Abstract
Current research on smart contracts focuses on technical, conceptual, and legal aspects but neglects organizational requirements and sustainability impacts. We consider this a significant research gap and explore the relationship between smart contracts and sustainability in supply chains. First, we define the concept of smart contracts in terms of supply chain management. Then, we conduct a content analysis of the literature to explore the overlapping research fields of smart contracts and sustainability in supply chains. Next, we develop a semi-structured assessment framework to model the potential environmental and social impacts induced by smart contracts on supply chains. We propose a conceptual framework for supply chain maturity by mapping the relationships between organizational development, sustainability, and technology. We identify smart contracts as a foundational technology that enables efficient and transparent governance and collaborative self-coordination of human and non-human actors. Thus, we argue that smart contracts can contribute to the economic and social development of networked value chains and Society 5.0. To stimulate interdisciplinary research on smart contracts, we conclude the article by formulating research propositions and trade-offs for smart contracts in the context of technology development, business process and supply chain management, and sustainability.
Highlights
The idea of sustainability dates back to forestry in the eighteenth century when increasing industrialization fueled the demand for wood
While numerous publications discuss the potential uses and benefits of blockchain and smart contracts (Kosba et al, 2016; Nofer et al, 2017; Surujnath, 2017), we identify several research gaps to be addressed by the following questions: (1) Which elements are necessary for a comprehensive definition of smart contracts in the context of supply chain management? (2) What knowledge is provided in the literature at the intersection of smart contracts and supply chain sustainability? (3) How can possible relationships between smart contracts and supply chain sustainability be classified? (4) Which levels of digital supply chain maturity support blockchain and smart contracts to improve sustainability? (5) Which main propositions need to be addressed in a research agenda for sustainable smart contracts in supply chains?
Based on the literature analyzed and the sustainability assessment framework presented in Figure 2, we develop a conceptual framework for classifying supply chain maturity
Summary
The idea of sustainability dates back to forestry in the eighteenth century when increasing industrialization fueled the demand for wood. The authors show sustainability opportunities of different blockchain-use cases, mainly in the field of environmental sustainability, and discuss barriers to blockchain adoption Their concluding propositions and research agenda imply efficiency gains and reduced supply chain risks by using smart contracts, contributing mainly to the economic and environmental dimensions of SSCM. Regulatory measures for miners (Truby, 2018) toward using renewable energy and operation of dedicated power plants for data centers, certified end-of-life processes for IT equipment, and technological advancements using alternative consensus algorithms could support a positive relation between smart contracts and environmental sustainability. To assess smart contracts’ overall sustainability performance, related social and environmental effects of smart contract implementation and execution need to be considered (e.g., eco-efficiency of transactions). Governmental institutions, and academia need to collaborate with industry to create a common sense of predominant societal goals, general norms, and implementation-related rules to achieve overall society objectives
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