Blockchain-enabled Supply Chain Research Articles

RISK EVALUATION OF BLOCKCHAIN POWERED SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCING

This paper seeks to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of blockchain-enabled supply chain financing serving as the basis for supply chain operations of Tomorrowland. The purpose is to identify main risks associated with blockchain implementation in supply chain finance and ways to mitigate them to enable the most secure and reliable financial processes possible. This research paper delves into the critical examination of risk factors associated with blockchain-enabled supply chain financing. Through a thorough literature review and empirical analysis, this study identifies and evaluates the various risks inherent in utilizing blockchain technology for supply chain financing. The findings provide valuable insights for stakeholders to mitigate risks and optimize the efficiency and security of supply chain finance processes. KEYWORDS: Research Paper, Blockchain, Management, Risk Evaluation, Empirical Analysis

Revolutionizing Retail: Examining the Influence of Blockchain-Enabled IoT Capabilities on Sustainable Firm Performance

Blockchain has revolutionized the field of supply chain management, allowing firms to optimize their operations and achieve enhanced levels of efficiency and environmental responsibility. This study investigates the relationships between the functionalities of the blockchain-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) and many aspects of the supply chain, namely, supplier integration, internal integration, customer integration, and sustainable logistic capabilities. It also analyses the impact of these correlations on the supply chain performance and sustainability of firms. This study is grounded in an empirical inquiry carried out using a questionnaire survey of the retail industry in Pakistan. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The findings indicate a direct correlation between the use of BC-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities and the integration of the supply chain, as well as logistic capabilities. Furthermore, there is a strong and meaningful correlation between blockchain-enabled supply chain integration and sustainable logistic capabilities and firm performance. The research findings indicate that the combined impact of digital innovations results in higher levels of corporate performance and sustainability. By embracing digitization through blockchain technology, business organizations can attain supply chain excellence. This integration enhances the adoption of environmentally beneficial actions, minimizes waste, and decreases carbon emissions across supply chains, thus reinforcing the connection between sustainable firm performance and environmental sustainability. As a result, the enterprises may execute sustainably through improved logistical capabilities and effective integration. The results hold great theoretical and practical significance for improving supply chain management efficacy and accomplishing multiple SDGs, including SDG-8, SDG-9, SDG-11, and SDG-12.

Predicting the Impact of Data Poisoning Attacks in Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Networks

As computer networks become increasingly important in various domains, the need for secure and reliable networks becomes more pressing, particularly in the context of blockchain-enabled supply chain networks. One way to ensure network security is by using intrusion detection systems (IDSs), which are specialised devices that detect anomalies and attacks in the network. However, these systems are vulnerable to data poisoning attacks, such as label and distance-based flipping, which can undermine their effectiveness within blockchain-enabled supply chain networks. In this research paper, we investigate the effect of these attacks on a network intrusion detection system using several machine learning models, including logistic regression, random forest, SVC, and XGB Classifier, and evaluate each model via their F1 Score, confusion matrix, and accuracy. We run each model three times: once without any attack, once with random label flipping with a randomness of 20%, and once with distance-based label flipping attacks with a distance threshold of 0.5. Additionally, this research tests an eight-layer neural network using accuracy metrics and a classification report library. The primary goal of this research is to provide insights into the effect of data poisoning attacks on machine learning models within the context of blockchain-enabled supply chain networks. By doing so, we aim to contribute to developing more robust intrusion detection systems tailored to the specific challenges of securing blockchain-based supply chain networks.

