firms in Asia and North Africa. The results presented strategies for implementing BT for SSCP in e-agriculture supply chains and recommended (1) developing transparency readiness in sustainability, (2) collaboration among supply chain partners, (3) upgrading data access control (4) management commitment (5) collaboration with governments. The study presents several implications to managers to redirect strategies and focus efforts on the most significant enablers to promote BT implementation for SSCP in e-enabled SSCP.

Naoum Tsolakis, Roman Schumacher, Manoj Dora, Mukesh Kumar

Digitalisation is expected to transform end-to-end supply chain operations by leveraging the technical capabilities of advanced technology applications. Notwithstanding the operations-wise merits associated with the implementation of digital technologies, individually, their combined effect has been overlooked owing to limited real-world evidence. In this regard, this research explores the joint implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain Technology (BCT) in supply chains for extending operations performance boundaries and fostering sustainable development and data monetisation. Specifically, this study empirically studied the tuna fish supply chain in Thailand to identify respective end-to-end operations, observe material and data-handling processes, and envision the implementation of AI and BCT. Therefore, we first mapped the business processes and the system-level interactions to understand the governing material, data, and information flows that could be facilitated through the combined implementation of AI and BCT in the respective supply chain. The mapping results illustrate the central role of AI and BCT in digital supply chains' management, while the associated sustainability and data monetisation impact depends on the parameters and objectives set by the involved system stakeholders. Afterwards, we proposed a unified framework that captures the key data elements that need to be digitally handled in AI and BCT enabled food supply chains for driving value delivery. Overall, the empirically-driven modelling approach is anticipated to support academics and practitioners' decision-making in studying and introducing digital interventions toward sustainability and data monetisation.

Paulo R. V. de Carvalho, Joe Naoum‐Sawaya, Samir Elhedhli

No abstract is available for this record.

Han Lai, Huchang Liao, Yilu Long, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas

No abstract is available for this record.

Nguyễn Văn Thành

As the global market develops along with technological advances, especially the opening of markets in developing and underdeveloped countries, the logistics industry is considered by managers to be a useful tool to link different functions of corporate strategy. Logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the movement of goods or information that are related to raw materials (inputs) and final products (outputs) from the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet customer requirements. The logistics industry brings about many positive effects, not only for the national economy but also for creating equal business opportunities for businesses of all economic sectors. However, large companies in the logistics industry still depend on EDI or APIS to exchange secure authentication data, which increase the security of operations within the industry, but this is the cause of a lot of confusion with serious consequences on the supply chain when it is too dependent on these systems. To minimize the risks and optimize the problems mentioned above, blockchain technology could help the logistics industry to operate optimally. In an era when everything is digitized, from personal information to financial transactions, choosing a system with high reliability and security becomes extremely important. Currently, there are many blockchain development services providers and it is essential to choose the investment in this technology that suits the characteristics and purposes of the logistics organization in question. This study aimed to propose a two-stage fuzzy multicriteria decision-making model for the assessment of blockchain development services providers for logistics organizations. The hybrid MCDM model was evaluated through a real-world case study at a logistics organization. The contribution of this work is the provision of useful guidelines for the evaluation and selection of blockchain technology services providers for logistics companies.

Rami Alkhudary, Maciel M. Queiroz, Pierre Féniès

Research extends in all directions regarding the usage of blockchain technology in operations, logistics, and supply chain management. However, little is known about the role of blockchain in mitigating the risk of specific supply chain disruptions. Therefore, this paper investigates which disruptions in the supply chain can be mitigated through blockchain as well as how these issues can be alleviated. By utilising data collected from a systematic literature review, we find that blockchain mitigates disruptions that are related to specific supply and demand risks: behavioural uncertainties, poor information security, fraud and counterfeit risks, data loss and human errors, operational risks, transactional risks, foodborne illness risks, and information asymmetries. Blockchain is useful in these areas because, as a distributed ledger technology, it integrates the supply chain’s communication systems with a unified platform that improves information-sharing and processing capabilities. Our study represents a step towards improved understanding of blockchain’s positive impact in supply chain and information management-related fields.

Pietro De Giovanni

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the benefits of the blockchain to the circular economy (CE), which is composed of both closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) systems and reverse omnichannel solutions. By ensuring transparency, traceability, visibility and security, the blockchain allows firms to acquire operational capabilities through a CLSC and service capabilities through a reverse omnichannel, which can boost business performance considerably. The related network of relationships can be reinforced by establishing incentives, which entail both smart contracts in the blockchain and active return approaches in CE. Design/methodology/approach After identifying the boundaries of the theoretical framework, several research hypotheses are developed according to the literature review and emerging gaps. These gaps link to the impact of the blockchain on CE systems (CLSC and reverse omnichannel), as well as the influence on business performance. The hypotheses are then tested using structural equation modeling and adopting a partial least squares-path modeling technique on a dataset composed of 157 firms. Finally, multigroup analysis is used to test the impact of incentives on the research hypotheses. Findings The blockchain facilitates a more efficient CE system, although reverse omnichannel solutions seldom bring any benefits to performance. The shift from a passive to an active return approach must be carefully evaluated. The CLSC network can benefit from an active return approach by developing appealing incentives for collectors and enhancing the positive effects of the blockchain. In contrast, consumer incentives can have detrimental effects on the blockchain. Various combinations of incentives can only bring a few business performance increases, while collector incentives are vital to reinforce the CE system's operational and service capabilities. Originality/value This paper takes a new approach toward the study of CE, which considers a dual circular system composed of a CLSC and a reverse omnichannel. The research explores whether the adoption of blockchain technology enables better return processes by improving the operations in CLSC and services in reverse omnichannel. Finally, this is the first empirical work to evaluate the benefits emerging from incentives, which can activate smart contracts in the blockchain and enable active return approaches in CE.