Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World 0323899633, 9780323899635

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Blockchain in a VOLATILE-UNCERTAINCOMPLEX-AMBIGUOUS WORLD

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Blockchain in a VOLATILE-UNCERTAINCOMPLEX-AMBIGUOUS WORLD Edited by

KALIYAN MATHIYAZHAGAN Professor, Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

V. RAJA SREEDHARAN Senior Lecturer, Cardiff School of Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Llandaff, United Kingdom

DEEPAK MATHIVATHANAN Assistant Professor, Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Nungambakkam, Chennai, India

VIJAYA SUNDER M Assistant Professor, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India

Elsevier Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom 50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions. This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN: 978-0-323-89963-5 For information on all Elsevier publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher: Joseph P. Hayton Acquisitions Editor: Kathryn Eryilmaz Editorial Project Manager: Naomi Robertson Production Project Manager: Niranjan Bhaskaran Cover Designer: Greg Harris Typeset by TNQ Technologies

Contents Contributors

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SECTION 1 Blockchain for the VUCA world 1. Introduction to blockchain in supply chain management

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Raga Ravali B 1. Components of blockchain 2. Working of blockchain 3. Digital signature 4. SHA 256 algorithm 5. Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) 6. Classification of blockchain 7. Consensus algorithms 8. Blockchain platforms 9. Characteristics of blockchain 10. Applications of blockchain in supply chain management 11. Challenges in implementing blockchain in supply chain sector References

2. Basics of blockchain technology for supply chain operations

4 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 15 16

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Simranjeet Kaur 1. Introduction 2. Understanding blockchain technology 3. Viability of blockchain for supply chain 4. Blockchain technology advantages 5. Case studies: supply chain transparency References

3. Complexity and ambiguity for blockchain adoption in supply chain management

17 18 21 23 26 27

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Raj Kumar Reddy Kotha and Micheal Sony 1. Introduction 2. Blockchain 3. VUCA 4. Final thoughts and conclusion References

29 30 34 40 41

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4. Addressing uncertainty in supply chain management through blockchain

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M.A.S.R. Abhilash, Om Ji Shukla and Sonu Rajak 1. Introduction 2. Related works 3. The necessity of blockchain for supply chain uncertainty 4. Application of blockchain in different supply chain 5. Challenges and future research directions 6. Conclusion References

5. Role of blockchain in achieving solutions in ambiguous supply chain operations

43 44 46 48 51 53 53

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Divya Mishra, Pushpa Singh and Narendra Singh 1. Introduction 2. Blockchain and supply chain management 3. Blockchain architecture for SCM 4. Implementation challenges of blockchain in SCM 5. Applications of blockchain and supply chain in a different sector 6. Conclusion References

57 58 62 65 67 72 72

SECTION 2 Applications of blockchain in product supply chains 6. Issues and challenges of blockchain technology implementation in the meat supply chain

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V. Senthil and K. Mathiyazhagan 1. Introduction 2. Goat rearing, meat cuisines, and marketplaces 3. Case illustration 4. Issues and challenges of blockchain adoption 5. Conclusion References

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7. Blockchain technology approach for drug delivery in health care: A review

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K.N.G.L. Reshwanth, G. Rajyalakshmi, Yendeti Venkata Siva Prasanth, Chalicham Hanish, S. Aravind Raj and K. Jayakrishna 1. Blockchain technology in health care 2. Conclusion References

8. Application of Blockchain Technology in agri-food supply chains: Opportunities and challenges

89 98 98

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Rajesh Kr Singh and Laxmi Pandit Vishwakarma 1. Introduction 2. Blockchain technology and it’s applications in Agri food supply chain 3. Benefits of adopting the blockchain technology 4. Challenges in implementing blockchain technology 5. Conclusion References

101 103 106 110 113 114

SECTION 3 Applications of blockchain in service supply chains 9. The application of blockchain in talent supply chain management

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R. Deepa 1. Introduction 2. Literature review 3. Discussion 4. Conclusion References

10. Background verification using blockchain: case of Ajay, a star performer

121 123 132 137 138

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B. Aiswarya, G. Ramasundaram and Ameeta Fernando 1. Introduction 2. Why blockchain in recruitments? 3. How does blockchain work? 4. Conclusion References

141 144 145 147 148

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11. Use cases of blockchain technology for sustainable global HR operations in industry 4.0

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Alpana Agarwal 1. Introduction 2. Understanding blockchain technology and theorization of blockchain-induced HRM 3. Use cases for blockchain HR 4. Future of blockchain in HR 5. Conclusions References

12. Application of blockchain for handling volatility in supply chainsda finance perspective

149 150 152 157 158 158

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MP Pandikumar and VM Manickavasagam 1. Introduction 2. Supply chain volatility 3. Dimensions of supply chain volatility 4. Problems of supply chain volatility 5. Role of blockchain in supply chain volatility 6. Benefits of blockchain technology 7. Global landscape in the applications of BCT in supply chain technology 8. BCT Applications in Indian banking industry 9. Proposed model of further research 10. Conclusion References

163 164 164 170 177 178 187 189 190 190 191

SECTION 4 Blockchain managerial issues 13. Blockades of blockchain in supply chain management

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Esha Jain and Jonika Lamba 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Introduction Pillars of blockchain technology The objective of the study Materials and methods Significance of blockchain technology Competitive factors for implementation of blockchain technology (BC) Application of blockchain in supply chain management

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Contents

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8. Barricades in implementation of blockchain in supply chain management 9. Conclusion References

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14. Key success factors for blockchain implementation in supply chain management

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Fariba Goodarzian, Ajith Abraham and Peiman Ghasemi 1. Introduction 2. Importance and necessity of the blockchain in the SC management 3. Blockchain technology 4. Supply chain management 5. The application of the blockchain on SC management 6. Conclusion References Further reading

15. An ISM and MICMAC approach for evaluating the barriers hindering the implementation of blockchain technology in supply chains

219 221 224 225 226 229 230 231

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Sasikumar Perumal, Hamda Alhameli, Anood Mohammed Alhosani and Moaz Nagib Gharib 1. Introduction 2. Literature review 3. Problem statement 4. Solution methodology 5. Results and discussion References

16. Blockchain-enabled humanitarian supply chain management: sustainability and responsibility

233 235 237 237 247 248

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Bavly Hanna, Guandong Xu, Xianzhi Wang and Jahangir Hossain 1. Introduction 2. Theory-based supply chain management 3. Barriers to humanitarian supply chain management 4. Attributes of a blockchain to supply chain management 5. Conclusion References Index

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Contributors M.A.S.R. Abhilash National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar, India Ajith Abraham Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs), Scientific Network for Innovation and Research Excellence, Auburn, Washington, United States Alpana Agarwal Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India B. Aiswarya Loyola Institute of Business Administration Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Hamda Alhameli Department of Industrial Engineering Technology, Abu Dhabi Women’s Campus, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Anood Mohammed Alhosani Department of Industrial Engineering Technology, Abu Dhabi Women’s Campus, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates S. Aravind Raj School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India R. Deepa Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai, India Ameeta Fernando Loyola Institute of Business Administration Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Moaz Nagib Gharib Department of Management, College of Commerce and Business Administration, Dhofar University, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman Peiman Ghasemi Department of Logistics, Tourism & Service Management, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat, Oman Fariba Goodarzian Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs), Scientific Network for Innovation and Research Excellence, Auburn, Washington, United States; Engineering Group, School of Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, Seville, Spain Chalicham Hanish School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

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Contributors

Bavly Hanna University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Jahangir Hossain University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Esha Jain IILM University, Gurugram, Haryana, India K. Jayakrishna School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Simranjeet Kaur University School of Business (USB), Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Punjab, India Raj Kumar Reddy Kotha Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing (IIITDM), Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India Jonika Lamba School of Management & Liberal Studies, The NorthCap University, Gurugram, Haryana, India VM Manickavasagam Dean - Faculty of Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India K. Mathiyazhagan Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India Divya Mishra Department of Computer Science and Engineering, ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India MP Pandikumar Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Sasikumar Perumal Department of Industrial Engineering Technology, Abu Dhabi Women’s Campus, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Sonu Rajak National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar, India G. Rajyalakshmi School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India G. Ramasundaram PSG Institute of Management Studies, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Raga Ravali B Senior Consultant, Ernst & Young LLP, Hyderabad, Telangana, India K.N.G.L. Reshwanth School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Contributors

V. Senthil Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India Om Ji Shukla National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar, India Rajesh Kr Singh Management Development Institute Gurgaon, Haryana, India Pushpa Singh Department of Computer Science and Engineering, GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida, India Narendra Singh Department of Management Studies, G. L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India Yendeti Venkata Siva Prasanth School of Electronics Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Micheal Sony Faculty of Engineering, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia Laxmi Pandit Vishwakarma Management Development Institute Gurgaon, Haryana, India Xianzhi Wang University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Guandong Xu University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

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SECTION 1

Blockchain for the VUCA world

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction to blockchain in supply chain management Raga Ravali B

Senior Consultant, Ernst & Young LLP, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

The digital world today is highly unpredictable and vulnerable with new innovations entering the market every day. To survive in the VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous), there is a need of pathbreaking research in the field of technology. The traditional strategies require modification to suit the changing businesses. Blockchain is one of the revolutionary outcomes of state-of-the-art research alongside artificial intelligence and machine learning. It is highly relevant in supply chain because of the constant security and trust issues the industry is facing. Blockchain research and applications have emerged dramatically over the past few years. Blockchain technology is a pioneer to efficiently solve the problems of security and privacy issues in the banking industry at low cost while it has the same potential in the supply chain industry. Blockchain has the inherent capacity to bring a phenomenal change in the governance models and establish controls based on a high degree of transparency and decentralization. Though the scope of blockchain is broad, it faces several challenges such as absence of regulatory standards, illegal usage of cryptocurrency, scalability, and internet accessibility. It is important to work on the technology with these aspects under consideration. Blockchain technology introduced technological disruptions to the traditional business processes since its inception almost a decade ago (Nakamoto & Bitcoin, 2008). Its applications in manufacturing and service supply chains have been prominent in the last decade. As a sole source of information, Blockchain helps integrate all functions of a firm’s operations by improving visibility, transparency, robustness, and security, based on record-keeping functionalities, to accurately assess demand, effectively manage resources, control costs and reduce inventory. International institutions, including the World Bank, IMF (International Monetary Fund) and United Nations have been closely monitoring blockchains’ development and have explored their application in various fields. Blockchain is .

Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00006-X

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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believed to be critical to the global economy’s long-term viability, bringing benefits to consumers and society in general (Casino et al., 2019). The recent advancement of digital technologies has paved the way for Blockchain as a peer-to-peer transaction platform, which does not need any third-party intermediary. Consequently, Blockchain received significant attention in Supply chain management. The supply chain is a “network of organizations involved in the various processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the end customer through upstream and downstream links”. The major issues the supply chain sector encounters currently are product traceability and counterfeit products despite RFID tags being used for every product. Product ownership management using blockchain helps in preventing the cloning of RFID tags. Supply chain finance involves financial institutions collaborating upstream and downstream to provide financial services and products (Du et al., 2020) whose problems can be solved using Blockchain as it provides reliable information. Proof of work was used to enhance security while it led to selfish mining, which is an impediment resulting in forking and a long-run change of control to the miner (Zheng et al., 2018). The problem of technology adoption remains despite solving other issues as it depends on technical knowledge and understandability (Cuccuru, 2017). Blockchain in supply chain helps to establish circular economy model, which focuses on make-use-recycle rather than the traditional approach of make-use-dispose. This helps to win the trust of the customers as they can trace the products from origin to sale (Casado-Vara et al., 2018). Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology-based digital ledger for economic transactions. It is a data recording mechanism that makes it resistant to hacking, manipulation or cheating the system. The database information is visible to every member of the network. It is managed in a decentralized manner and called a “peer-to-peer” network. It is highly secure by design and hacker-proof.