A comprehensive blockchain-enabled supply chain network design: an iterative model versus an integrated model

A comprehensive blockchain-enabled supply chain network design: an iterative model versus an integrated model

A Review of Research on Blockchain Empowered Supply Chain Financing in China

To promote theoretical and empirical research on blockchain-enabled supply chain finance in China, this article provides an overview of relevant studies in China. Currently, research related to blockchain-enabled supply chain finance in China primarily focuses on three aspects: the underlying mechanisms of blockchain-enabled supply chain finance (including decentralization and consensus mechanisms, distributed storage, tamper resistance, and anti-denial features, as well as smart contracts), the positive effects of blockchain-enabled supply chain finance (including comprehensive effects, credit transmission, risk management) and the application scenarios of blockchain-enabled supply chain finance, and the impact mechanisms of blockchain on supply chain finance gaming behaviors (including the influence of blockchain on supply chain finance decision-making, risk assessment, and the supply chain financial system). Overall, research in China on the positive effects of blockchain-enabled supply chain finance (such as cost and benefit analysis, micro-level efficiency) is relatively limited. Additionally, studies on the factors affecting the adoption of blockchain in supply chain finance and the behavior of banks and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in blockchain adoption within supply chain finance are relatively scarce. Given the backdrop of financial technology, further research is needed to deepen our understanding of various aspects related to blockchain-enabled supply chain finance in China.

Decision-making in blockchain-enabled supply chain: A systematic literature review

Decision-making in blockchain-enabled supply chain: A systematic literature review

Blockchain-enabled supply chain coordination for off-site construction using Bayesian theory for plan reliability

The potential of blockchain is being widely explored within the construction industry, particularly for transparent communication and information sharing. However, only limited research has focused on implementing blockchain to address the challenge of aligning conflicting interests among independent agents, specifically, supply chain coordination. This paper develops a blockchain-enabled supply chain coordination system that facilitates the alignment of diverse decisions made by stakeholders in an off-site construction supply chain. To achieve this goal, Bayesian updating is employed to estimate the probabilistic distribution of plan reliability, enabling the calculation of a supplier rebate that incentivizes the contractor to schedule deliveries aimed at minimizing joint supply chain costs. Additionally, the paper describes a blockchain-enabled system that allows practitioners to measure plan reliability. The research findings demonstrate that the blockchain-enabled supply chain coordination system fosters shared common knowledge among project stakeholders and facilitates real-time updates of changes in the contractor's plan reliability, aligning the interests of both the supplier and contractor.

Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Internal and External Finance Model

This study applies Stackelberg game theory to analyze and compare optimal operational strategies in four supply chain finance scenarios: traditional trade financing (TI), trade financing through the blockchain platform (BI), traditional external financing (TE), and external financing through the blockchain platform (BE). The main findings are as follows: First, the adoption of the blockchain platform reduces the interest rate threshold, making external financing more advantageous for retailers with higher capital constraint. Further, financing through the blockchain platform leads to higher wholesale prices, retail prices, and order quantities compared to traditional financing scenarios. Second, internal trade financing and the use of blockchain technology are preferred over external bank financing. However, conducting external bank financing through the blockchain platform yields greater profit growth for manufacturers and retailers. Accessing the blockchain platform is the optimal strategy for retailers and banks, leading to a favorable “multi-win” situation when the manufacturer’s platform fees are reasonable. Third, the manufacturer’s risk guarantee ratio plays a crucial role in determining the choice of financing mode, particularly when the retailer faces the risk of debt default. This study contributes to the literature by quantifying the impacts of blockchain technology deployment for three aspects that have been overlooked in previous studies: the set-up cost and access fee of the blockchain platform, the service level provided by the platform, and the demand increase resulting from blockchain technology adoption.

Blockchain-enabled supply chain traceability – How wide? How deep?

Supply chain traceability (SCT) has become increasingly important for many reasons, including regulatory compliance, quality assurance, product counterfeiting, sustainability, and customer concerns on the provenance and authenticity of products. The complexity of globally dispersed supply chains is a major challenge for SCT. Blockchain technology's ability to support information sharing in a distributed network and create an immutable and traceable digital record of historical transactions makes it an attractive option for SCT. However, a major challenge persists – defining the scope of a blockchain-enabled SCT solution in terms of the number stages of the supply chain encompassed and the granularity of information captured at each supply chain stage. We analyze multiple cross-industry case studies and conduct an expert executive workshop to identify empirically the motivations and contextual factors influencing the diversity in the scope of traceability targeted by different organizations. We present a new evidence-based framework to define the scope of SCT depending on the motivations for and purpose of traceability. The framework specifies five identification categories and five levels of granularity of information within each category to inform and support decision-making on the types of data to capture across the supply chain for effective and scalable deployment of blockchain-enabled SCT solutions. The study highlights the need for more research examining the optimal level of traceability for different industries and supply chain configurations.

