Blockchain Technology in Business Organizations: A Scoping Review

The scientific literature on blockchain technology is emerging but increasing rapidly. This review paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the nature and scope of the extant literature on blockchain technology in the particular context of business organizations. To achieve our main objective, we searched five databases and screened 320 papers for inclusion. As a result of the search and screen process, we identified 39 relevant articles. Data coding was first pilot tested and then performed independently by two teams of researchers. All disagreements were reconciled by a third coder. Our findings reveal that most of the extant literature focuses on how blockchain technology works and, to a lesser extent, on the what , i.e. its potential applications and usages in business organizations. For its part, the why question, which focuses on the organizational motivations for adopting blockchain technology, was scarcely discussed in prior literature. In short, our findings reveal that many issues and questions remain to be investigated. Based on a gap analysis, we propose a few promising avenues that shall guide future research efforts in this important topic

A Proof of Work: Securing Majority-Attack in Blockchain Using Machine Learning and Algorithmic Game Theory

Blockchain's vast applications in different industries have drawn several researchers to pursue extensive research in securing blockchain technologies. In recent times we could see several institutions coming together to create consortium based blockchain networks such as Hyperledger. Although for applications of blockchain such as Bitcoin, Litcoin, etc. the majority-attack might not be a great threat but for consortium based blockchain networks where we could see several institutions such as public, private, government, etc. are collaborating, the majority-attack might just prove to be a prevalent threat if collusion among these institutions takes place. This paper proposes a methodology where we can use intelligent software agents to monitor the activity of stakeholders in the blockchain networks to detect anomaly such as collusion, using supervised machine learning algorithm and algorithmic game theory and stop the majority attack from taking place

Blockchain Challenges and Security Schemes: A Survey

International audienceWith the increasing number of connected devices and the number of online transactions today, managing all these transactions and devices and maintaining network security is a research issue. Current solutions are mainly based on cloud computing infrastructures, which require servers high-end and broadband networks to provide data storage and computing services. These solutions have a number of significant disadvantages, such as high maintenance costs of centralized servers, critical weakness of Internet Of Things applications, security and trust issues, etc. The blockchain is seen as a promising technique for addressing the mentioned security issues and design new decentralization frameworks. However, this new technology has a great potential in the most diverse technological fields. In this paper, we focus on presenting an overview of blockchain technology, highlighting its advantages, limitations and areas of application. The originality of this work resides in the comparison between the different blockchain systems and their security schemes and the perspective of integrating this technology into secured systems models for our comfort and our private life

FORMALIZED EVALUATION OF SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY IN TERMS OF PENETRATION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

In the coming years, blockchain technologies may become one of the breakthrough innovations in the financial sector of the economy, optimizing and simplifying transaction operations in a number of areas, reducing their cost. Having a very significant potential for transforming the established algorithms for the interaction of financial market participants, it is important to understand what are the boundaries of these changes, what new opportunities are presented by blockchain technologies and, finally, what are the expected consequences for the development of the financial sector itself and the other sectors of the national economic system associated with it. In this regard, important and urgent task is to minimize risks for financial and other organizations in the face of impending opportunities and threats under the pressure of the process of integrating blockchain platforms into the economic environment. This research is devoted to the solution of the issues posed. The most important component of the paper is the proposed methodological toolkit, which allows you to identify in a formalized form the patterns and relationships between the level of penetration of blockchain technologies into the financial environment and the dynamics of gross domestic product ( GDP)

Do We Really Want Blockchain-Based Accounting? Decentralized Consensus as Enabler of Management Override of Internal Controls

Research proposing the application of blockchain technology in accounting assumes the utilization of decentralized consensus mechanisms based on the exertion of scarce resources (Proof-of-Work; PoW), leading to the validation of transactions without the need of any third party. Together with the blockchain, a shared database, PoW is expected to lead to nearly immutable and, therefore, fraud-resistant, real-time financial registers. This conclusion must be reconsidered, taking into account recurrent top-management involvement in accounting scandals, often conducted through deliberate exposures of internal and external control systems. This paper asserts that blockchain-based accounting using PoW-based consensus paves the way for the suspension of controls by the management, since exerting the majority of computer power is easier than circumventing internal and external control systems in conventional accounting systems. Alternatives to PoW must be considered for blockchain-based accounting that prevents the management from conducting fraud and, thereby, qualifies the blockchain for its application in accounting