1. Components of blockchain •

Node: A node is a computer or a user in the network. They form the fundamental elements of the blockchain network. All nodes in the network are connected to exchange information. The functions of a node are as follows, • Nodes verify if a transaction block is valid and accept or reject it accordingly. • Nodes archive the blocks of transactions.

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•

• • • •

Nodes transmit the transaction history to other nodes, which need to sync with the network. Block: A block contains the data, which is like the pages in the ledger book. Chain: It is a sequence of blocks connected. Any change in a block will have a ripple effect on every other block linked. Miners: Miners aim at validating every transaction. They run a cryptographic hash algorithm to perform the verification. Miners require a high-speed processing system. Transactions: It is the transfer of data between nodes. These transactions are permanently recorded only after verification.

2. Working of blockchain It is a network of interconnected nodes in which the data is published on a shared ledger. The first node, which does not have a reference to the previous node is called the genesis node. Every transaction in the network is stored in the form of a hash, making it highly secure. The validation of data is done by the process called mining while the nodes performing this process are called miners. The users can access the system with the help of public and private keys. Some of the powerful characteristics of blockchain, which make it a promising technology are immutability, decentralized, transparency, persistence, independent operation, anonymity, auditability, privacy, and consensus-driven (Zheng et al., 2018). Blockchain also has the capability of executing smart contracts, which are conditions and rules of a contract coded into the system. The code is self-executed by the system, and it notifies the parties involved in the contract about the terms of the contract at the right time (Mol et al., 2019). The header and body are two elements of each block in a blockchain. The block header consists of the block version, parent block hash, merkle tree root hash, timestamp, nBits, and nonce. The transaction counter and the actual transactions make up the block body. Asymmetric cryptographic mechanisms are used to validate the transactions (Zheng et al., 2018). It uses a digital cryptographic signature in a trust less environment. The cryptographic security check is done at two levels. At the first level, private keys are used to authenticate the transaction while at the second level; miners verify the transaction (Lipton, 2018). Blockchain Technology (BCT) is distributed ledger that enables secure asset transfer. Blockchain can be used to tokenize any physical asset such as

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land, gold, etc., for ease of exchange. Blockchain stores the data in a decentralized manner. Every node in the blockchain network has a duplicate copy of the complete ledger. Every transaction in the blockchain network is recorded in the distributed ledger database. The database is immutable but visible to every participant in the network, thereby ensuring transparency. Blockchain differs from other databases in the way data is encrypted and structured. Blockchain appends a timestamp to every transaction and every transaction hash code is linked to the next transaction forming a chain. This clearly explains the name, which means, the data chunks (blocks) are linked as a chain. Blockchain has immense potential in terms of embedding the control norms by means of smart contracts. Smart contracts also play a significant role in quality control by ensuring the product parameters match the predefined standards. The temperature compliance for goods across the cold chain can be accurately verified using smart contracts (Azzi et al., 2019). This eliminates the need for other external legal advisors. The true value of blockchain is still decades away from reaching the early and late majority.

3. Digital signature The data authenticity of blockchain systems is maintained using digital signature. It is a mathematical scheme based on public key cryptography. During each transaction in the blockchain network, there is an encryption and decryption process. The digital signature algorithm used in blockchain is Elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA). Every user owns a public and a private key. The sender encrypts or signs the data using the private key. The encrypted data is sent to everyone in the network. This data is accessed using public keys. There are two stages in assigning digital signatures, namely signing stage, and verifying stage.

4. SHA 256 algorithm A cryptographic hash is similar to a signature for data. It secures the data against manipulation. Hash differs from encryption in not being able to be reverted back to the original form, which (decryption) is possible with encrypted text. This was first developed by the National Security Agency. This standard was adopted by blockchain developers to develop a highly secure system.

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In a blockchain system, the large input data is first broken into portions of 512 bits. The last portion will not have 512 bits because every input message may not be a multiple of 512. This part is appended with additional bits to make it 512. This altered data is passed through a compression function and converted to 256 bits. This is then appended to the next block and the process of compression is repeated further. Thus the data of a block becomes a part of the next block, thereby forming a chain. Two properties of the hash value are: collision-free and immutable. Collision-free implies that no two blocks can have the same hash value, and immutable means that the hash value cannot retrieve block info.

5. Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) A “Decentralized Autonomous Organization” or (DAO) is a category of organization where there is no hierarchy and hierarchical structure, rules and regulations are encoded in codes in the form of blockchain smart contracts. Bitcoin is considered to be the first DAO while this concept was introduced in the early 1990s. Buterin defines a DAO as a “virtual entity that has a certain set of members or shareholders which have the right to spend the entity’s funds and modify its code”. DAO enables self-governing blockchain system. In the initial years DAO was subject to several hacks and this helped in identifying the loopholes in the system. Thus several highly secure systems were developed.

6. Classification of blockchain Blockchains are classified under three distinctive categories based on the access permissions. They are Public blockchain, consortium blockchain and Private blockchain. Public blockchain: These types of blockchains have no restrictions on validations and participation. The authority and control over the blockchain is equally distributed among all the participants (Kiran et al., 2018). Private blockchain: These are restricted blockchains, which require permission to perform transactions. This results in improved governance and control than the public blockchain. They are used within closed networks (Kiran et al., 2018). Consortium blockchain: These blockchains are also known as hybrid blockchains. It has the combined characteristics of private and public blockchain. These are usually governed by groups rather than single entity (Kiran et al., 2018).

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7. Consensus algorithms A consensus algorithm is a mechanism used to verify the validity of data in the system. This enhances the security of the system and makes it trustworthy. There are several types of consensus algorithms used at present with Proof of stake being the most efficient algorithm. The different consensus algorithms are explained below. 7.1 Proof of work (PoW) Proof of work is a computationally demanding procedure in which each network node creates a hash value. The block header is changed as a result of this. Different nonces are used to calculate hash values until the target is met. All nodes in the network confirm the value obtained by one node. This process of calculating the hash value is called mining and the nodes involved are called miners. There is a problem of forks being generated when two nodes find the right value at the same time. As per PoW protocol, the longer chain is considered to be the authentic chain and used for further blocks. The miners will be rewarded with bitcoins based on the amount of mining done. 7.2 Proof of stake (PoS) The energy consumption in PoW is higher as it is open to everyone in the network and also the need of fast and efficient operating systems. In PoS, the miners are allowed to find the nonce in proportion to the amount of currency they own. The belief is that the largest stakeholder will not attack the network but there is a chance of the richest person becoming dominant and controlling the mining process. To avoid this problem several alternatives such as Peercoin and Blackcoin were proposed. 7.3 Delegated proof of stake (DPoS) In DPoS, the currency holders can delegate the process of validation to others. These delegated miners can be changed and removed as required by the token holder. This helps reduce the centralization and results in a collaborative effort. 7.4 Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) The transfer of inconsistent information into the blockchain network is prevented using BFT algorithms. It helps avoid the Byzantine problem, in this process the right transactions are identified by repeated voting.

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7.5 Practical byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT) In PBFT, the node that receives 2/3 of the votes can proceed to the next processing step. This ensures that the nodes are known to everyone in the network, thereby enhancing the security of the system. 7.6 Proof of burn (PoB) In PoB the miners must burn their currency to increase their chance of being selected for mining the next block. Burning is done by sending the coins to an unrecoverable address. This however leads to wastage of resources. Slim coin uses this. 7.7 Proof of capacity (PoC) In PoC, the miner must have more hard disk space. In PoC, the data sets known as “Plots” are generated. Before the mining process, the miners should download these plots into their hard disks. So, greater the space, greater will be the chances of mining. Burstcoin uses PoC. 7.8 Proof of activity (POA) PoA is the combination of PoW and PoS. The miners start with PoW and then switch over to PoS when the blocks do not contain transactions. It is high energy consuming process. Decred uses this type of consensus algorithm.

8. Blockchain platforms Blockchain platforms enable building blockchain-based applications. These platforms can be permissioned or permissionless. The blockchain platform suitable for a particular application can be chosen based on the ease of working on it, consensus algorithm used, ledger type and how secure the platform is. There are several platforms available today; a few popular platforms are discussed below in detail. Hyperledger Fabric: It was developed for permissioned systems. Only authorized participants can perform the transactions over this platform. It was developed by Linux foundation. It has variants such as Sawtooth and Ioha. Ripple: It was found in 2012. It enables global transfers as a “XRP or Ripple” digital currency, which is now one of the successful cryptocurrencies such as Ether and Bitcoin. Companies such as American express and Delloite are testing the platform.

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Quorum: This was found by J.P. Morgan. It is a different version of Ethereum. In contrast to other blockchain platforms, this uses vote based algorithms to process the transactions. It also permissioned type of ledger. Corda: It was built in 2015 by a consortium of financial institutions called R3. Today, it is also used by other industries. This platform does not have a cryptocurrency of its own. EOS: It was developed with the aim of offering the facilities to develop decentralized applications. The users of these applications are exempted from any fees required for transactions. Ethereum: It is an open source platform known for running smart contracts. The run time environment for Ethreum is provided by Ethereum virtual machine (EVM). It is a permissionless ledger and has a large community support, which is significant for any programmer. A few other blockchain platforms are Tezos, Stellar, Hedera, Openchain, Dragonchain and EOS. Thus a broad range of platforms are available to a user today. This also encourages many start-up enterprises to invest in blockchain based application.

9. Characteristics of blockchain Resilience: Every member in the blockchain network has a copy of the data, which protects the system from attacks. Decentralization: A blockchain network functions without any third party central authority. The users in the system verify the transactions, which is more reliable than a central authority doing the verification. Anonymity: The identity of a user in the blockchain system is not exposed, as the transactions are carried out using their addresses. These addresses can be changed any number of times by the user. Auditability: Every transaction on blockchain can be traced back using the timestamp and every node on the network is accessible to the users. This enhances the transparency and traceability of the system. Immutability: The data in a blockchain is in the form of hashes and the hash of the new block contains the information of the previous block. This makes the system fool proof. There have been evidenced of hackers using forking to manipulate the data. But the original data remains intact. Security: Security is crucial for any supply chain system. Blockchain offers high data security as the historical data is immutable. The data is stored in several systems across the network; hence data manipulation becomes difficult.

