George Calle, Alisa DiCaprio, Maarten Stassen, Alison Manzer
Abstract As trade policy disruption has become more commonplace, so have the calls for blockchain as a solution. But often the reasoning for this link has been unclear. Using the case study of Brexit as a baseline, the authors map four sources of trade-based uncertainty and explore the extent to which blockchain applications could – when implemented – attenuate supply chain disruption, which has lead to firms taking second best options like reducing investment and switching suppliers. Because the law has not kept pace with technology, the discussion also highlights prominent legal questions raised by blockchain in each instance.
Abstract Although the logistics management has been improving, the information management is still stagnant. The renewal mechanism of logistics information is the basic requirement of logistics system, but it is more important to solve the trust problem of logistics information. It is good for improving the logistics management to design a verifiable information management mechanism which can help relevant participants establish trust relationships. This paper analyzes the development status of block chain technology, then a decentralized and self-verifiable system management program model is designed. Finally, the application is implemented based on the intelligent contract design of Ethereum block chain.
We propose a spectrum sharing algorithm based on blockchain and game theory. Unlike traditional spectrum sharing methods which use a centralized platform, our algorithm takes the decentralization and high-level trust advantages of blockchain for operators to share free spectrum and improve the utilization rate. Our system is built on consortium blockchain in which operators can trade spectrum directly. Consortium blockchain is used to authenticate members waiting to join, record information of all the transactions and ensure that it cannot be tampered by cryptography, consensus algorithm and other methods. In addition, the operators will use the game theory to specifically share spectrum between each other in our model. The operators will make their optimal sharing strategy based on game theory. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the spectrum utilization of operators and increase their revenue.
Despite significant research, the supply chain management challenges still have a long way to go with respect to solving the issues such as management of product supply information, product lifecycle, transport history, etc. Given the recent rise of blockchain technology in various industrial sectors, our work explores the issues prevalent in each stage of the supply chain and checks their candidacy for the implementation using blockchain technology. The analysis is performed in terms of the characteristics of trust and decentralization with respect to forming a generalized framework. The main contribution of this work is to create a conceptual overview of the areas where blockchain integrates with supply chain management in order to benefit further research and development.
Fran Casino, Thomas K. Dasaklis, Constantinos Patsakis
Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is a commonly used collaborative inventory management policy in which manufacturers/vendors manage the inventory of retailers and take responsibility for making decisions related to the timing and extent of inventory replenishment. Several prerequisites exist for successfully implementing a VMI strategy like information sharing, trust, systems integration and long-term collaboration. However, in nowadays supply chain networks are becoming more complex, highly disjointed and geographically spread. As a consequence, the implementation of a VMI strategy may be a difficult task. In this paper, we propose a new interaction mechanism between retailers and vendors, which aims to improve their supply chain strategy and inventory policies based on a trustless and distributed mechanism. In particular, we use an autonomous trustless framework based on smart contracts and blockchain technology for governing the relationship between multiple vendors and multiple retailers. Finally, a use-case VMI scenario is presented along with several functional smart contracts. Tests performed using a local private blockchain illustrate the applicability of the proposed architecture along with the significant benefits for each participant.
With the emergence of distributed ledger technology (DLT), numerous practitioners and researchers have proclaimed its beneficial impact on supply chain transactions in the future. However, the vast majority of DLT initiatives are discontinued after a short period. With the full potential of DLT laying far down the road, especially managers in supply chain management (SCM) seek for short-term cost-saving effects of DLT in order to achieve long-term benefits of DLT in the future. However, the extant research has bypassed grounding long-term as well as short-term effects of DLT on supply chain transaction with empirical data. We address this shortcoming, following an abductive research approach and combining empirical data from a multiple case study design with the corresponding literature. Our study reveals that the effects of DLT on supply chain transactions are two-sided. We found six effects of DLT solutions that have a cost-reducing or cost avoidance impact on supply chain transactions. In addition, we found two effects that change the power distribution between buyers and suppliers in transactions and a single effect that reduces the dependency of supply chain transactions on third parties. While cost-reducing and avoidance as well as dependency-reducing effects are positive effects, the change in power distribution might come with disadvantages. With these findings, the paper provides the first empirical evidence of the impact of DLT on supply chain transactions, which will enable managers to improve their assessment of DLT usage in supply chains.