Blockchain-enabled supply chain management: integrated impact on firm performance and robustness capabilities

PurposeThis study aims to proposed that blockchain helps the organization improve supply chain (SC) performance by improving integration, agility and security through real-time information sharing, end-to-end visibility, transparency, data management, immutability, irrevocable information and cyber-security platforms.Design/methodology/approachThis study has made an initial effort toward proposing a framework that shows the problems and challenges for the O&G SC under its segments (upstream, midstream and downstream) and provides the interlink among blockchain properties for SCM problems. SC managers were selected for survey questionnaires from the Pakistan O&G industries.FindingsThis study analyzes the impact of blockchain-enabled SC on firm performance with an understanding of the SC robustness capabilities as a mediator. The result revealed that the SC manager believes that the blockchain-enabled SC has a positive and significant on firm performance and robustness capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsBlockchain technology is reflected as high-tech to support the firm process, responses and methods. The technology helps eliminate bottlenecks, avoid uncertainties and improve decision-making, leading to improved SC functions. This study guides managers about the potential problems of existing SC and how blockchain solves SC problems more effectively.Originality/valueThe oil and gas (O&G) sectors are neglected by researchers, and there are limited studies on O&G supply chain management (SCM). Additionally, no empirical evidence suggests implementing blockchain for O&G as a solution for potential problems. Furthermore, present the roadmap to other industries those having complex SC networks for the implication of blockchain to improve the SC performance.

Reputation-Aware Supplier Assessment for Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain in Industry 4.0

In Industry 4.0, the development of intelligent supply chains is the key to improving enterprise efficiency and customer satisfaction. At present, the strategy with blockchain to optimize the supply chain ensures the security of data sharing and interaction between different suppliers. However, the quality of service (QoS) loss in time efficiency and supplier cooperation is still a severe problem in these strategies. Therefore, it is essential to conduct reputable supplier selection to reduce QoS loss under the premise of blockchain security. Meanwhile, choosing a reputable supplier as the primary peer in the blockchain consensus process can also effectively reduce transaction latency. To solve this problem, a reputation-aware supplier assessment system, named SAS, is proposed. Specifically, Canopy and K-medoids are utilized to classify suppliers preliminarily. Then backpropagation neural network is deployed to evaluate supplier reputation. The results show that SAS is effective in supplier reputation evaluation through extensive experiments.

Blockchain-enabled supply chain operations and financing: the perspective of expectancy theory

PurposeThis study examines the cognitive factors of adopting blockchain technology in various supply chain scenarios and its role in reframing the distinctive values of supply chain financing. Based on expectancy theory, this study explores the different profiles underlying the components of expectancy, valence and instrumentality.Design/methodology/approachThis is a multiple-case study of four Fintech companies using blockchain technology to promote the performance of supply chain operations and financing.FindingsThe results show that blockchain-enabled supply chain finance (BSCF) can be classified into four scenarios based on the scope and purpose of blockchain technology applications. The success of BSCF depends on the profiles of BSCF expectancy (the recognized purpose and scope of BSCF), instrumentality (identified blockchain attributes and other technology combinations) and valence (the perceived distinctive value of BSCF). Blockchain attributes help solve information asymmetry problems and enhance financing performance in two ways: one is supporting transparency, traceability and verification of transmissions and the other entails facilitating a transformation to new business models.Originality/valueThis research applies a new perspective based on expectancy theory to study how cognitive factors affect Fintech companies' blockchain solutions under a given supply chain operation or financing activity. It explains the behavioral antecedents for applying blockchain technology, the situations appropriate for the different roles of blockchain technology and the profiles for realizing the value of blockchain technology.