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10. Applications of blockchain in supply chain management Supply chain today includes extensive paper work and manual inspections, which reduces the efficiency in processing. The smart contracts in blockchain can help to improve efficiency and reduce the associated risk (Guo & Liang, 2016). The existing centralized systems face the risk of a. single node attack, b. data manipulation, and c. information exposure as they are maintained by third party authorities. Blockchain proves to be the most promising current technical solution that can address the issues faced by supply chain industry due to its disruptive presence and even robust if integrated with IoT. Blockchain aids in reducing counterfeit goods by saving the complete product data right from origin. The existing supply-chain management approach lacks coordination amongst multiple network actors. As a result, there are time delays, disparities in knowledge, and an ineffective management process across supply chains. The current infrastructure lacks the capabilities needed to successfully manage data so that it is consistent across all supply chain stakeholders, blockchain helps to streamline the supply chain processes. Smart contracts in blockchain helps in improving the integrity of the company by serving as a data source for regulatory and compliance standards. At each link in the supply chain, there are a slew of different participants. Even now, most procedures are still carried out by humans. This leads to errors in various processes such as inventories, finance, accounting, invoices, and so on. Smart contracts offered by blockchain also provide a framework for promoting automation and reducing reliance on human labor. Blockchain has been successfully implemented in the first stage for the following cases to solve various problems. Oil supply chaindTo track the oil from its origin till it reaches the customer thereby improving operational efficiencies and reducing the time taken to conduct transactions across its operating firms. This tracking also helps in recycling and waste management, regulatory management, financial reconciliation and tracking carbon footprint. Companies ,which are implementing blockchain in oil and gas supply chain are Shell, Abu Dhabi national oil company, British Petroleum, Chevron, ExxonMobil, etc. (Dutta et al., 2020) Diamond trackingdIncrease the accuracy of production data to increase transaction transparency and enable traceability across the value

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chain. Everledger, a firm has recognized the need for traceability and is aiming to increase transparency in the diamond supply chain, eliminating fraud, illegal markets, and trafficking. The company has identified 40 metadata points that characterize a diamond (e.g., serial number, color, carats, cut, clarity, angles) digitally secured records on blockchain with links to the laser inscription on the stone’s girdle. There have been 1.6 million gems uploaded to the blockchain network thus far. Their services are mostly used by insurance companies, banks, and open markets in the transaction verification process, but they have lately expanded their business model to include other luxury goods such as wines and artworks (Dutta et al., 2020). Food and FMCGdTo track the state of food, its quality, expiry, etc., from farm to fork. Implementing blockchain is also touted to aid brand owners to protect their data while also integrating their online and offline traceability systems for food safety and quality management channels. RFID tags are used to gather information about the products such as moisture, movement, temperature, chemical/gas, and the data was transferred over IoT. This data is stored on blockchain, which provides the data mapping across the entire supply chain (Dutta et al., 2020). E.g.: Cargill, an American agriculture firm, is testing blockchain technology to allow customers to trace the turkey’s origins back to the farm. Using an IBM-developed blockchain infrastructure, Walmart is attempting to track fresh and leafy greens items back to the farm. Walmart utilizes blockchain technology to trace the meat it imports from China. Data such as cold chain operations and sales dates are maintained in the blockchain for this purpose. LogisticsdBlockchain integration helps in tracking the product from its raw material stage at the origin till it is turned into final product and sold at a retail store. The primary objectives are to cut costs, prevent theft and fraud, and shorten transaction times. For hyperconnected logistics, blockchain can be combined with smart contracts. CargoCoin company uses smart contracts in a project to establish a safe mechanism of storing and transferring tokenized items in a variety of supply chain businesses (shipping via land, sea, and air). On a global scale, it facilitates communication between cargo traders and transporters. This allows all supply chain stakeholders to have a way for submitting, receiving, rejecting, approving, or signing necessary documentation.

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AgriculturedUsing blockchain to develop a product insurance system helps to protect against yield loss by using satellites to measure precipitation and automatically trigger payouts. Demand forecastingdToday every member in the supply chain derives their own forecast based on the past data available due to lack of complete information. This leads to higher or lower inventory levels impacts the finances of the firm. Blockchain helps every member in supply chain to produce one single forecast based on the demands of the end consumer without affecting the privacy of the data as it can be provided accessible only to the targeted members. Pharmaceutical supply chaindBlockchain applications are being used to tackle the global trade in counterfeit medications across the chain including raw materials providers, health organizations, manufacturers, packaging, distributors, logistics firms, retailers, and patients. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), sales of counterfeit medications range between US $163 billion to $217 billion each year. This is especially true when it comes to online drug purchases, where the World Health Organization believes that half of the drugs sold on the internet are counterfeit. Blockchain enables consumers to use the medicines with complete information about the medicine thereby reducing health risk (Dutta et al., 2020). Business process managementdBlockchain allows effective business process management through smart contracts by merging the control flow and operational logic of interorganizational business. These controls, which act as an interface between enterprise applications and blockchain, are enabled by triggers. According to a pilot study of contract management for a grid operator, there is an information gap between various stakeholders, which leads to suboptimal business performance, which can be easily solved by the traceability and transparency of blockchain. In addition, blockchain technology can be utilized to increase the efficiency, traceability, and visibility of orders in customer-order-process management (COM). Proof of concept algorithm in blockchain also facilitates asset management, which ensures transparency, dependability, and efficiency (Dutta et al., 2020). 10.1 Financial supply chain •

Consortium banking: The banks form a consortium to lend money for large projects in order to share the financial risk. The inspection of various documents is done in parts by all the banks. The collected information can be easily shared across the banks using blockchain (Shah & Jani, 2018).

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Payments: The introduction of e-payments has increased the number of transactions but the existing online portals are not efficient enough to handle and track these transactions. Even with the KYC process it is arduous to link the customer data and trace their transactions. Blockchain provides a solution by avoiding the need for an intermediary and its decentralized public ledger (Shah & Jani, 2018). Taxation: Blockchain proves advantageous for the government in tax calculation, receiving tax payments, expenditure of taxes as it reduces the administration costs associated with transaction taxes such as VAT, withholding Tax, stamp duties, etc. Blockchain also helps in the GST system in India for end to end monitoring (Aras & Kulkarni, 2017).

10.2 Shipping Industry The cargo shipping industry uses blockchain to build a verifiable and distributed shipping system that aggregates and interconnects all business activity in the context of a shipment (finance, banking, IoT, SC, manufacturing, and insurance). In marine SCs, blockchain ensures lower transaction, enforcement, and disintermediation costs. Low real-time transaction delays, transaction transparency from remote locations, greater data confidentiality, transaction validation, and fraud management can all be achieved with integrated and networked commercial ships. Smart contracts can be used to monitor shipments, automate payments, track violations, and make the entire SC more efficient using a blockchain-based system with IoT connected smart containers (Dutta et al., 2020). 10.3 Energy Sector Blockchain has the capability to transform the power grids by facilitating transparent, secure, and efficient electrical energy transactions. Blockchain also supports the construction of transactional energy systems, in which distributed agents can trade and communicate directly with one another, in a flat trading and decentralized system. It allows a decentralized and distributed accounting method to fulfill the current requirements of players’ scattered needs in the energy market by separating the trading process into two stages: the call auction stage and the ongoing auction stage (Dutta et al., 2020). 10.4 Construction sector Blockchain can be used in the construction industry in categories such as smart cities and shared economies, smart dwellings, construction

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management, smart energy, smart governance, smart transportation, and so on, using conceptual frameworks. The construction industry must prepare for the introduction of blockchain technology as well as organizational transformation to succeed in the future (for example, real estate rental services). Researchers have analyzed how blockchain technology could be used in supply chains for construction sector to improve information management and payment security (Dutta et al., 2020). 10.5 Automotive Industry In the automotive supply chain, a lack of supply chain infrastructure can result in excessive distribution costs. Legitimacy of any part can be confirmed using blockchain while ensuring verification, authentication and transfer of ownership is easier and trustworthy. In case of vehicle recalls blockchain helps in tracking the parts replaced, usage details, etc., thereby saving time for the manufacturers (Dutta et al., 2020).

11. Challenges in implementing blockchain in supply chain sector Lack of understanding: Many industries and warehouses continue to follow the traditional paper-based record keeping due to lack of understanding of the technology by the employees working at the assembly line level and additional training for the same would be required. Immutability: The data entered in a blockchain system in immutable, which poses to be a challenge when incorrect data is entered into the system. If the information is recorded in an unreliable manner, the adoption of Blockchain technology may be more harmful to the user than beneficial. The Blockchain’s immutability does not ensure the data’s quality. Scalability: The transaction capability of blockchain is limited to 7 tps, which is much lower than the current digital transaction mechanism. The storage of blocks is also a limiting factor. As the number of blocks increases, there will be a shortage of storage space since every member has the entire ledger data available with them. Interoperability: Multiple standards and consortia lead to lack of interoperability among the different blockchain systems and with other digital services. The community of blockchain is not fully developed due to the lack of standards. Latency: The current operating speed of blockchains is around 10 min per block. This is much slower than the payment processing using credit

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and debit cards, which process 2500 transactions per second. The time consumption is attributed the tedious PoW process used by the blockchains Selfish mining: When miners do not publish the mined chain to the public, the blockchain is vulnerable to assaults. The private chain will be longer than the network chain, and it will only be opened when the miner’s demand is met. Cost: Applying new technology to a current database incurs a variety of costs, including integration, maintenance, and so on. There are many fees associated with the execution of a smart contract or any other type of transaction. As a result, making an investment in Blockchain Technology adoption, as well as the financial considerations that organizations make while evaluating the choice, is unavoidable.

References Aras, S. T., & Kulkarni, V. (2017). Blockchain and its applicationsda detailed survey. International Journal of Computer Applications, 180(3), 29e35. Azzi, R., Chamoun, R. K., & Sokhn, M. (2019). The power of a blockchain-based supply chain. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 135, 582e592. Casado-Vara, R., Prieto, J., la Prieta, F., & Corchado, J. (2018). How blockchain improves the supply chain: Case study alimentary supply chain. Procedia Computer Science, 134, 393e398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2018.07.193 Casino, F., Dasaklis, T. K., & Patsakis, C. (2019). A systematic literature review of blockchain-based applications: Current status, classification and open issues. Telematics and Informatics, 36, 55e81. Cuccuru, P. (2017). Beyond bitcoin: An early overview on smart contracts. International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 25(3), 179e195. Du, M., Chen, Q., Xiao, J., Yang, H., & Ma, X. (2020). Supply chain finance innovation using blockchain. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 67(4), 1045e1058. Dutta, P., Choi, T. M., Somani, S., & Butala, R. (2020). Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities. Transportation Research E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 142, 102067. Guo, Y., & Liang, C. (2016). Blockchain application and outlook in the banking industry. Financial Innovation, 2(1), 1e12. Kiran, L., Dinakar, R., & Prasad, P. (2018). Blockchain technologyda sturdy protective shield. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 7, 269e272. Lipton, A. (2018). Blockchains and distributed ledgers in retrospective and perspective. The Journal of Risk Finance. Mol, R. D., et al. (2019). Unleashing blockchain in finance. In Delloite CFO insights. Nakamoto, S., & Bitcoin, A. (2008). A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Bitcoin. Shah, T., & Jani, S. (2018). Applications of blockchain technology in banking & finance. Vadodara, India: Parul CUniversity. Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H. N., Chen, X., & Wang, H. (2018). Blockchain challenges and opportunities: A survey. International Journal of Web and Grid Services, 14(4), 352e375.

