Blockchain for Organising Effective Grass-Roots Actions on a Global Commons: Saving The Planet

An overwhelming majority of experts has been flagging for decades that “Saving the Planet” requires immediate, persistent and drastic action to curb a variety of catastrophic risks over the 21st century. However, despite compelling evidence and a range of suggested solutions, transnational coordination of effective measures to protect our biosphere continues to fall short. To remedy, we propose a novel platform for addressing the central issue of affording trust, transparency and truth while minimizing administrative overheads. This will empower an even loosely organised, global grass-roots community to coordinate a large-scale project on a shared goal (“Commons”) spanning the digital and real world. The Web3 concept is based on the swiftly emerging “Blockchain” and related cryptographic, distributed and permissionless technologies. “Wisdom of the crowds” mechanisms involving competitive parallelisation and prediction markets are enabled by formalised reputation and staking to incentivise high-quality work, fair validation and best management practice. While these mechanisms have been (mostly separately) applied to science, business, governance, web, sensor, information and communication technologies (ICT), our integrative approach around Blockchain-enabled ‘operating principles and protocols’ sets the basis for designing novel forms of potentially crowdfunded Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)

Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Blockchain technology has seen significant growth since its introduction as an underlying platform for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Blockchain technology application potential has drawn interest across a variety of fields—including supply chain management. Blockchain digitally records transactions on decentralized and encrypted ledgers. Blockchain capabilities can transform traditional supply chain processes. It can also ease global sustainability concerns such as lack of transparency and provenance, data fabrication, and poor environmental safety. Despite the potential, several barriers and costs impede blockchain adoption for sustainable supply chain management. Using blockchain technology benefits and barriers research, this dissertation develops game theory models to investigate economic behavior of supply chain network entities when it comes to blockchain adoption. These network economic models reflect optimal technology pricing strategies while maximizing platform profit and network participant utility. This approach provides insights into required blockchain technology management in a supply chain setting and for sustainability. While there has been a growing interest on modelling blockchain for supply chain management, the research is still in the initial stages and there is an urgent need for new models and methodological approaches to unveil capabilities. This dissertation introduces network game theory economic models using Nash equilibrium game theory principles through variational inequality formulation resulting in equilibrium conditions for a blockchain-based sustainable supply chain management. These models also highlight the competition among supply chain entities. Two-sided markets and network effect theories further inform model development and advancement, testing and analysis. Various simulations and sensitivity analyses are provided to help understand the models and their associated performance. The findings of this study indicate high level of blockchain transparency can help suppliers attract more customers and demands from the market. In addition, financial incentives and promotions, especially for early adoption, can intensify the network effects and enable diffusion of blockchain in a sustainable supply chain management. However, technological improvements are necessary to reduce the sustainability cost of blockchain operations and maximize the social welfare. Moreover, trust in the technology is a special determining factor and is likely to affect the size of the market and network effect theory for a blockchain-based environment. We also found that blockchain implementation in highly sustainability-oriented markets is a win-win situation. Both users and blockchain platform providers enjoy the benefits of this application. Nevertheless, blockchain technology is not a viable solution for markets with high price sensitivity. Instead, markets with low price sensitivity would benefit from greater blockchain adoption rate. In highly price-sensitive markets, a combination of blockchain and traditional solution provides higher profit to the platform provider. These findings inform the theoretical implications and set the stage for future research. We established a number of research propositions that highlight the economics and diffusion of blockchain for sustainable supply chains. The important managerial aspects of the developed models include identifying how blockchain use diffusion would affect blockchain technology platform value especially in a sustainable supply chain environment

Blockchain Practices, Potentials, and Perspectives in Greening Supply Chains

Blockchain technology is an inchoate technology whose current popularity is peaking. Some of the most pervasive blockchain technology use cases exist for supply chains. Sustainable, and especially green, supply chains can benefit from blockchain technology, but there are also caveats. The sustainability and environmental management research and academic literature is only starting to investigate this emergent field. This paper seeks to help advance the discussion and motivate additional practice and research related to green supply chains and blockchain technology. This viewpoint paper provides insight into some of the main dimensions of blockchain technology, an overview of the use cases and issues, and some general research areas for further investigation

