Blockchain and supply chain management integration: a systematic review of the literature

By Maciel Manoel de Queiroz, Renato Telles, Silvia Helena Bonilla. Supply Chain Management, 2019

730 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Purpose This paper aims to identify, analyse and organise the literature about blockchains in supply chain management (SCM) context (blockchain–SCM integration) and proposes an agenda for future research. This study aims to shed light on what the main current blockchain applications in SCM are, what the main disruptions and challenges are in SCM because of blockchain adoption and what the future of blockchains holds in SCM. Design/methodology/approach This study followed the systematic review approach to analyse and synthesise the extant literature on blockchain–SCM integration. The review analysed 27 papers between 2008 and 2018 in peer-reviewed journals. Findings Blockchain–SCM integration is still in its infancy. Scholars and practitioners are not fully aware of the potential of blockchain technology to disrupt traditional business models. However, the electric power industry seems to have a relatively mature understanding of blockchain–SCM integration, demonstrated by the use of smart contracts. Additionally, the disintermediation provided by blockchain applications has the potential to disrupt traditional industries (e.g. health care, transportation and retail). Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study are represented mainly by the scarcity of studies on blockchain–SCM integration in leading journals and databases. Practical implications This study highlights examples of blockchain–SCM integration, emphasising the need to rethink business models to incorporate blockchain technology. Originality/value This study is the first attempt to synthesise existing publications about the blockchain–SCM integration, shedding light on the disruption caused by, and the necessity of, the SCM reconfigurations.

Subfields: Information Systems, Management Information Systems, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/531aee46bc98995922b358619c8d80e4dffed168

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Information Systems

In Management Information Systems

In Strategy and Management

Citations in the corpus

A literature review of blockchain technology applications in supply chains: A comprehensive analysis of themes, methodologies and industries (2021, neutral): “…al., 2020; Zhao et al., 2019), two articles reviewed the transportation field (Astarita et al., 2020; Pournader et al., 2020), and the remaining four articles did not have a specific application background (Gurtu & Johny, 2019; Queiroz et al., 2019; Wamba & Queiroz, 2020; Y. L. Wang et al., 2019).”
A supply chain transparency and sustainability technology appraisal model for blockchain technology (2019, background): “One of the major aspects is this methodology takes into account varying decision maker opinions (Bai et al. 2019) and their psychological characteristics – speciﬁcally, hesitancy and regret.”
When Blockchain Meets Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review on Current Development and Potential Applications (2020, background): “…and suggested second-round surveys to capture the rapid development of blockchain technology in the realm of SCM. Similarly, another study in the same-period [20] highlighted examples of blockchain-SCM integration while reporting the scarcity of related studies in leading journals and databases.”
Blockchain adoption in operations and supply chain management: empirical evidence from an emerging economy (2020, background): “Besides, due to the unprecedented digitalisation of supply chains (Queiroz et al. 2019), BCT has the potential to disrupt all SCM business models and usher in more fluidity and visibility.”
Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities (2020, neutral): “The various factors that influence adoption are organizational readiness, technical expertise, digital infrastructure, scalability issues, financial resources, legal and regulatory compliance, organizational resistance, performance expectancy (Min, 2019), standardization, security of models (Lacity,”