Challenges in adopting blockchain technology in supply chain management: a too far fetched idea?
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 14 May 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Recent technological advancements, often linked to Industry 4.0, require organizations to be more agile and innovative. Blockchain technology (BT) holds immense potential in driving organizations to achieve efficiency and transparency in supply chains. However, there exist some insurmountable challenges associated with the adoption of BT in organizational supply chains (SC). This paper attempts to categorically identify and systematize the most influential challenges in the implementation of BT in SC.
Design/methodology/approach
This study resorts to an extensive literature review and consultations with experts in the field of supply chain management (SCM), information technology and academia to identify, categorize and prioritize the major challenges using VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) and Combined Compromise Solution method (CoCoSo).
Findings
The top three classes of challenges revealed in this study are privacy challenges (PC), infrastructure challenges (IC) and transparency challenges (TC). Maintaining a balance between data openness and secrecy and rectification of incorrect/erroneous input are the top two challenges in the PC category, integration of BT with sustainable practices and ensuring legitimacy are the top two challenges in the IC category, and proper and correct information sharing in organizations was the top most challenge in the TC category.
Originality/value
Future scholars and industry professionals will be guided by the importance of the challenges identified in this study to develop an economical and logical approach for integrating BT to increase the efficiency and outcome of supply chains across several industrial sectors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers, Associate Editor and Editor-in-Chief for their valuable comments and suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.
Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Raj, R., Singh, A., Kumar, V. and Verma, P. (2024), "Challenges in adopting blockchain technology in supply chain management: a too far fetched idea?", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-12-2022-0366
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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