CHAPTER 2

Basics of blockchain technology for supply chain operations Simranjeet Kaur

University School of Business (USB), Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Punjab, India

1. Introduction Blockchain implies an internet-based technology that is valued concerning its capacity to openly authorize, study, moreover disseminate events inside permanent, encrypted entries. This technology continued designed to aid activities within bitcoin, a digital cryptocurrency that functions autonomously of a central bank. In reality, blockchain technology renders the stage to designing including disseminating these entries, either record, concerning each bitcoin transaction into thousands, if nonmillions, concerning networks associated with networks within all elements concerning the system. Because these activities moreover entries comprise encrypted, this technology advances more enhanced protection than some banking design, moreover, its immediate deliverance through the internet reduces banks’ 2e3 days clearing rule and supplementing expenses toward transporting cash of one account to another. This phrase “blockchain” is procured from the “blocks” of validated moreover permanent transactions also whence all joining collectively into the sequential system to develop a string. Hence we got the phrase “blockchain.” The thing that is actually useful to understand is that there is a lot of potential for the technology and every technology goes through its ups and downs right so if you look at it from the perspective of how technology has changed our lives blockchain is one such technology, which has tremendous potential we are in a bit of a blockchain winter now so you know the euphoria of 2017e18 has died down a bit but actually what I’m going to talk about the potential of the technology if you look at what neutral sources claim 10% of global GDP will be stored on blockchain based, blockchain a database so you know databases store 10% of global GDP as

Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00008-3

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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per World Economic Forum another sources Gartner, which says that the value add from blockchain will you know accelerate 2175 billion 2025 and 3.1 trillion now these numbers could be way off the mark but the point is you know we’re talking of that kind of potential of this business blockchain will not be a technology banded it will actually replace the existing process in various industries. One in every five banks have actually implemented a blockchain pilot so there has been some pilots that have been there but really it’s not really been a whole lot, most of the pilots have been happening in US and China and that’s where India needs to catch up. The Overall size of blockchain market as per a neutral market research firm is no just 23.3 billion these are very small number so why is this important: There is a concept called Exponential technologiesdthis technology is something, which states that for a few years the growth is almost stagnant or zero and therefore you believe that something doesn’t have potential because you know you don’t see it growing or expanding rapidly and then suddenly when there is the movement from the early adopters to the early majority that’s where suddenly gets into network effects and technology starts kind of pretty much getting to a critical mass and so thats where we believe that maybe till 2023 market actually will be in that phase where its actually stagnant growth, early stage, innovators to early adopters and that’s a very small percentage of the market but from early adopters to early majority that is where the market will explode and that will happen probably post 2025.

2. Understanding blockchain technology Blockchain consists of a series of connected blocks, where the history of transactions can be easily traced via previous blocks to make the system transparent and reliable. Each block has a unique ID and the hash of the previous block, which guarantees security of the transaction. All transactions are validated and recorded by the network users, and are time stamped, arranged in chronological order, connected to the preceding block and, once added to the network, are irreversible. This whole blockchain structure makes it a “confident technology” so most of us would know what is blockchain so I just wanted to mention that you know there is a lot of confusion around distributed and

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decentralized actually decentralized a subset of distributed systems but blockchain is a,

•when 2 pares iniate a deal, Blockchain consigns an encrypon

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2 • Blockchain validates every acvity moreover forms a block

•unique block is annexed to the blockchain

4 •the transacon is now complete and ledger is updated

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distributed Ledger that meansdthe Ledger can be operated by multiple nodes anywhere they are located it’s actually distributed computing by the notes • It’s decentralized in the sense that each node can actually decide whether they have the ability to create a block, Both these are actually meaning the same thing so there is no real confusion about these terms it’s distributed computing and decentralization of decisions • So what that means is essentially blockchain is a set of blocks particular set of transactions creates a cryptographic hash created by the content any small digit or number you change that has changes so if you have to basically tamper with anything then the link to the previous block will get lost because the hash changes so that’s why the technologies powerful and • so let say some hacker somewhere is trying to bring down the network so he votes you know something, which is not factual so he basically creates that you know I would say they lack of consensus is that if you have more than 51% voting for you the block will be accepted and it will be you know put onto the blockchain and then the next block will come again after 10 min it’s a set of transactions, which is part of Ledger and you are presuming that these are all voted for by neutral notes where people have incentive to be honest. 2.1 How blockchain looks like It is peer to peer network because most of the transaction happens between notes so thats peer to peer, individuals or it maybe companies doesn’t matter enter into transactions the transactions, which are loaded on and the miner who is crack block create a block, which is the shortest I would say

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set of transactions, which are linked together and that block is actually a series of blocks is the blockchain and then there is a consensus mechanism we discussed about proof of work and proof of stake, which sits on top and enable the block because you know that is seen by majority notes as one defining the set of transaction in the best possible way and then you have something like state machines and all that, which is the etheriumdvirtual machines and all that, which enables the computation on the cloud. It pretty much prevalent but if you look at the countries who are done the most work in blockchain I would say a lot of East Europe you know countries like Estonia and all have actually made this legally enforceable that’s also where the innovation originated. The three properties of the blockchain technology that is going to help disrupt the supply chain management system are: • Decentralization • Immutable • Transparency Decentralization. The very core of blockchain technology is the idea of decentralization. Basically, it is not a centralized entity that owns any data stored within the blockchain, but that is shared by anyone who’s part of the blockchain network. The problem with the current supply chain industry is that all suppliers and procurement agents are unintentionally turning into their own silos. Nothing will assure us that the information sent by these people is 100% authentic or nonauthentic. This very concept of silos is broken by the blockchain. There is no question of data isolation if all those different entities throughout the world are connected through this chain. Not everybody on the blockchain shares all the data that would have stored in it. Immutability. It basically means nontamperable. Nobody can alter the financial records and justify additional payments when the data are entered in the blockchain. The cause of the blockchain is because the hash functions are cryptographic. Hashing means simply taking an input string of any length and providing a fixed length output. In cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, transactions are used inputs and a hashing algorithm has been developed to give a fixed-length output (bitcoin uses SHA-256). So, whether large or small, the output always has a fixed length of 256 bits. The “Avalanche effect”dThe changes reflected in your hash will be enormous, even if you make a small change in your input. Transparency. The identity of a person is concealed through complex encryption and is only shown by its public address. So, when you look up

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the transaction history of a person, you will see not “Bob sent 1 BTC,” but “1MF1bhsFLkBzzz9vpFYEmvwT2TbyCt7NZJ sent 1 BTC.” Thus, while the actual identity of the individual is secure, all transactions made by their public address are still visible. There has never been a degree of transparency in a financial system before. It adds that the level of accountability, which some of these major institutions require is extra and much needed.

3. Viability of blockchain for supply chain Blockchain is a key innovative technology revolutionizing the management of the digital supply chain. Backchain has been a strong contender to defused all data, papers and exchanges within the supply channel ecosystem, as supply chains become more complex, involve diverse stakeholders and rely mainly on a number of external intermediaries. By mapping and visualizing company supply chains, Blockchain improves operational efficiency. Highly applicable to supply chain managers are the distinctive features of blockchains: Transactions that are transparent and controlled. There is no broker Blockchain (e.g., a bank). It makes settlements quicker and more transparent, as the bookmark is automatically updated. Payment conditions, even the visibility of the transaction, may be preprogrammed automatically so that only permitted participants can be visible. Transaction fees preapproved. The commission for the transaction is only deducted when cross-border payments with Swift are carried out after the completion of the transactiondor more specifically after a number of intermediary banks have executed the transaction. You know the fee in advance in the event of a blockchain. Checking features. All transactions are immediately visible to authorized parties, which means nobody can manipulate, delete, or hide any additional information. Trustworthy. Because it is distributed, blockchain has no single failure point. In addition, all transactions on the blockchain are unchanging and irrevocable, eliminating further the risk of fraud. 3.1 Bitcoin and blockchain Bitcoin was the first implementation of blockchain and lot of us compare blockchain with Bitcoin but they are two completely different things.

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Bitcoin is an application an cryptocurrency whereas blockchain is underlying infrastructure, which creates processes, which are efficient and this is what is kind of replacing entire processes across industries. A consensus mechanism is earlier proof of work so lot of mining that we hear ofdPeople who are actually trying to create a block they get paid in bitcoins so everyone bitcoins its value come down a bit but let’s $20,000 now its maybe $7e8000 so if one can actually crack a block you get now 1/4 of a Bitcoin so that’s huge money right for someone who’s you know sitting and cracking code and. Proof of work meant that your computer was much more powerful that is changing now and you are actually having alternate consensus mechanisms like proof of stake and proof of elapsed time so proof of stake is that you know I put a particular stake in terms of me voting as a note if I own 10% stake, which are put in there and I vote then I have 10% voting rights so its like almost shareholding pattern the risk is if I vote incorrectly and improving wrong I lose that steak, which is why again you are trying to inculcate and promote on his behavior so there is a loss that person will lose his take, which is why he will not vote for something, which is false or malicious and proof of lapse time is something is a mechanism called truth, which was originated Intel so this is the consensus mechanism. 3.2 Smart contract smart contract so essentially all the decisions in the process are coded into smart contract smart contract has nothing to do with legal contracts in fact it’s not legally tenable, which is why now lot of lawyers are trying to see how they can make this legally enforceable some countries like Estonia, Switzerland and others have started accepting these as legally tenable but not in India. So these are basically code, which enables that each of the participants can choose to basically get automatically paid if let’s say their part of the contract is done so for instance if I’m supposed to deliver something and I kind put that in there the smart contract recognizes that you know this item has been delivered so it automatically releases my payment, subject to the vote of the neutral notes so we don’t have to go and chase up for payments and you know do that traditional stuff that small vendors have to do with big companies.

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4. Blockchain technology advantages Given the complexity and lack of transparency in current supply chains, Blockchains are highly interested in the way that the supply chain and logistics industry can be transformed. Blockchain can provide more transparency throughout the supply chain as well as lower costs and risk. In particular, the main advantages of the blockchain supply chain innovation can be: • One of the distinctive features of this technology is being public. The blocks and transactions can be seen by everyone involved but at the same time the contents of a transaction; it is protected with a private key. • A decentralized blockchain is so that no single authority can approve transactions or establish specific rules for accepting transactions. The model therefore involves a lot of confidence, as all network participants must agree to accept transactions. • Increased traceability of the supply chain to ensure compliance with corporate standards • Reduced losses due to falsification/gray market • Enhance visibility and compliance • Reduce administrative and paperwork costs • Enhance corporate reputation by providing transparency in product materials • Improving creditworthiness and public confidence of shared data • Reduce potential public relations risk from abuse of the supply chain • Ensure involvement of interested parties IT and supply chain worlds have been excited by Blockchain technology. It has also inspired many papers and prompted established IT players and start-ups to undertake promising pilot projects, including the. Walmart tested a pork tracking and manufacturing application. In China, to authenticate transactions and to ensure record accuracy and efficiency. • BHP introduces a blockchain solution that replaces sample tracking panels from a range of providers internally and externally. • The UK start-up Provenence has just raised $800,000 to adapt blockchain food tracking technology. In the Southeast Asian supply chain, it previously piloted tuna tracking. 4.1 Application in supply chain In terms of applications right that’s the most important thing we should know where does this apply so it typically applies in things, which are to do with

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anti counterfeiting like the security aspects as anyone cannot hack the network is very important. End to end traceability of supply chain e.g., lots of start-up have done food traceability you have organic foods you have foods, which are for supermarket going from the country where is originated to a supermarket in the US shelves everyone wants to know that it’s actually came from where they say it came from so lot of organic stamped products Another thing is called Providence so Providence how blockchain enables are you to prove that this was how this came through similarly cold chains you want to ensure that the temperature remain within the zone and it didn’t get spoiled because some part of the chain you know did not adhere to the temperature limitations all this is stamped onto the blockchain in supply chain and you can actually measure all this so.