Digitalization and the greening of supply chains

Purpose This study provides a reflective overview on the role of traditional and emergent digitalization and information technologies for leveraging environmental supply chain sustainability – while reflecting on potential trade-offs and conflicts of digitalization and greening. Design/methodology/approach The authors use relevant literature and literature from Industrial Management and Data Systems (IMDS) research published in this journal over the past 50 years. They also use their knowledge and over 30 years of research experience in the field to provide professional scholarly reflections and perspective. Findings The authors provide a focused and succinct evaluation for research directions. A pressures, practices and performance framework sets the stage for pertinent research questions and theoretical needs to investigate the nexus of digitalization and green supply chain management. The authors provide two frameworks with exemplary practices and research for traditional and emergent digitalization and information technology. Their reflection concludes with a summary and steps forward. Social implications The authors show how research and practice can be used to affect supply chain greening with digitalization and information technology. They observe that care should be taken given that these technologies can paradoxically simultaneously offer solutions to environmental degradation and potentially be a source of environmental degradation across the supply chain. Originality/value This work provides a summary and unique perspective that links traditional and emergent digitalization technology to green and environmental sustainability work. The area has not seen a clear summary and path forward and shows how IMDS literature has contributed to the field for decades.peerReviewe

At the nexus of blockchain technology, the circular economy, and product deletion

The circular economy (CE) is an emergent concept to rethink and redesign how our economy works. The concept recognizes effective and efficient economic functioning at multiple scales-governments and individuals, globally and locally; for businesses, large and small. CE represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience at multiple levels (macro, meso and micro); generating new business and economic opportunities while providing environmental and societal benefits. Blockchain, an emergent and critical technology, is introduced to the circular economy environment as a potential enabler for many circular economic principles. Blockchain technology supported information systems can improve circular economy performance at multiple levels. Product deletion, a neglected but critical effort in product management and product portfolio management, is utilized as an illustrative business scenario as to blockchain's application in a circular economy research context. Product deletion, unlike product proliferation, has received minimal attention from both academics and practitioners. Product deletion decisions need to be evaluated and analyzed in the circular economy context. CE helps address risk aversion issues in product deletions such as inventory, waste and information management. This paper is the first to conceptualize the relationships amongst blockchain technology, product deletion and the circular economy. Many nuances of relationships are introduced in this study. Future evaluation and critical reflections are also presented with a need for a rigorous and robust research agenda to evaluate the multiple and complex relationships and interplay amongst technology, policy, commerce and the natural environment.peerReviewe

Categorizing transaction costs outcomes under uncertainty : a blockchain perspective for government organizations

Purpose: In response, the purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical frameworks about the organizational uncertainty behind what and when to adopt blockchain technology and their implications on transaction costs. The immature nature and the absence of standards in blockchain technology lead to uncertainty in government organizations concerning the adoption (“what to adopt”) and the identification of the right time (“when to start”). Design/methodology/approach: Using transaction cost theory and path dependency theory, this paper proposes two frameworks: to assess transaction cost risks and opportunities costs; and to depict four different types of transaction costs outcomes regarding blockchain adoption. Findings: This paper identifies various theoretical concepts that influence blockchain adoption and combine the two critical constructs of “bounded rationality” and the “lock-in effect” to categorize the multiple transaction costs outcomes for blockchain adoption. Research limitations/implications: Although existing research in blockchain highlights mainly the potential benefits of blockchain applications, only a little attention has been given to frameworks that categorize potential transaction costs outcomes under uncertainty, in particular from organizational theorists. Originality/value: Both frameworks advance the understanding of the decision-making behind blockchain adoption and synthesize the current literature to offer conceptual clarity regarding the varied implications and outcomes linked to the uncertainty regarding transactions costs stemming from blockchain technology.</p

Evaluating blockchain technology adoption in multi-tier supply chains from an institutional entrepreneurship theory perspective

