David Dreer
ABSTRACT
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) like blockchain technology (BCT) is expected to have the power to improve sustainability in supply chains. To summarize and organize the insights of research in information systems (IS) on how BCT relates to transparency and, ultimately, sustainability of supply chains, this paper conducts a structured literature review. In total 46 articles have been identified and analyzed. The analysis shows that the potential of BCT to facilitate transparency in supply chains and thus enable sustainability measures stems from its decentralized and distributed nature. Further, BCT does not unfold this potential on its own; rather it is a technology that complements existing IS used to manage inter-organizational transactions. Overall, the paper contributes to the literature by providing a deeper insight into the possibilities, features, and merits of BCT in the SCM context, mainly focusing on transparency and sustainability matters. Summarizing and organizing the advantages of BCT and the shortcomings of existing IS used in SCM as discussed in prior research, this paper emphasizes that BCT needs to be considered as a complementary technology. Viewing BCT as such and implementing at such, BCT has great potential to support sustainability efforts significantly.
- George, J. J. and Whitten, G. D. Blockchain in the Role of Emancipatory Technology. Americas Conference on Information Systems (2020), 1-10.Google Scholar
- Wallbach, S., Lehner, R., Roethke, K., Elbert, R. and Benlian, A. Trust-Building Effects of Blockchain Features — An Empirical Analysis of Immutability, Traceability and Anonymity. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (Virtual, 2020).Google Scholar
- Zavolokina, L., Spychiger, F., Tessone, C. J. and Schwabe, G. Incentivizing Data Quality in Blockchains for Inter-Organizational Networks - Learning from the Digital Car Dossier. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (San Francisco, USA, 2018).Google Scholar
- Yew, M. H., Kurnia, S., Molla, A., Ali, M., Ramayah, T. and Rahim, M. Exploring Blockchain for Sustainability in the Food Supply Chain: An Affordance Approach. In Proceedings of the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (Dubai, UAE, 2020).Google Scholar
- European, U. Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014. City, 2014.Google Scholar
- Federal Ministry for Economic and Development. Fragen und Antworten zum Lieferkettengesetz (2021), 1-4.Google Scholar
- Jahanbin, P., Wingreen, S. and Sharma, R. Blockchain and IoT integration for Trust Improvement in Agricultural Supply Chain. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh European Conference on Information Systems, Stockholm-Uppsala, Sweden (Stockholm-Uppsala, Sweden, 2019).Google Scholar
- Medaglia, R. and Damsgaard, J. Blockchain and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Towards an Agenda for IS Research. In Proceedings of the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (Dubai, UAE, 2020).Google Scholar
- Sharma, R. S., Wingreen, S., Kshetri, N. and Hewa, T. M. Design principles for use cases of blockchain in food supply chains. In Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (Cancun, Mexico, 2019).Google Scholar
- Schulte, M., Balasubramanian, S. and Paris, C. M. Blood Diamonds and Ethical Consumerism: An Empirical Investigation. Sustainability, 13, 8 (2021).Google Scholar
- Beck, R., Kildetoft, M. B. and Radonic, N. Using Blockchain to Sustainably Manage Containers in International Shipping. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Hyderabad, India, 2020).Google Scholar
- Delliere, É. and Grange, C. Understanding and Measuring the Ecological Sustainability of the Blockchain Technology. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (San Francisco, 2018).Google Scholar
- Sarker, S., Henningsson, S., Jensen, T. and Hedman, J. The Use Of Blockchain As A Resource For Combating Corruption In Global Shipping: An Interpretive Case Study. Journal of Management Information Systems, 38, 2 (2021), 338-373.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Roeck, D. The Foundation of Distributed Ledger Technology for Supply Chain Management. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2020).Google Scholar
- Appiah Otoo, B. A. and Singh, R. The Mediating Role of Blockchain Competencies on the Information Sharing and Supply Chain Performance Link. In Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (2020).Google Scholar
- Kwon, I.-W. G. and Suh, T. Factors Affecting the Level of Trust and Commitment in Supply Chain Relationships. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 40, 2 (2004), 4-14.Google Scholar
- Nakasumi, M. Information Sharing for Supply Chain Management based on Block Chain Technology. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (2017).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Brundtland, G. H. Our Common Future—Call for Action. Environmental Conservation, 14, 4 (1987), 291-294.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sachs, J. D., Schmidt-Traub, G., Mazzucato, M., Messner, D., Nakicenovic, N. and Rockström, J. Six transformations to achieve the sustainable development goals. Nature sustainability, 2, 9 (2019), 805-814.Google Scholar
- Awaysheh, A. and Klassen, R. D. The Impact of Supply Chain Structure on the Use of Supplier Socially Responsible Practices. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 30, 12 (2010), 1246-1268.Google Scholar
- Francisco, K. and Swanson, D. The Supply Chain Has No Clothes: Technology Adoption of Blockchain for Supply Chain Transparency. Logistics, 2, 1 (2018), 1-13.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Blossey, G., Eisenhardt, J. and Hahn, G. J. Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management: An Application Perspective. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2019), 6885-6893.Google Scholar
- Nærland, C., Müller-Bloch, C., Beck, R. and Palmund, S. Blockchain to Rule the Waves - Nascent Design Principles for Reducing Risk and Uncertainty in Decentralized Environments. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Seoul, South Korea, 2017).Google Scholar
- Tse, D., Zhang, B., Yang, Y., Cheng, C. and Mu, H. Blockchain Application in Food Supply Information Security. In Proceedings of the Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM) (Singapore, 2017).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Tian, F. An information System for Food Safety Monitoring in Supply Chains based on HACCP, Blockchain and Internet of Things. Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, 2018.Google Scholar