4.2 IoT and blockchain •

IoT and blockchain is a big big area where are you know both the IoT sensor data and blockchain as the repository of that data and transactions work in tandem to ensure sanctity of the product finally giving comfort to the customer. • US and China have been doing the maximum number of pilots lot of this is to do with payments in banking, remittances there are also use cases in food supply chain and also of course cross border trade and your either permission list or permissioned. So all the enterprise blockchain that came up earlier, which was the set of nodes where all the participants participated was called permissioned private blockchains right so hyper Ledger one example of that when you look at Bitcoin etherium all these kind of people these are all public permission list so there is also a variant of public blockchain, which is permission so etherium for instance has both the permission list and permission blockchain when you come to permission less and you look at you know let’s a neutral notes voting they have to be incentivized and that incentivization has to come through Bitcoin or some token where they get payment for voting rights like board of directors if you call the directors for sitting fees to the board of directors right same way for the nodes because they are not party to the transaction validating a transaction they have to be compensated and that is through token. So

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what you actually find that financial services healthcare are really the places where the impact is the highest. 4.3 Blockchain in transport and logistics In transport and logistics its really from a cost saving perspective that blockchain is being used So what essentially does is that you really look at in supply chain what is the biggest pain point. The biggest pain point is documents so if someone is trying to export from India to US numerous documents need to be prepared like packing list, bill of lading, prepaid invoice all kinds of documents, which are coming together at one point and then the custom clearance documents, which is coming from the custom authorities all I have to staple together send it to the ship and container and then at each point it will get an additional document by the time it reaches the port on the other side you will have a 4 inch thick set of documents, which have to be managed. Managing this involves huge cost. So there come the need we find is that if you have something where you digitize all these documents and you don’t really need to print paper and have a central store where every party to the transaction has access to the same set of documents that would lead to the true digital digitization of the documents. The second thing is related to float so when importer bank pays the exporter bank, importer and exporter bank is actually playing with a float the exporter bank will keep telling his client, which is the exporter, that money is not received and its taking time because cross border and the importer bank is holding onto the money till is forced to remit by Bank of international settlements so once you have BIS, the regulator it’s a kind of like a cloud of RBI for cross-border payment and you have importer exporter banks trying to play with float means I have money on my account, which actually belongs to the customer but I’m not transferring it to whoever he said to so I’m playing with that interest so interest cost because I have that money, so float can be as highest 21 days in export transaction and what blockchain does it reduce it to worst case 2 days that means it could be instantaneous as well. So if one have that ability to reduce float he/she have a ability to kind of make the documentation seamless I’m just imagine the kind of cost saving that applies in the sector and what we actually really need here is that we need that true consensus mechanism, which brings in part of the permission list systems into what is essentially a permission network.

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4.4 Trade lens-container shipment blockchain Trade lens is a blockchain, which has been created by maersk and IBM. Big challenge that this platform faced was adoption by shipping lines and why was that? this was because Musk was a competitor and the largest player in the segment so if you actually have a person was 21% market share who can’t understand what is the rates that CCM and all these big similar computers are charging to their competitors for transporting goods from Nova Shiva port to Rotterdam it immediately is like opening up your books to a competitor, so the biggest adoption challenge was creating that neutrality and the fact that merce could not get access to any of the data, which was not related to them. If they were not party to this transaction they would not get access to this data. So that’s where they created 51/49 JV (joint venture), which would actually not have really musk as a company having any role to play in this blockchain pilot or blockchain Shetty, which was called the GTDdThe Global Trade Digitization So what it essentially did was it ensured confidentiality like Cortana like only the parties to the transaction could participate it had only those notes but it tried to broaden the number of notes because when does a malicious attack happen when the malicious actors control more than 50% of the voting rights, so you have to ensure there are so many neutral participants that at least 51% or more should be honest actors. 4.5 Challenge in blockchain Today the challenge block shared option is that technologies hard a lot of people who are conventional programmers have to put a lot more effort to understand goal and programming and hyper Ledger, which is also very good option is getting slow but once the pilots come off the chain what it does to the process is mean the benefits are there to see and obviously you have to have faith in it and as what said earlier you have to believe in it for 2e3 years to actually.

5. Case studies: supply chain transparency 5.1 Using blockchain to drive supply chain innovation 5.1.1 Blockchain in shipping logistics In order to manage freight tracking, a shipping company has used blockchain, which provides buyers, vendors and officials with a mechanism to

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track shipments worldwide. Products that cross border may require scrutiny and approvals by up to 30 parties prior to arrival, create large quantities of paperwork and create multiple points of process fraud that will result in trillions of maritime fraud annually. 14 The shipping company simplified the approvals process by establishing it in cooperation with customs authorities. A secure record and a reduction in time needed for goods transport transactions and approvals. Blockchain can reduce administrative and logistics schedules in shipping by more than 85%, from more than 1 week to less than 1 day, by similar usage-cases. 5.1.2 Blockchain in food production In an effort to increase supply chain transparency in coffee beans, a start-up uses Blockchain for the second largest traded commodity in the world. The company uses a decentralized distributed protocol to record transaction data for mobile transactions in real-time and allows all the parties concerned to access the payment record in all circumstances. With the coffee beans through the supply chain, the systems increase transparency and help farmers receive fair trade payments in the right way.

References A secure model of IoT with blockchain. (2017). Retrieved 18 January 2021, from https://www. technologyreview.com/2017/01/05/5880/a-secure-model-of-iot-with-blockchain/. Blockchain in supply chain management: Key use cases and benefits.(2021). Retrieved 18 March 2021, from https://medium.com/@infopulseglobal_9037/blockchain-in-supply-chainmanagement-key-use-cases-and-benefits-6c6b7fd43094. Mitra, R. (2021). Blockchain and supply chain: A dynamic duo. Retrieved 18 February 2021, from https://blockgeeks.com/guides/Blockchain-and-supply-chain/. Retrieved 18 March 2021, from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/blockchain-technology-for-supply-chainsa-must-or-a-mayb. Using blockchain to drive supply chain transparency and innovation.(2021). Retrieved 18 March 2021, from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/articles/blockchainsupply-chain-innovation.html.

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CHAPTER 3

Complexity and ambiguity for blockchain adoption in supply chain management Raj Kumar Reddy Kotha1 and Micheal Sony2 1

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing (IIITDM), Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India; 2Faculty of Engineering, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia

1. Introduction Businesses are all about risk taking and managing uncertainties and turbulence. Ongoing pandemic made corporate systems realize vulnerabilities and uncertainties in their business operations and the essence of enabling automation through digital technologies, still uncertain times are ruling the world, there is too much unpredictability in the future of every business. Nowadays, changes in businesses are fast paced, constant and unpredictable. If any one player from a particular sector is adopting the digital technologies, other players must adopt those or offer unique solutions to customers to retain them. Also, digital technologies can automate tedious and mundane processes and eventually reduce the costs, manpower, and follow ups associated with them (Reddy & Kalpana, 2021). SCM is one of the most complex yet important phase for any corporate system, maybe this is the high time for corporates to try and experiment suitable digital technologies including Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Predictive analytics (Machine learning), Prescriptive analytics (Optimization techniques), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and BCT in their supply chains. In current times centralized systems are more appreciated and adopted for most of the use cases, whereas decentralized systems are not being appreciated enough due to lack of understanding from supply chain communities about technology. For instance, take agriculture supply chain (ASC), the middlemen and third parties’ presence are unavoidable, which eliminates transparency, traceability, and visibility from the supply chain. Most of the industries are not understanding the advantage of transparency, traceability, and visibility in a supply chain for efficient business operations (Bai & Sarkis, 2020). Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00010-1

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For example, nowadays organic farming or organic products are drawing people’s attention due to increase in health consciousness, curiosity on knowing the food they consume etc., organic farming deals with conventional ways of cultivation and will have zero chemicals or artificial fertilizers. Also, there are few prerequisites for products to qualify as organic products i.e., no agrochemicals, use of organic fertilizers, crop rotation, no genetically modified organisms etc. After looking at prerequisites for organic farming, people may feel that organic farming is cost intensive, but in ground reality, farmers are spending a lot on chemicals and fertilizers, absence of these will make organic farming investments lower. Still the market price of organic products is twice compared to inorganic products, moreover customers are not sure about how organic these products are. So, with this background one can understand the power of transparency, it can bring right value to the products and can ensure seamless connection in processes, which couples the trust to the network. Now let’s focus on the SCM of organic products, of course supply chains are complex and involve multiple stakeholder presence. If organic products are damaged or not having their original form, the end user or the regulator should be able to understand what exactly happened and who is responsible or accountable for the malfunctioning, if any. This shows us the importance of traceability in the supply chain. In this chaotic situation, any organization must gain trust from their customers, the visibility can enable the trust among stakeholders or between brand and customers, in short, visibility is providing the data insights in a trusted manner. Transparency, traceability, and visibility plays a key role in the success of any kind of supply chain; distributed or decentralized ledgers can couple them into supply chains, which eventually creates a trusted ecosystem. The rest of this chapter is going to deal with BCT, leveraging BCT in SCM, and the complexities and ambiguities associated with adoption of BCT into SCM.

2. Blockchain Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT), which is an ever-growing chain of transactions and stores them in an immutable and transparent way, that are linked to cryptography. The main motivation of Blockchain is to let people who don’t trust each other work together, by enabling them to share information in a secure and tamper proof way. A

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person or group of people known as Satoshi Nakamoto (probably a pseudo name), conceptualized the Blockchain in the year 2008 (Chang et al., 2019). In Blockchain each block consists of a hash of previous function, timestamp, and transactional data, which makes Blockchain immutable, any given block cannot be modified retroactively without altering all subsequent blocks. Typically, Blockchain is resource intensive; it consists of infrastructure, network of computers, consensus, data, and ultimately an application. Blockchains got appreciation mainly due to smart contracts, which are coded scenarios and stored in BCT, when predetermined conditions are met the application executes the automated operations. Smart contracts come handy when there is a need for stringent evaluation against a set of conditions and constraints (Dolgui et al., 2020). Examples for smart contracts can be used to develop a supplier evaluation system, onboarding a supplier in case of immediate requirement, maintaining cold chain requirements for healthcare and food supply chains, and alerting the corresponding team in case of any violation, tracking the products throughout their lifecycle etc. 2.1 Centralized ledger versus blockchain Centralized ledgers are controlled by a single entity, whereas a decentralized ledger is a shared ledger that can be shared with a network, participants can have their own identical copy of ledger, any change in ledger will reflect in all copies, DLT is the parent technology for Blockchain. The detailed differences between centralized and Blockchain ledgers as follows (Dayana et al., 2019) (Table 3.1). 2.2 Private BCT versus public BCT Blockchain is of two types i.e., Permission less Blockchain or Public Blockchain and Permissioned Blockchain or Private Blockchain. The detailed description and contrasts between them are as follows (Reddy et al., 2021) (Table 3.2). 2.3 Hyperledger Fabric versus ethereum Hyperledger Fabric is a private Blockchain platform, whereas Ethereum is a public Blockchain platform.

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Table 3.1 Differences between centralized ledger and Blockchain. Parameter

Centralized ledger

Blockchain

Clearing house

Clearing house is required to settle the transactions, so this makes ledgers vulnerable

Intermediaries

Intermediaries/trusted third parties are involved in validating the integrity of transactions, which enhances the friction in system Transactions are accessible to only few stakeholders in near real-time

Settlement of transactions performed automatically on meeting with predetermined conditions, which eliminates need of a clearing house No need of intermediaries/ trusted third parties, which reduces the friction

Transparency

Immutability

Transactions can be changed by any party controlling the ledger

Security

Securities are solely dependent on methods used by controlled parties

Example

Traditional record keeping ledgers at banks etc.

Transactions are accessible and transparent to all stakeholders from network in near real-time Each transaction is time stamped and cannot be changed once added to the transaction chain Transaction data is cryptographically hashed before adding to transaction chain Bitcoin, ethereum, hyperledger fabric etc.