Sajjad Rahmanzadeh, Mir Saman Pishvaee, Mohammad Reza Rasouli
In globalised manufacturing and production environments, companies increasingly tend to exploit public contribution advantages within designing, manufacturing and marketing processes. To be benefited from outbound capabilities, this paper presents a tactical supply chain planning model to integrate the designing process in the form of open innovation within the supply chain main processes. In this regard, a fuzzy mathematical model is proposed to optimise the tactical decisions according to supply chain objectives and open innovation considerations. On the other hand, intellectual property issues and protecting the rights of innovators are significant concerns that sometimes avoid companies to be engaged in open innovation initiatives. Therefore, this paper proposes a registering mechanism in which the ideas and creative works are collected, refined and finally approved within a blockchain platform. Furthermore, in order to deal with epistemic environmental uncertainty, the fuzzy set theory is utilised. To investigate the applicability of the developed model, a case study in home appliances domain is employed. The results show that the company can achieve favourable designs by spending approximately 1% of the supply chain total cost. Additionally, benefiting the registering mechanism can decrease the cost of using non-original designs more than 41%.
Mehrdokht Pournader, Yangyan Shi, Stefan Seuring, S.C. Lenny Koh
This paper presents current academic and industrial frontiers on blockchain application in supply chain, logistics and transport management. We conduct a systematic review of the literature and find four main clusters in the co-citation analysis, namely Technology, Trust, Trade, and Traceability/Transparency. For each cluster, and based on the pool of articles included in it, we apply an inductive method of reasoning and discuss the emerging themes and applications of blockchains for supply chains, logistics and transport. We conclude by discussing the main themes for future research on blockchain technology and its application in industry and services.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of blockchain technology in international trade process from a perspective of letter of credit payment. Design/methodology/approach A blockchain-based re-engineering process is designed by employing the blockchain and its affiliated smart contract technology to harvest the benefits of distributed ledger and distributed business workflow automation. Findings Comparative analysis and feasibility study were conducted to identify and validate the prospects, in terms of facilitating process flow and enhancing overall trade performance, of the proposed blockchain-based international trade process model. Practical implications Traditional trade processes suffer from a great number of issues about intermediaries, information latency and trust, which, in turn, hinder overall process efficiency. The emerging blockchain technology may have potentials to mitigate those issues by revolutionizing business processes across enterprise borders in various industries. Originality/value This study contributes to the conceptual design of a blockchain- and smart-contract-based process along with a provision of practical case in business process re-engineering. Further endeavors devoted to blockchain research and application across different sectors are suggested to reach better performance of business process operations.
Ravi Chandra Koirala, Keshav Dahal, Santiago Matalonga, Rameshwar Rijal
Blockchain technology as a foundation of distributed ledger offers an innovative platform for transparent and efficient transaction in Reverse Auction Bidding process in a supply chain for procuring carriers. This research work provides background and motivation for the use of Blockchain in such domains. A supply chain model is realized by deploying a smart contract in Blockchain to procure carrier. The model considers multi-attribute of the carriers while procuring one through the reverse auction bidding process. This research work validates the Blockchain-enabled supply chain model by simulating a supply chain proposed for a Dairy Company. Data to calibrate the simulation was taken from a published case study on Reverse Auctions in the supply chain. The result shows that the model is a feasible scheme and its features will offset the challenges of current RAB process making it more efficient and transparent.
Blockchain is an emergent technology that has attracted practitioner attention in the supply chain domain. Multiple motivators lead companies to incorporate blockchain technology into their supply chain. However, a number of barriers and challenges may impede the successful adoption of blockchains. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a variety of motivators and barriers are perceived by different companies from different industries. This paper summarizes survey data gathered from 173 respondents associated with the association of supply chain management, formerly APICS. Summary statistics on blockchain adoption by various types of companies are provided to help practitioners benchmark current practice. The paper presents preliminary findings on these dimensions with some insights provided.
Kang Liu, Wuhui Chen, Zibin Zheng, Zhenni Li · 5 authors
With the advancement and emergence of diverse network services in Internet of Vehicles (IoV), large volume of data are collected and stored, making data important properties. Data will be one of the most important commodities in the future blockchain-based IoV systems. However, efficiency challenges have been commonly found in blockchain-based data markets, which is mainly caused by transaction confirmation delays and the cold-start problems for new users. To address the efficiency challenges, we propose a secure, decentralized IoV data-trading system by exploiting the blockchain technology, and design an efficient debt-credit mechamism to support efficient data-trading in IoV. In the debt-credit mechanism, a vehicle with loan demand could loan from multivehicles by promising to pay interest and reward. In particular, we encourage loaning among vehicles by a motivation-based investing and pricing mechanism. We formulate a two-stage Stackelberg game to maximize the profits of borrower vehicle and lender vehicles jointly. In the first stage, the borrower vehicle set the interest rate and reward for the loan as its pricing strategies. In the second stage, the lender vehicles decide on their investing strategies. We apply backward induction to analyze the subgame perfect equilibrium at each stage for both independent and uniform pricing schemes. We also validate the existence and uniqueness of Stackelberg equilibrium. The numerical results illustrate the efficiency of the proposed pricing schemes.