- Chen, S., Shi, R., Ren, Z., Yan, J. S. Y. and Zhang, J. A Blockchain-based Supply Chain Quality Management Framework. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (Shanghai, China, 2017).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Jensen, T. and Tan, Y.-H. Key Design Properties for Shipping Information Pipeline. In Proceedings of the Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society (2015).Google Scholar
- Kolb, J., Becker, L., Fischer, M. and Winkelmann, A. The Role of Blockchain in Enterprise Procurement. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2019).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Riasanow, T., Burckhardt, F., Setzke, D. S., Böhm, M. and Krcmar, H. The Generic Blockchain Ecosystem and its Strategic Implications. In Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (New Orleans, USA, 2018).Google Scholar
- Avital, M., Beck, R., King, J. L. and Rossi, M. Jumping on the Blockchain Bandwagon: Lessons of the Past and Outlook to the Future. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Dublin, Ireland, 2016).Google Scholar
- Glaser, F. Pervasive Decentralisation of Digital Infrastructures: A Framework for Blockchain enabled System and Use Case Analysis. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2017).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Sternberg, H. and Baruffaldi, G. Chains in Chains – Logic and Challenges of Blockchains in Supply Chains. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2018).Google Scholar
- Scholz, T. M. and Stein, V. The Architecture of Blockchain Organization. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (San Francisco, 2018).Google Scholar
- Eigelshoven, F., Ullrich, A. and Bender, B. Public Blockchain - A Systematic Literature Review on the Sustainability of Consensus Algorithms. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (Virtual, 2020).Google Scholar
- Walsh, C., O'Reilly, P., Gleasure, R., Feller, J., Li, S. and Cristoforo, J. New kid on the block: a strategic archetypes approach to understanding the Blockchain. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Dublin, Ireland, 2016).Google Scholar
- Webster, J. and Watson, R. T. Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly (2002), xiii-xxiii.Google Scholar
- Leidner, D. E. Review and theory symbiosis: An introspective retrospective. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 19, 6 (2018), 1.Google Scholar
- Kannengiesser, N., Lins, S. and Sunyaev, A. Uncertainties toward Permissioned Distributed Ledgers: A Multi-Actor Uncertainty Conceptualization. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Eigth European Conference on Information Systems, Marrakesh, Marocco (Marrakesh, Marocco, 2020).Google Scholar
- Labazova, O. Towards a Framework for Evaluation of Blockchain Implementations. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Munich, Germany, 2019).Google Scholar
- Schlecht, L., Schneider, S. and Buchwald, A. Creating value through blockchain technology: A Delphi study. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (Marrakesh, Morocco, 2020).Google Scholar
- Zhang, X. How Will Blockchain Change the Market Structure? In Proceedings of the Thirty Ninth International Conference on Information Systems (San Francisco, USA, 2018).Google Scholar
- Beck, R., Mueller-Bloch, C. and King, J. L. Governance in the Blockchain Economy: A Framework and Research Agenda. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 19, 10 (2018).Google Scholar
- Wüst, K. and Gervais, A. Do you need a Blockchain? In Proceedings of the Crypto Valley Conference on Blockchain Technology (CVCBT). IEEE (2018).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Ostern, N. K., Rosemann, M. and Moormann, J. Determining the Idiosyncrasy of Blockchain: An Affordances Perspective. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Hyderabad, India, 2020).Google Scholar
- Seebacher, S. and Schüritz, R. Blockchain - Just Another IT Implementation? A Comparison of Blockchain and Interorganizational Information Systems. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (Stockholm-Uppsala, Sweden, 2019).Google Scholar
- Kosba, A., Miller, A., Shi, E., Wen, Z. and Papamanthou, C. Hawk: The Blockchain Model of Cryptography and Privacy-Preserving Smart Contracts. IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (2016), 839-858.Google Scholar
- Pytel, N., Hofmanm, A. and Winkelmann, A. Tracing Back the Value Stream with Colored Coins. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (Seoul, South Korea, 2020).Google Scholar
- Quayson, M., Bai, C. and Sarkis, J. Technology for Social Good Foundations: A Perspective From the Smallholder Farmer in Sustainable Supply Chains. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 68, 3 (2021), 894-898.Google Scholar
- Rossi, M., Mueller-Bloch, C., Thatcher, J. B. and Beck, R. Blockchain Research in Information Systems: Current Trends and an Inclusive Future Research Agenda. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 20, 9 (2019), 1390-1405.Google Scholar
- Liang, H., Sun, L. and Teo, M. Greenwashing: Evidence from hedge funds (2021).Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Block by block – How Immutable Ledgers Drive Sustainability Efforts: An organizing literature review on the capabilities of the blockchain technology in supply chains
Recommendations
Context-Aware Blockchain-Based Sustainable Supply Chain Visibility Management
AbstractSupply chain visibility allows a state of being able to see end to end in a supply chain. Sustainable supply chain visibility is premised on sharing of mutually benefiting information, to achieve associated sustainability objectives including ...
Exploring blockchain-based Traceability for Food Supply Chain Sustainability: Towards a Better Way of Sustainability Communication with Consumers
AbstractWhile there is consensus that blockchain technology can improve supply chain transparency and operational efficiency, scholars and practitioners have only recently considered how blockchain could improve the sustainability of supply chains. This ...
Blockchain and sustainable supply chain management in developing countries
Highlights- Blockchain can help develop sustainable supply chains in developing countries.
- ...
AbstractTheoretical, empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that there are more violations of sustainability principles in supply chains in developing countries than in developed countries. Recent research has demonstrated that blockchain ...
Comments