1. Hyperledger Fabric a. A Private BCT developed and maintained by Linux foundation and received contributions from IBM, SAP, and Intel. It is developed to support private transactions, scalability, modular design, and smart contracts (Dolgui et al., 2020) b. It uses GO programming language for application development c. Own frameworks can be deployed, need to pay for the platform, not associated with any cryptocurrencies 2. Ethereum a. Public BCT network with smart contract functionality b. Ethereum platform is an open source, it owns Ether (ETH) as the cryptocurrency. ETH also known as programmable money c. Need to pay for Ethereum in terms of ETH to deploy the application and maintenance

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Table 3.2 Differences between private blockchain and public blockchain. Parameter

Private BCT

Public BCT

Access

Mostly adopted by a single organization or a chain of organizations, access can be limited Partly decentralized, organizations can manipulate decentralized algorithms to provide authentication to their stakeholders Permissioned, can customize contents to set off stakeholders

Access can’t be limited; anyone can collaborate and contribute to the network

Authority

Consensus

Transaction cost

Transactions costs are low as organizations will be paying for the platform

Transaction speed Data handling

Comparatively fast

Immutability

Efficiency Platforms Decision variables Use cases

Read and add information access will be given for a specific group Partial, according to requirement of specific organization Comparatively high Hyperledger fabric, quorum, monax, multichain etc. Limited and constrained user base, sensitive and private information Blockchain for automotive supply chain Blockchain for any organizational use

Completely decentralized, can’t manipulate decentralized algorithms

Permission less, anyone in the network can view all contents Transactions costs are high as platform is open to all, fully deployed applications will be charged in terms of cryptos Comparatively slow Anyone can read and add information to the network Full, all networks are same in nature Comparatively low Ethereum, ripple, steller, tezos etc. User base is not confined, can’t control access to sensitive information Farm to table Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) Bitcoin

2.4 Is Blockchain a good fit for every application? Blockchains do enhance transparency, traceability, and visibility in supply chain activities, which enhances the business and embeds trust into practices and service. But every application is not suitable to get digitized by BCT, as

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Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World

Figure 3.1 Framework for evaluating essence of BCT for an application.

Blockchain comes with its own disadvantages. There are a lot of challenges associated with BCT adoption for any application, one must understand them in detail before getting attracted by the positive side of BCT. So, brainstorming and careful evaluation of use cases against BCT offerings will be the first step in BCT adoption. If any firm adopted BCT for a use case, without a strong essence or motivation behind it, the adoption could complicate the operations, in short BCT adoption will become an unfair advantage. By utilizing the following flowchart, effective decisions can be made regarding BCT adoption. You can refer to the VUCA section for the detailed discussion about complexities and ambiguities in leveraging BCT for SCM (Fig. 3.1).

3. VUCA Constraints, dependencies, challenges, and obstacles are part of running any business, and the current information age just makes everything Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014). In modern days decision making is more of an art than science. VUCA is the most used acronym to explain the unpredictable change in the ecosystem. Supply chains are no exception to the VUCA world, in fact, supply chains are more vulnerable to the changes (Reddy & Kalpana, 2021). The world witnessed the vulnerability of supply chains during the

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pandemic, the business that didn’t integrate technology into their supply chains impacted heavily by unprecedented shock. The epitome for this statement is healthcare supply chains, during these unfortunate times healthcare supply chains were tested in the first place. BCT is best fit to digitize the supply chains but generalizing all supply chains as one isn’t a good practice, so it is better to evaluate the requirement against technology as discussed above. As aforementioned BCT is immutable and secure, which promotes transparency of activities, traceability of actions, and visibility of information across the network. After evaluating the application against BCT, one can conclude what kind of Blockchain is suitable for their application. Hyperledger fabric is an appreciated private BCT, whereas Ethereum is an appreciated public BCT from Blockchain communities. 3.1 BCT adoption for SCM Supply chain can be divided into two parts i.e., Supply side and Demand side, ensuring the balance between supply and demand can lead to successful SCM, please refer to Fig. 3.2 to get more idea on how supply and demand side of the network are assumed for BCT deployment (Reddy et al., 2021).

Figure 3.2 Supply and demand sides of a generalized supply chain.

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Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World

3.2 Design thinking for BCT in SCM Design thinking is the well appreciated process to solve critical challenges, it is used to understand users, challenge assumptions, formulate solutions to pain points, innovative approaches, prototyping ideas, and ultimately deploying the solutions. The steps in design thinking are Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test (Reddy et al., 2021). Let’s map these steps to BCT adoption for SCM. 1. Empathize a. Understand stakeholders’ requirements and interpreting their statements to relevant business challenge, capturing the different perspectives and ground reality b. Understand the management requirements or expectations out of BCT adoption, and use that information to visualize how our approach or methods can solve the critical challenges c. Empathize with stakeholders can give strong motivation and perspective for BCT application, evaluation of use case against the technology can be done here 2. Define a. Define the kind of Blockchain required for a nature of supply chain by evaluating with given requirements b. Formulate the problem, define the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders from organization, and providing the authentication details based on their nature of work c. Define the data sources, which will be coupled with BCT application. Data sources for BCT applications are called as blockchain oracles (Reddy et al., 2021) 3. Ideate a. Understand the technology capabilities in detail and mapping them to automate supply chain pain points b. Ideate on new infrastructure requirements, brainstorming on developing chain of systems and data input mechanisms c. Reflect of stakeholder application usage privileges and conceptualize the information flow through the network 4. Prototype, Test, and Validate a. Set up the Blockchain environment with Hyperledger fabric or Ethereum, based on the application requirement

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b. Develop a wireframe, then a Minimum viable product (MVP) with basic controls and ensuring the uninterrupted operation with the sample infrastructure c. Visual and technical design of BCT based application, conducting a basic UI/UX brainstorming with team 5. Detailed design and deployment a. After successful prototype validation, next phase is to develop an end-to-end BCT based application for SCM b. Iterate the application and brainstorming with stakeholders to ensure appropriateness and working c. Deploy the application and prepare the standard operating procedures. Most importantly, providing guidance on usage to stakeholders. Every step in BCT adoption will be associated with VUCA. Let’s focus on Complexities and Ambiguities in leveraging BCT for SCM. 3.3 Complexities for BCT in SCM 1. Lack of awareness and reluctance to appreciate emerging technologies a. Blockchain is in early stage of emergence, many are not aware of technology as whole and its capabilities, as many say BCT is like internet in early 2000’s b. Lack of understanding of the technology is leading to reluctance to experiment with BCT for suitable use cases, reluctance about technology and unsuitability of technology for a specific application needs to be differentiated carefully. But currently these both are being consumed as one. c. Creating awareness about BCT in an ecosystem is very much required for efficient leverage for SCM. 2. Skills gap a. As many are not aware about BCT, there will be a skill gap in the market for sure. Digitizing SCM with BCT requires considerable human efforts in terms of Blockchain developers and regulators b. Due to skill gap, the development cost will go up, moreover it can stretch timelines indefinitely c. Conventional web developers won’t be able to work with Blockchain, until they understand technology in detail. BCT platform providers are trying to share knowledge free of cost, but setting

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up the BCT development environment and ensuring the communication among multiple applications is still a tedious process 3. Transition difficulty a. Most of the stakeholders are involved in traditional methods for data entry or follow-up with a particular node, doing the same in BCT environment is tough and it may demand some leaning and technique (Viriyasitavat et al., 2019) b. Conducting hands on sessions with BCT application and ensuring the learning curve of employees is required to utilize the developed application in an efficient manner 4. Scalability a. Scalability is a challenge compared to centralized ledgers, but private Blockchains are more scalable compared to public Blockchains. In short, scaling the distributed ledgers requires extra infrastructure than centralized ledgers b. Defining authentication for stakeholders and distributing among them and maintaining the application efficiently requires certain manpower for few days after application deployment 5. Interoperability Challenges a. As aforementioned, Blockchain based applications are resource intensive and requires a great amount of infrastructure including cluster of computers and data acquisition equipment as Blockchain oracles (Reddy et al., 2021) b. Exchanging information among the network of computers is crucial for uninterrupted BCT application services, in case of one system failure the network should remain unaffected, which requires intelligence integration into the cluster of computers 3.4 Ambiguities for BCT in SCM 1. Unclear regulatory environment a. Dependency leads to more uncertainty, supply chains are a complex network with multiple stakeholders’ presence, so it is required to understand and plan future steps according to regulations associated with it (Rane & Thakker, 2019) b. For example, the future of crypto currency is uncertain in many countries. So, making cryptocurrencies as a generalized payment option across organizations may not reward in the longer run.

Complexity and ambiguity for blockchain adoption in supply chain management

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c. Nowadays, payments can be done through BCT without converting currency into cryptocurrencies, but the banks must allow these kinds of payments. In India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is collaborating with several firms and startups to build a BCT based application to transfer money across all banks without any involvement of trusted third parties. d. Lack of BCT adoption from regulatory authorities is a pain point for digitizing logistics. 2. Questions around smart contracts efficiency a. As aforementioned smart contracts are used to execute the application when predetermined conditions are met. There is some noise about smart contracts efficiency, some experts strongly expressing that smart contracts can bring ambiguity into ecosystem b. Experts certainly feel that the meaning of smart contracts is determined by technical facts rather than by social ones, whereas technical facts depend on socially determined ones (Grimmelmann, 2019). If this noise is becoming an opinion from a group, that will be a sign of worry. c. Through BCT one can transfer money to their suppliers, vendors etc., any discrepancy in payments is questionable, if the receiving party is reluctant to receive money through BCT, that will defeat the purpose of having BCT in SCM. 3. Financial resources and uncertainty around return on investment (ROI) a. Private Blockchain platforms are chargeable, also development charges are higher due to thin demand as BCT is still in its infant stage. As aforementioned, skills gap is the primary reason behind the inflated expenses (KothaRaj KumarReddy et al., 2021) b. Public Blockchains are having its own cryptocurrencies, users must pay platform in term of cryptocurrencies for resources they are utilizing c. ROI is a debatable thing for BCT, the form of ROI will change based on the nature of supply chains. For example, BCT in food supply chain and health care reduces the perishability and tracks the lifecycle of products and provides information on accountability for a discrepancy or a malpractice. Whereas BCT in the automotive supply chain couples the trust into the ecosystem and appreciates the network in the way business operates. Of course, transparency, traceability, and visibility remain constant edges in every application.

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Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World

4. Many firms are trying to bring Blockchain platforms to marketplace a. Hyperledger Fabric is being appreciated across the Blockchain community for private Blockchain applications, but Hyperledger fabric is an umbrella project, it is still under development. Whereas other firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture etc., are trying to develop their own private BCT platforms. Once all these platforms are appreciated by the community the integration and communication among them remain as a question mark (AlladiT. et al., 2019). b. Public Blockchains like Ethereum own their own cryptocurrencies to pay off the resources and platform being utilized by users. Countries like China are looking to block all cryptocurrency related operations, also trying to kill the ecosystem including miners, investors, and converting money to cryptos. Of Course, in the long run cryptocurrencies will become a new normal, but not certain when it will happen.

4. Final thoughts and conclusion The study focused on BCT in SCM and discusses the complexities and ambiguities associated with BCT deployment. Public and private Blockchain platforms are drawing the user’s attention and being used to digitize the applications efficiently, the growth is high due to their potential and the kind of appreciation they are receiving from BCT adopters. The discussed complexities and ambiguities are prominent at this moment, as time progress BCT adopters may witness breakthroughs regarding every aspect of BCT, the infant stage of technology is causing the uncertainty around it. On tasting the benefits with BCT in SCM, industry will take a step forward toward BCT and understand in detail about technology and its offerings, that day is not very far. End to end BCT based applications are very few now, but there are a very good number of proof of concepts being developed in many areas including health care, identity management, voting, land record management, and NFTs (Attaran & Gunasekaran, 2019). NFTs are started with the motive of commodifying the digital assets, it is Blockchain based certification for digital assets in a noninterchangeable way, since certification is based on Blockchain the transparency of asset ownership is assured. The range of applications BCT is being experimented with and importance of those use cases to business is showing the potential of BCT and giving hints about future scale of BCT. BCT in SCM can

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benefit supply chains in multiple ways including supply chain visibility, integration, orchestration, and finance. There are a lot of unanswered questions around Blockchain and its efficient leverage for applications, through practice and by developing end to end BCT applications can help in answering unanswered questions.