Designing an integrated blockchain-enabled supply chain network under uncertainty

With the development of communication infrastructure, the design of supply chains has changed significantly. Blockchain technology, as one of the most cutting-edge technologies, can promote transparency among members of the supply chain network. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that tries to develop a novel bi-objective optimization model to integrate the transparency resulting from the use of blockchain for designing a three-level supply chain network. The first objective function is to minimize total cost while the second objective function seeks to maximize transparency based on the application of blockchain technology. Moreover, it is worth noting that it is the first attempt to investigate the role of a blockchain model under stochastic conditions. The bi-objectiveness and stochastic nature of the proposed model are then treated using Fuzzy Goal Programming (FGP) and Chance-Constrained programming (CCP) approaches, respectively. To tackle the problem, an improved Branch and Efficiency (B&E) algorithm is developed by incorporating transparency along with cost and service. The impacts of blockchain exclusively through transparency (Case 1) or through transparency, cost, and benefits (Case 2) in Supply Chain Design (SCD) are compared. The results demonstrated that the first case has less computational complexity and better scalability, while the second case has more transparency, less congestion, and more security. As one of the main implications, supply chain managers who are focused on cost minimization as well as transparency maximization are advised to take into account the trade-off between featuring costs and benefits of blockchain technology.

Implementation of blockchain-enabled supply chain finance solutions in the agricultural commodity supply chain: a transaction cost economics perspective

Agricultural commodity supply chains are characterised by the involvement of multiple intermediaries, lack of access to finance and poor financial conditions of farmers. Additionally, there exist numerous inefficiencies and a lack of transparency in the trading processes. Blockchain-enabled supply chain finance (SCF) solutions can potentially help to overcome these problems. However, there is limited research on the process of developing and implementing such solutions and the potential consequences of their implementation. In this paper, we apply the Context-Intervention-Mechanism-Outcome (CIMO) framework to systematically analyse case studies of four firms that have developed blockchain-enabled SCF solutions in agricultural commodity supply chains. The findings show that blockchain-enabled SCF solutions can reduce different types of transaction costs such as costs associated with information search, negotiation and contracting costs, and costs of accessing finance. The solutions designed with the core objective of improving the financial conditions of farmers will differ from those with the core objective of reducing process inefficiencies. The findings of the study will benefit companies planning to develop and implement blockchain-enabled SCF solutions, by highlighting operational challenges and offering concrete solutions on how they can be overcome.

The role of blockchain-enabled supply chain applications in improving supply chain performance: the case of Jordanian manufacturing sector

PurposeBlockchain technology has the potential to enhance information and knowledge management among members of the supply chain. This study aims to demonstrate the direct and indirect impact of blockchain adoption on achieving supply chain competitive advantage and improving innovation capabilities to achieve greater supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study opted for a quantitative research approach. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 284 respondents from various Jordanian manufacturing firms. Smart PLS software was used to conduct structural equation modelling to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe analysis revealed that investing in and using blockchain-enabled supply chain applications improves the ability to achieve higher levels of productivity, lead times, customer service and relationships with supply chain members. Moreover, blockchain technology integration with supply chain management processes has a positive impact on innovative activities that support supply chain operations. Finally, blockchain adoption has enhanced supply chain performance by reducing transaction costs, improving customer service and increasing the speed of supply chain operations.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides guidance for decision-makers and academicians on the use of blockchain adoption to improve supply chain performance. Future studies should use a larger sample size and random sampling techniques to achieve better generalizability of the results.Originality/valueThe study fulfils an identified gap in the application of blockchain technology to improving supply chain performance within a broader context that encompasses supply chain innovation capabilities and competitive advantage.

Blockchain Enabled Supply Chain Management.