Francesco Longo, Letizia Nicoletti, Antonio Padovano, Gianfranco d’Atri · 5 authors
Despite Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have reduced the information asymmetry and increased the degree of interorganizational collaboration, the companies participating a supply chain are less inclined to share data when information is sensible and partners cannot be fully trusted. In such a context, Blockchain is a decentralized certificate authority that may provide economic and operational benefits but companies operating in a supply chain claim to have little knowledge about Blockchain due to its novelty and to the lack of use cases and application studies. In this work, a software connector has been designed and developed to connect an Ethereum-like blockchain with the enterprises' information systems to allow companies to share information with their partners with different levels of visibility and to check data authenticity, integrity and invariability over time through the blockchain, thus building trust. In order to explore the potential of deploying the blockchain in a supply chain, a simulation model has been developed to recreate the supply chain operations and integrated with the blockchain through the same software connector to carry out a scenario statistical analysis. Application results shows how blockchain technology is a convenient instrument to overcome collaboration and trust issues in a supply chain, to increase the supply chain overall performance, to minimize the negative consequences of information asymmetry over the echelons of a supply chain but also to discourage companies from any misconduct (e.g. counterfeiting data or low data accuracy).
Employment and workforce industry become more important because the human capital value is linked to the company's profitability. Company becomes employee-centric in the 21st century. To hire an appropriate employee, and reduce hiring liability workplace violence, background screening marketing growth quickly. However, in the human resource industry, background check still is a pain point, especially for employment, education, and skill verification. The traditional background check is prolonged and inaccurate. For overseas recruitment, background check will be more troublesome. This paper comprehensively addresses the challenge of the education, employment and skill verification problem. We propose an innovation E^2 C-Chain which is a two-stage blockchain based education, employment and skill certification system. In the first stage, the new blocks are created when a trust organization verifies the education and employment information of the employee. In the second stage, to encourage the verifiers to participate in the skill verification process, we employ a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) game based incentive mechanism to find the Nash Equilibrium and ensure social cost minimization. We also present the theoretical proofs and extensive simulations to demonstrate beneficial properties and efficiency of our proposed system.
Nowadays, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are frequently confronted with the difficulty of financing hard and financing expensive. This paper investigates a financing strategy called the purchase order financing together with reverse factoring financing strategy, which is able to fulfill the financing demands of SMEs at different stages. Numerical experiments are conducted in order to compare the supply chain performance and efficiency between this financing strategy and the purchase order financing models in decentralized and centralized decision-making situations, which concludes that models considering the reverse factoring financing, i.e., purchase order financing together with reverse factoring financing two-stage decision-making model and the global decision-making model, have better supply chain efficiency than the benchmark model that only considers the purchase order financing, and the choice between two candidates depends on the standard deviations and the retailer prices.
In a Bitcoin market, miners participate in blockchain mining with an aim to make profits. Until reaching consensus, PoW-valid blocks (including validated transactions and proper PoW solutions) can be viewed as being successfully mined and are rewarded. There are two types of rewards for miners: fixed block subsidies and time-varying transaction fees. Block subsidies, predetermined by design, are the current major revenue source. Transaction fees, offered by Bitcoin transaction senders to accelerate their transactions, heavily depend on the corresponding transaction size. Thus, a larger-size block tends to contain higher transaction fees and hence more rewards. However, the probability of a miner to successfully mine a block diminishes as the block size increases, since a larger-size block takes a longer time to reach consensus. Thus, the reward included in the block is vitally affected by its size, which is independently decided by a miner. In this paper, we use a game-theoretic approach to study how a miner's payoff, i.e., expected profits, is determined by his block size. More specifically, we derive an expression to characterize the relation between the miner's payoff and block sizes. Besides, we use game theory to analyze how profit-driven miners will manipulate their block sizes to optimize payoff instead of adopting the default block size. We conduct numerical experiments on real-world data collected from Bitcoin to find peaceful equilibrium where miners have no incentive to misbehave. The achieved block sizes thereby give guidelines on the default block size, in order to deter miners from misbehaving. Our analysis suggests a block size of 4 MB.
Blockchain technology platform Ethereum (open-source platform) has rapidly evolved and provides interfaces that allow users to develop variety of Blockchain applications using its "Solidity" programming language. Due to its security and privacy, and smart contract execution capabilities, Ethereum became a favorite option for banking and other application domains. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of Ethereum capabilities for online Supply Chain systems in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) business model. This work aims to research Ethereum platform capabilities and language, including smart contracts and their advantages over regular contracts. We develop illustrative application to demonstrate smart contracts in the B2C Supply Chain system. The application demonstrates the role of a smart contracts in executing order transactions, from placing an order to receiving the shipment. Furthermore, we add to the application a third component to track and update shipping information between suppliers and consumers.