References Alladi, T., Chamola, V., Parizi, R. M., & Choo, K. R. (2019). Blockchain applications for industry 4.0 and industrial IoT: A review. IEEE Access, 7, 176935e176951. Attaran, M., & Gunasekaran, A. (2019). Blockchain-enabled technology: The emerging technology set to reshape and decentralise many industries. International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences, 12(4), 424e444. Bai, C., & Sarkis, J. (2020). A supply chain transparency and sustainability technology appraisal model for blockchain technology. International Journal of Production Research, 58(7), 2142e2162. Bennett, N., & Lemoine, J. (2014). What VUCA really means for you. Harvard Business Review, 92(1e2), 27. Chang, S. E., Chen, Y.-C., & Wu, T.-C. (2019). Exploring blockchain technology in international trade: Business process re-engineering for letter of credit. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 119(8), 1712e1733. Dayana, B. D., Krishnan, C. S., Patrick, C. S., & Venkateswaran, N. (2019). Tracking and monitoring of vehicles and a stable and secure toll tax payment methodology based on Blockchain enabled cryptocurrency E-wallets. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, 8(4), 685e690. Dolgui, A., Ivanov, D., Potryasaev, S., Sokolov, B., Ivanova, M., & Werner, F. (2020). Blockchain-oriented dynamic modelling of smart contract design and execution in the supply chain. International Journal of Production Research, 58(7), 2184e2199. Grimmelmann, J. (2019). All smart contracts are ambiguous. Journal of Law and Innovation, 2. Reddy, K. R. K., & Kalpana, P. (2021). Chapter 11: Impact of COVID-19 on global supply chains and the role of digitalization: A VUCA approach (pp. 125e137). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. Reddy, K. R. K., Gunasekaran, A., Kalpana, P., Raja Sreedharan, V., & Kumar, S. A. (2021). Developing a blockchain framework for the automotive supply chain: A systematic review. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 157, 107334. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.cie.2021.107334. ISSN 0360-8352. Rane, S. B., & Thakker, S. V. (2019). Green procurement process model based on BlockchaineIoT integrated architecture for a sustainable business. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 31(3), 741e763. Viriyasitavat, W., Anuphaptrirong, T., & Hoonsopon, D. (2019). When Blockchain meets internet of things: Characteristics, challenges, and business opportunities. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 15, 21e28.

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CHAPTER 4

Addressing uncertainty in supply chain management through blockchain M.A.S.R. Abhilash, Om Ji Shukla and Sonu Rajak National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar, India

1. Introduction Supply chain management (SCM) is broadly considered as a network of facilities involved in series of operations related to production, storage, distribution, and transportation of a product from the supplier to the end customers. As the world economy is growing rapidly, many developing countries are becoming ideal centers for various industries due to cheap labor costs and wide market potential; many new competitors are now competing in the market with uncertainty and risk (Mathiyazhagan et al., 2020). In recent years, there has been a lot of emphasis on supply chain risk and uncertainty, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Rajak, Mathiyazhagan, et al., 2021). The world has witnessed uncertainty in the supply chain during the pandemic. To tackle the uncertainty in the supply chain, organizations have supply chain systems in varying degrees and forms. It is mainly depends on the dimensions, nature, size of the organization, production capacity, size of its production facility, and its overall distributors, wholesalers, and retailers (Rajak et al., 2018). The uncertainty in supply chain can be addressed by adopting the blockchain technology. The blockchain is a novel technique that allows a radical way of transaction among several entities, such as businesses, individuals, and machines. The blockchain technology can be defined as a distributed ledger technology (DLT) that secures and records transactions in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network instead of using single or many servers. This emerging technology improves trust, transfers value, supports transparency and improves security of stored data (Yaga et al., 2019). The blockchain technology has become popular after the introduction of Bitcoin by Nakamoto as the World’s first cryptocurrency (Nakamoto, 2008). The blockchain has many applications, such as supply chain, healthcare, finance, Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00011-3

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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IoT, data storage, decentralized cryptocurrency, and many more. The blockchain technology has the potential to apply and integrate with all the technologies of Industry 4.0 in such a way that the current business transaction process is changed and drive the new business models for the benefits of circular economy, and sustainability (Raj et al., 2020). Many efforts are being made by multinational companies such as Comcast, Walmart, Alphabet, IBM, etc. to address complexities and uncertainty of the supply chain through the technology of blockchain. In this context, this study focuses on addressing the uncertainty in supply chain management through blockchain technology. Further, the paper is organized as follows, Section 2 elaborates related work to address the supply chain risks and uncertainty and blockchain technology in supply chain. The necessity of blockchain for supply chain uncertainty is discussed in Section 3. Section 4 is focused on uncertainties faced by various supply chain. Section 5 addresses the challenges for implementing blockchain technology and also the future research direction and Section 6 conclude the study.

2. Related works This section performs the literature survey in the perspective of supply chain risk and uncertainty and blockchain technology in supply chain. 2.1 Supply chain risks and uncertainty The supply chain is broadly considered as a network of multiple facilities linked through the flow of material from the supplier production unit to the end user and data course through an organization. The procurement of raw materials, production of the product, and the distribution to the end users are the three recognizable subsystems in the supply chain. These three subsystems are linked in such a way that decisions taken in any one subsystem have an effect on the performance of the supply chain as a whole. The main focus of any organization for its success under a supply chain environment is to make the functioning of each subsystem in the chain smooth, by efficiently managing both anticipated and unexpected risks, and disruptions (Paul et al., 2016; Rajak, Parthiban, & Dhanalakshmi, 2021). In practice the definition of risk in the supply chain is not clear. Each research paper discusses, defines, and categorizes risks and disruptions in its own way. Musa and Tang (2011) discussed two aspects that are very important for risk considerations. The first is “risk source outcome” and the second is “risk

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effect outcome”. It defines the risk as events with small probability but can happen suddenly and these events bring quite negative repercussions on the system. The issue of risk is related to the negative consequences of an impact. Uncertainties in the supply and demand, and disruptions in supply, production, and logistics are major risk factors for the supply chain environment (Christopher & Lee, 2004). Tang (2006) divided the risk into disruption and operational. Zeng et al. (2005) divides them based on their occurrence such as supply disruptions, fluctuations in exchange rates, incompatibilities in technology, etc. Whereas Hunter et al. (2004) divides them by importance and probability. The disruption risks are further classified by Paul et al. (2016) into disruption in supply, production, transportation, and demand. If we examine the past few events, we find that every disruption created by man-made, accidental, or natural calamity disturbs the organization in supply chain significantly. The recent pandemic of the novel coronavirus continues to severely affect the supply chain. Organizations are facing a lot of disruptions due to imposition of lockdown measures, closure of manufacturing facilities, various restrictions on transport services like air, water, and freight, unavailability of raw materials, rules imposed by various governments for travel, and fluctuating demands (Rajak, Mathiyazhagan, et al., 2021; Shahed et al., 2021). During any pandemic we can say that most of the subsystem of the supply chain network become uncertain and we cannot predict their serviceability in future, how will they perform. Therefore, it is very much important for any organization to point out and monetize the uncertain subsystems, their risk probabilities of the event, and their alternatives. 2.2 Blockchain technology in supply chain The properties of the blockchain (BC) such as decentralization, auditability, anonymity, persistency and its ability to put traceability, security, and transparency makes the supply chain system more effective in terms of energy, cost, quality, and high performance (Yadav & Singh, 2020). The data structure of the blockchain satisfies many requirements of the efficient and effective supply chain system. One of the applications of this blockchain technology known as smart contracts that can improve transactions among the various parties within the supply chain by its ability of tracking, privacy, scalability, and transparency (Fauziah et al., 2020).

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The blockchain technology can play an important role in automatic traceability by creating a database digitally that contains transaction records and that database can be shared within a decentralized peer-to-peer (p2p), and publicly accessible network (Esmat et al., 2021). This makes blockchain an immutable, reduction of trust crisis between partners, ensuring secure transactions with low transaction fees, ensuring data security, and solving privacy challenges where transactions among parties are concerned (Chang & Chen, 2020). In addition, the supply chain structure can be embedded with arcs and nodes of blockchain that can be helpful in dealing with the network and organizational risks associated with the supply chain (Cui et al., 2019).

3. The necessity of blockchain for supply chain uncertainty A supply chain system using the blockchain technology can support transparency at each stage of supply chain, thus it improves trust and also reduces risk. A model of blockchain is shown in Fig. 4.1. In blockchain technology, information that is time-stamped is stored in blocks, these blocks are connected with previous block by hash mechanism and by consensus among the entities these blocks are added in blockchain. This process makes data stored more secured by avoiding the chances of hacking or manipulation. There is always risk and uncertainties are involved in any supply chain network system. The broad view of risk that involved in supply chain system is shown in Fig. 4.2. In addition, different types of organization are associated with different types of risks. The summaries of risk involved in different types of organization are shown in Table 4.1.

Figure 4.1 Blockchain diagram.

Addressing uncertainty in supply chain management through blockchain

Figure 4.2 Supply chain uncertainty.

Table 4.1 Risk involved in different type of organization. S. No.

Organization

Risk factors

1.

Healthcare

2.

Food

3.

Telecommunication

• • • • • • • • • •

4.

Tourism

5.

Construction

6.

Aviation

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Intermittent flow of medical supply chain Unavailability of medical equipment Privacy of researches and data Spread of diseases among workers and staffs Disruption in supply chain Instability and reduction in demand Spoilage due to disease Tracking and authenticating supply Massive increase in the traffic Hackers and hacktivists, spam emails and messages Decrease in workforce Cyberattacks Decrease of customers due to various restrictions High cancellation rate Government rules and guidelines Decrease of labors Uncertainty of the supply of raw material Various restrictions and guidelines Termination of parties Oil prices fluctuation Increase in cancellation rate Decrease in revenue

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In addition to that, industries are also facing the issues with services, materials, suppliers, integration of new and advanced technologies, data security, and privacy. To deal with these challenges organization needs some robust tool and techniques. And, blockchain is a robust technology to handle these uncertainties and bring the sustainability in supply chain and industry.

4. Application of blockchain in different supply chain The blockchain has been deployed in many supply chains in order to facilitate data interchange, establish traceability and thereby to create better visibility and reduce the uncertainty. This section describes various use cases of blockchain-based supply chain solution reported in the literature. 4.1 Food/agriculture supply chain Blockchain based framework for traceability in soybean supply chain is proposed by Salah et al. (2019). Track and trace of the food products is becoming a necessary policy tools to overcome its contamination across the supply chain. In this study, global trade identification numbers (GTIN) are used as standard identifiers for lots of seeds sold. The growth details of the crop are saved in inter planetary file system (IPFS) by farmer, the grade and quality of the grain are recorded by grain elevator and processor, and the quality of the shipment is further monitored using IoT enabled containers and packages. All the entities in this framework are interacted through Ethereum smart contract; this enables all stakeholders to verify the nonmodifiable information without a need of central authority in the supply chain. Tian (2017) has described food supply chain monitoring and traceability system based on hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), Internet of things, and blockchain. The HACCP is the approach to identify, evaluate, and control food safety hazards. Each product is attached with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, through which product information profile can be verified and modified. All the information is stored in BigchainDB that combines the characteristics of distributed database with blockchain, to improve the scalability of the blockchain. Product transfers between the supply chains links is made through smart contracts, after the transfer all the transaction details will be updated in BigchainDB and automatically to product profile.