A distribution network is a mechanism that links a company and its suppliers to create and distribute a product to the end customer. This network is made up of numerous activities including people, entities, knowledge, and assets. The distribution network also represents the steps taken to get a good or service out of its inception to the customer. A supply chain links a company and its suppliers to create and distribute a product to the end customer. This network is made up of numerous actions, persons, entities, knowledge, and resources. The distribution network also represents the steps taken to get a service or product from its inception to the customer. Blockchain allows all parties in a supply chain to access the same data, potentially reducing communications or data transfer issues. Less time to be spent on data confirmation and more time can be spent on providing goods and services quality, cutting prices, or both. Blockchain allows all parties in a supply chain to access the same information, potentially reducing connection or data transfer issues. Less time that could be spent on data confirmation and more time could be spent on delivering products or services quality, cutting prices, or both. This article takes a broad look at how blockchain might assist manage supply chains. Also discussed is how a crypto supply network outperforms a supply chain.

Blockchain-enabled supply chain financing (BCF)

Blockchain-enabled supply chain financing (BCF)

Analysis on Innovation Mechanism of Blockchain Enabled Supply Chain Finance Model

Analysis on Innovation Mechanism of Blockchain Enabled Supply Chain Finance Model

Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain platform for Indian Dairy Industry: Safety and Traceability.

Conventional food supply chains are centralized in nature and possess challenges pertaining to a single point of failure, product irregularities, quality compromises, and loss of data. Numerous cases of food fraud, contamination, and adulteration are daily reported from multiple parts of India, suggesting the absolute need for an upgraded decentralized supply chain model. A country such as India, where its biggest strength is its demographic dividend, cannot afford to malnutrition a large population of its children by allowing them to consume contaminated and adulterated dairy products. In view of the gravity of the situation, we propose a blockchain-enabled supply chain platform for the dairy industry. With respect to the supply chain platform, the dairy products of choice include milk, cheese, and butter. Blockchain is one of the fastest growing technologies having widespread acceptance across multiple industry verticals. Blockchain possesses the power to transform traditional supply chains into decentralized, robust, transparent, tamper proof, and sustainable supply chains. The proposed supply chain platform goes beyond the aspect of food traceability and focuses on maintaining the nutritional values of dairy products, identification of adulteration and contamination in dairy products, the increasing economic viability of running a dairy farm, preventing counterfeit dairy products, and enhancing the revenue of the dairy company. The paper collates the mentioned functionalities into four distinct impact dimensions: social, economic, operations, and sustainability. The proposed blockchain-enabled dairy supply chain platform combines the use of smart contracts, quick response code (QR code) technology, and IoT and has the potential to redefine the dairy supply chains on socio-economic, operational, and sustainability parameters.

Digital Fashion Revolutions: Supply Chain Transparency, Digitalization and the Non-Disclosure Paradox

The emergence of digital technology as a ‘cure-all’ for sustainable practice has captured the imagination of observers and entrepreneurs alike. Among these technologies, blockchain has been cited as the ideal tool to optimize supply chain transparency. However, despite the abundance of effusively disseminated information in the media, the lack of blockchain applications that are universally accessible, and their negligible uptake raises doubts as to its utility. In particular, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have for several reasons been slow to adopt blockchain technologies. ‘Digital hesitancy’; lack of common data standards; complex and tedious data collection and transfer; immaturity of the technology; no effective universal platform; lack of resources; and reluctance to share data with perceived competitors are common obstacles. This study explores one of these barriers to adoption, that is, the reluctance to disclose supply chain information to potential competitors. Taking a qualitative approach, the study analyses the current perception of blockchain enabled supply chain transparency through interviews with small scale fashion firms and technology start-ups. Applying a lens of technology adoption theories, the study seeks to understand how supply chain transparency might be satisfactorily managed and even accelerated through technology uptake. A misunderstanding of the software’s capabilities is evident. Many firms seem unaware that the software can be applied to provide managed access to information—arguably providing an advantage over extant transparency measures such as public self disclosure or reliance on third party certifications. This study identifies that because of lack of ‘education’, firms are ill-informed and under-utilizing technologies that are potentially more advantageous than current analogue approaches—that could circumvent the information disclosure paradox.