Digital information in maritime supply chains with blockchain and cloud platforms: Supply chain capabilities, barriers, and research opportunities

Abstract

Digital transformation plays a key role in improving information sharing and information processing in supply chains. Specifically, maritime supply chains require numerous data and document exchanges and can significantly benefit from digital information sharing (DIS). This notable potential has attracted attention and has resulted in a growing number of studies on blockchain platforms, cloud-based platforms, and other digital technology platforms. However, DIS adoption and execution is a complex process as it depends on various success factors and barriers and affects numerous capabilities and performance outcomes. Moreover, various information systems and management theories can be utilised to underpin these relationships. Our study aims to conduct a systematic literature review that uncovers dynamic capabilities, barriers, enablers and outcomes of DIS with blockchain and cloud-based platforms, illustrates the relationship between them, and discloses methods and theories applied in supply chains. We discuss different use cases of blockchain and cloud-based platforms for DIS in various business functions in supply chains. Particularly, we reveal six DIS-powered capabilities, five performance outcomes improved by the DIS, eight main barriers, and nine enablers of DIS implementation. The lack of theoretical underpinning and causal empirical studies is identified as an important gap in the literature. This study also presents precise future research directions that can help address these gaps.