The presence of Blockchain Technology (BCT) and its potential supply chain (SC) and logistic benefits—such as improved resilience or lessened disruption—have motivated organizations to consider BCT investment. BCT is a relatively novel technology and requires multiple participants to meet its greatest potential. Its novelty is a barrier to its adoption and can be dependent on an innovator or leader to convince others to invest in or adopt BCT. Using an institutional entrepreneurship theoretical lens, we determine who should lead the investment (adoption) or whether a collaborative investment is best. Insights into this context can be garnered using a sequential game-theoretic model where lead investment roles switch amongst parties. Four scenarios are evaluated and consider full, partial, or no collaboration between SC entities. Within this framework, the two-stage process of adopting and implementing BCT is introduced to separate cost and demand channels. During the adoption stage, a reduction in marginal production cost via positive net benefits of BCT-based transportation and logistics is considered in the cost channel. In the implementation stage, the optimal level of BCT investment is determined, increasing shipping quality for consumers in transportation and logistics and reducing supply chain disruption simultaneously, which is considered in the demand channel. The results show that greater disruption likelihood will boost retail prices, intermediate prices, and profits of SC entities after BCT is adopted. We also find that traditional SCs with higher disruption levels result in lower BCT investment. When a leader in the sequential game (the manufacturer in our model) is the institutional entrepreneur, collaboration in BCT investment becomes more attractive. One important—and counterintuitive—result reveals that when full SC cooperation doesn\u27t exist, the entire SC is better off when the follower (not the leader) in a sequential game leads BCT adoption. The unique role of reduction in transportation and logistics costs via the cost channel is to compensate for a lower BCT investment due to lack of competition or reinforce a higher BCT investment by counterbalancing opportunistic behaviors. © 2024 Elsevier Lt

Assessing blockchain technology adoption in the Norwegian oil and gas industry using Bayesian Best Worst Method

Despite the promising features of blockchain, such as enhancing efficiency, transparency, immutability, cost savings, and traceability, the technology is still not widely adopted across industries. The oil and gas industry uses state-of-the-art engineering solutions for oil and gas exploration but substantially lags behind in using innovative digital technologies that can improve operational excellence. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework for assessing blockchain adoption strategies. The framework builds on critical factors for blockchain adoption and four adoption strategies — single use, localization, substitution, and transformation. Data were collected from ten experts in the Norwegian oil and gas industry using a structured web survey. The Bayesian Best Worst Method (BWM), a probabilistic MCDM method, was used for analysis. The results suggest that three sub-criteria, which are lack of expertise about technology, lack of supply chain partner collaboration, and reducing operation cost, have the most impact on the adoption process. As for blockchain adoption alternatives, the fourth phase, that is, transformation, is the most preferred in the context of the Norwegian oil and gas industry. The proposed framework lays the foundation for companies to understand the critical elements that need improvement to accelerate the blockchain technology adoption process

Assessing blockchain technology adoption in the Norwegian oil and gas industry using Bayesian Best Worst Method

Despite the promising features of blockchain, such as enhancing efficiency, transparency, immutability, cost savings, and traceability, the technology is still not widely adopted across industries. The oil and gas industry uses state-of-the-art engineering solutions for oil and gas exploration but substantially lags behind in using innovative digital technologies that can improve operational excellence. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework for assessing blockchain adoption strategies. The framework builds on critical factors for blockchain adoption and four adoption strategies — single use, localization, substitution, and transformation. Data were collected from ten experts in the Norwegian oil and gas industry using a structured web survey. The Bayesian Best Worst Method (BWM), a probabilistic MCDM method, was used for analysis. The results suggest that three sub-criteria, which are lack of expertise about technology, lack of supply chain partner collaboration, and reducing operation cost, have the most impact on the adoption process. As for blockchain adoption alternatives, the fourth phase, that is, transformation, is the most preferred in the context of the Norwegian oil and gas industry. The proposed framework lays the foundation for companies to understand the critical elements that need improvement to accelerate the blockchain technology adoption process