ESTUDO DE MAPEAMENTO SISTEMÁTICO SOBRE AS TENDÊNCIAS E DESAFIOS DO BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain é uma tecnologia de gerenciamento de dados cujo funcionamento consiste em transações descentralizadas, sendo desenvolvida para a criptomoeda Bitcoin no contexto de pagamento digital. O interesse na tecnologia blockchain tem aumentado desde que a ideia foi cunhada em 2008. As razões para o interesse na tecnologia blockchain são seus atributos centrais que fornecem segurança, anonimato e integridade de dados sem qualquer interferência de terceiros no controle das transações. Até agora, o blockchain tem atraído bastante atenção da indústria de serviços financeiros, mas a tecnologia pode ser adaptada para qualquer indústria onde seja necessário registrar, confirmar e transferir qualquer tipo de contrato ou propriedade. Nesta pesquisa, realizamos um mapeamento sistemático para estudar como essa tecnologia tem sido utilizada pelas corporações. O objetivo é compreender os principais recursos do blockchain, as novas aplicações que surgiram, impactos, vantagens e desafios. Foram extraídos 21 artigos primários de bases de dados científicas. Os resultados mostram potencial disruptivo da tecnologia, como ela vai mudar a nossa economia e como ela foi adaptada para muitas indústrias

Disruptive Power of Blockchain on the Insurance Industry

Kindlustus on olnud globaalse majanduse võtmekomponendiks oma lisatasude suuruse, investeerimismahtude ja ennekõike oma isikliku ja äririski katva sotsiaalse ja majandusliku rolli tõttu. Aastate jooksul on antud sektoris olnud püsiv reform, kuid sellele vaatamata on kindlustuse tööstusharu jäänud suuremalt jaolt samaks oma ärimudeli ja toimimise osas. Seda sektorit domineerivad vahendajad, kes mängivad võtmerolli kliendi vajaduste mõistmises ja viivad selle kokku kindlale sihtgrupile mõeldud kindlustustootega. PwC poolt tehtud uuring raportis „Kindlustus 2020: Muutuse pööramine võimaluseks“ [1] võtab arvesse sotsiaalsed, tehnoloogilised, keskkondlikud, majanduslikud ja poliitilised faktorid ning viitab sellele, et kindlustuse sektoril on vajadus muutuda agentuuripõhisest jaotusmudelist kasutusepõhiseks ärimudeliks. Antud uurimustöö uurib plokiahela tehnoloogiat ja selle häirivat mõju kindlustussektorile hinnates praegust äriprotsessi ja –mudelit ning seda, kuidas see tehnoloogia suudab antud mudeleid täiustada. Uurimustöö järeldusena pakutakse uut protsessi suunda kindlustuse tööstusharule rõhutades kliendile pakutavat parema väärtusega teenust, kus on kasutusel plokiahela tehnoloogia. Võtmesõnad: plokiahela tehnoloogia, kindlustuse äriprotsess, jaotatud peaarvetehnoloogiaThe insurance industry has been a key component of the global economy by the amount of premiums it generates, the scale of its investment and more fundamentally, the essential social and economic role it plays in covering personal and business risk. Over the years, there have been a growing reform in this sector but despite some of these reforms, the insurance industry has remained much the same in its business model and operations. The sector has been dominated by intermediaries who play the key role of understanding and matching the need of the customer with specific tailored insurance product. A research conducted by PwC in a report titled “Insurance 2020: Turning change into opportunity” [1], takes into account STEEP (Social, Technology, Environmental, Economic and Political) drivers all points to the need of the insurance sector to evolve from the agency- based distribution model to an usage based business model. This paper examines the blockchain technology and its disruptive power in the insurance sector by evaluating the current business process and model in the industry and how this technology can improve this model. This paper concludes by proposing a new process flow for the insurance industry placing emphasis on better values service to the customer using blockchain technology

Blockchain : effects in transactions costs from information governance

This research aims to analyze the effects of the adoption of blockchain on information governance and transaction costs. We present an exploratory, quantitative, and qualitative study. In the first stage, quantitative, a theoretical model was developed and tested based on structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Data collection was carried out through an online survey with IT and management professionals involved in blockchain projects from different countries. In the second stage, qualitative, a multiple case study was carried out in order to illustrate how the relations of the developed model are established. In the quantitative phase, the study’s hypotheses were supported and it was observed that the adoption of blockchain technology can be seen as a mechanism to reduce transaction costs, since it has a positive impact on information governance. In the qualitative phase, it was observed that, in the three cases analyzed, characteristics such as information security, transparency, and the possibility