Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA

Highlights

• The blockchain technology has the potential of disrupting well-established business models in logistics and supply chains.

• Blockchain adoption by logistics and supply chain management professionals is still at its nascent stage.

• Performance expectancy is a sensible variable that highly influences blockchain adoption by supply chain professionals.

• Facilitating conditions are quite different from one country to another in relation to individual behaviors to adopt.

Abstract

The digitalization phenomenon is leveraging new relationship models through the entire supply chain network. In this outlook, blockchain is a cutting-edge technology that is already transforming and remodeling the relationships between all members of logistics and supply chain systems. Yet, while studies on blockchain have gained a relative pace over the recent years, the literature on this topic does not report sufficient research cases on blockchain adoption behavior at the individual level. The present study, therefore, aims to bridge this gap, notably by helping understand the individual blockchain adoption behavior in the logistics and supply chain field in India and the USA. Drawing on the emerging literature on blockchain, supply chain and network theory, as well as on technology acceptance models (TAMs), we have developed a model based on a slightly-altered version of the classical unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The model being developed was then estimated using the Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). As the model was eventually supported, the results obtained revealed the existence of distinct adoption behaviors between India-based and USA-based professionals. In parallel, the findings appear as a useful contribution to and a sign of progress for the literature on IT adoption, SCM, and blockchain.

Introduction

Over the recent years, to the exponential growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has given rise to several disruptions in all business models, mainly in the logistics and supply chain management (L/SCM) field (Goldsby & Zinn, 2016). Because of these disruptions, L/SCMs have been experimenting several effects while putting in substantial efforts to reconfigure their operation models (Büyüközkan & Göçer, 2018). Thus, the relationships and operations models can increase substantially their complexities with this new ingredient. This relates for instance to trust between supply chain members, transparency, and accountability through the network (Morgan, Richey, & Ellinger, 2018), collaboration (Tsanos & Zografos, 2016), knowledge sharing (Wagner & Buko, 2005), and demand and supply chain integration (Stolze, Murfield, & Esper, 2015), among others. However, cutting-edge technologies are emerging, with a high potential to improve the SCM operations models and to disrupt inefficient models.

In this context, one of the most prominent technologies is blockchain (Aste, Tasca, & Di Matteo, 2017; Y. Chen, 2018; Kshetri, 2018; Viryasitavat, Da Xu, Bi, & Sapsomboon, 2018). Even though the application of blockchain technologies in the L/SCM context is still at its initial stages, this does not repel the fact that this technology will surely remodel the L/SCM relationships (Biswas, Muthukkumarasamy, & Tan, 2017; Kshetri, 2018; Lu & Xu, 2017), together with the consumption behavior of the society (Aste et al., 2017). For some time now, blockchain technology is being employed in a wide array of contexts, ranging from open manufacturing (Li et al., 2018) and real state―to ensure fraud prevention (Veuger, 2018)―to clinical trials (Benchoufi, Porcher, & Ravaud, 2017) and entrepreneurship innovation (Y. Chen, 2018), amongst others.

Supply chain managers should adopt blockchain for their operations because virtually all transactions with blockchain are safer, more transparent, traceable and efficient (Aste et al., 2017; Kshetri, 2018). In addition, the cooperation between supply chain members tends to increase (Aste et al., 2017), reflecting on costs reduction and increased efficiency in the supply chain. Furthermore, the blockchain adoption can enhance customers’ trust, which will allow them to check the entire journey of goods across the supply chain in full confidence. In this regard, the traceability (Biswas et al., 2017) mechanisms of the blockchain will support products fraud prevention and fake across the supply chains (R. Chen, 2018). As result, supply chains will gain a lot in terms of costs reductions and efficiency.

The emerging literature on blockchain has reported various benefits and advantages of this technology that can directly impact the L/SCM. They include transparency and accountability (Kshetri, 2018; Zou et al., 2018), traceability and fraud prevention (Biswas et al., 2017; R. Chen, 2018; Lu & Xu, 2017), cybersecurity and protection (Kshetri, 2017), etc. The blockchain technology can rely on its tamper-proof characteristic (Aste et al., 2017; Viryasitavat et al., 2018) to remodel relationship paradigms between all members of the supply chain. As blockchain applied to L/SCM is still at its infancy stage, most of the organizations are yet to go beyond analyses leading to the adoption phase. This is why, as indicated by the literature on technology acceptance models (TAMs) (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012; Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003), various authors have dedicated significant efforts to help understand how individuals behave when it comes to accepting to use a technology.

In this vein, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) of previous TAM (Venkatesh et al., 2003), whose extension is UTAUT2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012), is a suitable approach to gain understanding of the blockchain adoption in the supply chain field. The UTAUT is a robust model in which the variance explained by behavioral intention achieved 56%, and technology use, 40%. However, the UTAUT2 outperforms these results, reaching 74% and 52%, respectively for behavioral intention and technology use (Venkatesh et al., 2012).

A good number of recent studies have integrated technology acceptance models in various contexts (Fosso Wamba, Bhattacharya, Trinchera, & Ngai, 2017; Huang, Liu, & Chang, 2012; Liébana-Cabanillas, Marinković, & Kalinić, 2017; Lin, 2011; Mamonov & Benbunan-Fich, 2017; Mortenson & Vidgen, 2016; Wu, Zhao, Zhu, Tan, & Zheng, 2011; Zhang, Weng, & Zhu, 2018). In addition, few empirical studies using surveys on blockchain and supply chain were reported in the literature (Fosso Wamba, Kamdjoug, Robert, Bawack, & Keogh, 2018; Kamble, Gunasekaran, & Arha, 2018).

However, the blockchain adoption behavior and the drivers for such adoption in organizations remain scarcely investigated, according to the extent relevant literature. Therefore, we aim to answer the following research question (RQ) to shed more light on the employees’ behaviors associated with blockchain adoption: what are the drivers of blockchain adoption in the supply chain?

Moreover, this study aims to provide the supply chain and logistics community with the finest discussion elements for a better understanding of the current impact of the blockchain technology on the adoption behavior of professionals (individual level). The study further seeks to spur supply chain stakeholders to rethink their internal relationships in order to keep abreast of this digital age where blockchain is quickly gaining ground. To answer our research question, this study draws on the recent literature on blockchain (Aste et al., 2017; Banerjee, Lee, & Choo, 2018; Francisco & Swanson, 2018; Kano & Nakajima, 2018; Kshetri, 2018), network theory (Borgatti & LI, 2009; Burt, 1980; Grandori & Soda, 1995; Granovetter, 1973), considering that the L/SCM is a complex network and that a better understanding supply chain relationships and networks evolution requires the latest available information. As the primary objective of this study is related to the blockchain adoption, our theoretical model was based also on the literature on technology acceptance models (2012, Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Bala, 2008; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Yi, Jackson, Park, & Probst, 2006).

This paper contributes to enriching the literature on IT adoption, as it reports blockchain adoption as a hot topic for scholars and practitioners, who are eager to gain an in-depth understanding of the adoption behavior at the individual level. Additionally, this study contributes to the advancement of the logistics and SCM field, because it unveils the blockchain implications for SCM. As for the remainder of this paper, Section 2 describes the fundamental concepts and perspectives for blockchain, supply chain and related networks, but also the various applicable technology acceptance model theories. In Section 3, we derive our research model, followed by a description of the selected methodology and the main results in Section 4. Section 5 deals with the discussion of such results, the implications for research and practice, as well as the limitations of the research coupled with some suggestions for future research. Finally, Section 6 exhibit the main conclusions of this study.