Towards novel blockchain decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) led corporate governance framework

Abstract

Decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) powered by blockchain technologies has the potential to transform the organisational governance model with the foundations of algorithmic trust and democratic systems. DAO envisages a decentralised democratic organisation using software-based smart contracts to execute autonomous transactions with consensus among stakeholders. The study investigates the prospects of adopting DAO led corporate governance to manage agency (theory) problems in the light of institutional (theory) pressures. The paper depicts how algorithmic trust led corporate governance measures help any organisation follow policies, rules and regulations using DAO led corporate governance (DAOCG) framework. The authors mapped the constituents of agency theory, ethical decision-making, and institutional factors to propose the DAOCG framework. The DAOCG framework is assessed using a thematic analysis of 16 expert interviews with relevant experience from corporate governance and audit domains from varied industries across geographies. The research leveraged MAXQDA software to analyse interview transcripts and opinion codes. The framework helps to identify the core elements of DAO-led corporate governance (DAOCG) and provides the potential to study the theoretically sequenced practical constituents of corporate governance. The first-of-its-kind practical DAOCG framework can be used in the pursuits of digital transformation, business model innovation and social change.