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4.2 Health care supply chain Healthcare industrial operations have been majorly developed in the past decade, with policies gradually adopting technological changes brought by digitalization. However, Indian healthcare operational structure is not designed to handle with uncertainties. Therefore, these operations require a digital tool for providing smooth running industry services or processes to render optimal results. Blockchain could be one such effective digital tool. Blockchain has attracted researchers’ interest in recent years significantly (Sarote & Shukla, 2021; White et al. 2020). Blockchain seems to be an efficient solution for various inefficiencies and issues inherent to the healthcare sector, such as fictitious, inaccuracy in healthcare data, privacy and security problems (Chukwu & Garg, 2020; Onik et al., 2019). The main obstacle to adopt blockchain in healthcare industry is the lack of communication and coordination between stakeholders. 4.3 Consumer electronics supply chain Blockchain enabled supply chain system for integrated circuits (IC) to avoid the addition of counterfeit ICs (such as recycled/cloned) into the system has been proposed by Xu et al. (2019). Tracking and tracing is essential to confirm whether the electronic item is original or not, for this data authenticity and confidentiality are at most important. As information shared in the blockchain cannot be modified or tampered and also it supports the provenance tracking, this framework of supply chain enabled with blockchain offers trust and integrity throughout. In the proposed framework, extra nodes named certificate authority (CA) nodes are employed. These nodes manage the database and provide the authenticity of integrated circuits. Cui et al. (2019) also proposed a blockchain in similar lines with Xu et al. (2019) to restrict the entry of counterfeit electronic devices into its supply chain. The electronic chips IDs (ECID) are planted during the manufacturing of the electronic devices and each ECID has a unique ID that needs to be registered in the blockchain by the designer/ manufacturer. The transfer devices are taking place among all entities of the supply chain. For the confirmation of transfer of products amoung all the entities of the supply chain; these devices scan the ECIDs and verified with the information shared in blockchain. All the conditions of operating of each entity are written in the smart contract, upon meeting the clauses the transfer of the electronic items will be accomplished and will be updated in the blockchain. The end user can track and trace the device authenticity.

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4.4 Industry 4.0 and manufacturing supply chain The technology is rapidly changing since the last decade. Currently, industries are transforming from industry 3.0 to industry 4.0. The industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution, where the uses of sensors, internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and many other advanced technologies are integrated to increase the productivity (Raj et al., 2020). There are many advantages of industry 4.0, such as improved productivity, efficiency, flexibility, agility, and better user experience. There are some challenges too, such as trust, traceability, security, reliability, transparency, etc. for creating an application of industry 4.0. Most importantly, internet is used in every aspect of this revolution. So, cybersecurity threats are also big challenge for the supply chain systems. The potential cybersecurity threats are shown in Fig. 4.3. The blockchain technology is considered as the heart of Industry 4.0, and digital economy. And, these challenges can be addressed by adopting the blockchain technology (Bodkhe et al., 2020).

Figure 4.3 Potential cybersecurity threats.

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4.5 Logistics and transportation The blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the business of various firms, especially supply chain management and logistics. The logistics management system using blockchain technology can improve transparency and tracing at each stage of vehicle movement and communication and thus it may improves financial saving and the trust among the supply chain partners. A literature survey for the applications of blockchain technology in transportation and logistics is presented by Astarita et al. (2020). The framework of integration of internet of things and blockchain for smart logistics and transportation is proposed by Humayun et al. (2020). For development of smart transportation they proposed four layer of blockchain namely physical layer, data layer, network layer, and application layer. The role of blockchain in digital transformation of transportation and logistics system is identified by Merkas et al. (2020).

5. Challenges and future research directions As it is the early stage of blockchain, researchers, academicians, and other professionals are facing issues to use blockchain technology in the supply chain. The properties of blockchain technology can solve many supply chain challenges such as faster processing of payments, real-time communication, reduction of trust crisis between partners, ensuring secure transactions with low transaction fees, ensuring data security, solving privacy challenges, reducing product costs, strengthening and maintaining a continuous flow of supply, conserving resources, and promoting recycling (Dutta et al., 2020). The tamper proof, hack resistance, transparency, and immutable are the key features of blockchain technology due to its network verification process and distributed ledger. The integration of advanced information technology helps to reduce investment costs and allowing a faster flow of information and capital around the world (Vimal et al., 2019). Also as the consumer of the finished product becomes more demanding and discriminatory; firms are forced to contract for commercialization and provide customized products with higher levels of customer service. All these advancements are leading to more competition, complexity, and uncertainty in the supply chain environment. The adoption and integration of purchased or internally developed devices, policies, products, programs, services, or systems that are new to the adopting firm are known as innovation. Innovation and up-gradation

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of products and processes is the most important challenge in any business, which is vital to the success of the firm. Blockchain technology has its origins in the financial sector and is in the nascent stage of development for industry. Due to its characteristics of decentralization, trustworthiness, and collective maintenance, blockchain provides a trustworthy platform without depending on a single centralized organization (Valle & Oliver, 2021). Currently, the adoption and integration of blockchain technology to benefit the supply chain system is a difficult and novel task. It is a new and highly advanced technology, and most professionals in the supply chain system may be either moderately or extremely unfamiliar with it. Due to the lack of knowledge and experience of this technology, it will certainly take time for the system and professionals to cope up with its full potential. For the smooth and effective working of the various subsystems in the supply chain, the organization must be aware of certain important points: ➢ What are the specific services, materials, and regular suppliers that may be at risk? For example, during a pandemic, it can be a very difficult task for the healthcare sector to consolidate and maintain a constant flow or supply of essential medical equipment, medicines, food items, and data. The availability of raw materials, which are required for the manufacturing of various products of the healthcare system, may be disrupted due to the imposition of lockdown measures, closure of manufacturing facilities, and restrictions on transport services such as air, water, and freight. ➢ What are the alternatives for uninterrupted supply of raw materials, when there is a disruption in the continuous supply chain due to uncertainty? ➢ What is the scope for integration of new and advanced technologies in the existing supply chain for better performance? For example, with a vision to make supply chain management more efficient, the Walmart company collaborated with IBM and implemented Blockchain with IoT devices in its stores. ➢ What are the politico-economic exclusions from global supply sources? Can political preferences give economic benefits to domestic companies and how can a company prosper in the current SC environment? ➢ What kind of potential data security and privacy challenges may an organization face? There will be a lot of anxiety about the data collected by various organizations. Keeping those data and records confidential will be a formidable challenge in terms of who does have the access, will any private organization use it in the future, will they use those

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data for any future government scheme, what if they get breached or hacked, and what precautions will the government use to prevent any possibility of privacy violations? These challenges may be addressed by adopting the blockchain technology.

6. Conclusion Dependence on central database for all the data related to supply chain entities makes difficult to trace the products, maintain accurate and adequate information among all entites there by questioning the integrity of products and associated data. Blockchain technology makes use of distributed and immutable ledger of all the transactions that is shared by all the entities without any need of intermediary. Majority of the studies addressed the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain to improve the traceability solution of the products to provide right quality to customer. It provides an efficient, transparent, secured data sharing in collaborative network of organizations by that more flexible, robust supply chain system is developed. By integrating IOT with blockchain item level data collected automatically and stored in real time, this improves the traceability. Implementation of smart contract enhances the trust among the entities by reducing the risk of error or fraud. This study can be helpful for various organizations who are interested in adopting blockchain technology and starting their investigations by considering risk and uncertainty in their supply chain. This paper will help them to evaluate and balance the potential benefits of blockchain technology and its implementation while considering the risk associated with in the process. The challenges with blockchain technology-based model are that it has constraints on throughput (the number of transactions per second), transaction rate, and the amount of data in transactions and data privacy. Additional research is needed to overcome these challenges in the future.

References Astarita, V., Giofrè, V. P., Mirabelli, G., & Solina, V. (2020). A review of blockchain-based systems in transportation. Information, 11(1), 21. Bodkhe, U., Tanwar, S., Parekh, K., Khanpara, P., Tyagi, S., Kumar, N., & Alazab, M. (2020). Blockchain for industry 4.0: A comprehensive review. IEEE Access, 8, 79764e79800.

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Chang, S. E., & Chen, Y. (2020). When blockchain meets supply chain: A systematic literature review on current development and potential applications. IEEE Access, 8, 62478e62494. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2983601 Christopher, M., & Lee, H. (2004). Mitigating supply chain risk through improved confidence. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 34(5), 388e396. https://doi.org/10.1108/09600030410545436 Chukwu, E., & Garg, L. (2020). A systematic review of blockchain in healthcare: Frameworks, prototypes, and implementations. IEEE Access, 8, 21196e21214. Cui, P., Guin, U., Skjellum, A., & Umphress, D. (2019). Blockchain in IoT: Current trends, challenges, and future roadmap. Journal of Hardware and Systems Security, 3(4), 338e364. Dutta, P., Choi, T. M., Somani, S., & Butala, R. (2020). Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities. Transportation Research E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 142, 102067. Esmat, A., de Vos, M., Ghiassi-Farrokhfal, Y., Palensky, P., & Epema, D. (2021). A novel decentralized platform for peer-to-peer energy trading market with blockchain technology. Applied Energy, 282, 116123. Fauziah, Z., Latifah, H., Omar, X., Khoirunisa, A., & Millah, S. (2020). Application of blockchain technology in smart contracts: A systematic literature review. Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), 2(2), 160e166. Humayun, M., Jhanjhi, N. Z., Hamid, B., & Ahmed, G. (2020). Emerging smart logistics and transportation using IoT and blockchain. IEEE Internet of Things Magazine, 3(2), 58e62. Hunter, L. M., Kasouf, C. J., Celuch, K. G., & Curry, K. A. (2004). A classification of business-to-business buying decisions: Risk importance and probability as a framework for e-business benefits. Industrial Marketing Management, 33(2), 145e154. Mathiyazhagan, K., Rajak, S., Panigrahi, S. S., Agarwal, V., & Manani, D. (2020). Reverse supply chain management in manufacturing industry: a systematic review. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 70(4), 859e892. Merkas, Z., Perkov, D., & Bonin, V. (2020). The significance of blockchain technology in digital transformation of logistics and transportation. International Journal of E-Services and Mobile Applications (IJESMA), 12(1), 1e20. Musa, N., & Tang. (2011). Identifying risk issues and research advancements in supply chain risk management. International Journal of Production Economics, 133(1), 100. Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Decentralized Business Review, Article 21260. Onik, M. M. H., Aich, S., Yang, J., Kim, C. S., & Kim, H. C. (2019). Blockchain in healthcare: Challenges and solutions. In Big data analytics for intelligent healthcare management (pp. 197e226). Academic Press. Paul, S. K., Sarker, R., & Essam, D. (2016). Managing risk and disruption in productioninventory and supply chain systems: A review. Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, 12(3), 1009e1029. https://doi.org/10.3934/jimo.2016.12.1009 Rajak, S., Mathiyazhagan, K., Agarwal, V., Sivakumar, K., Kumar, V., & Appolloni, A. (2022). Issues and analysis of critical success factors for the sustainable initiatives in the supply chain during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in India: A case study. Research in Transportation Economics, 93, Article 101114. Rajak, S., Parthiban, P., & Dhanalakshmi, R. (2018). Selection of transportation channels in closed-loop supply chain using meta-heuristic algorithm. International Journal of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management (IJISSCM), 11(3), 64e86. Rajak, S., Parthiban, P., & Dhanalakshmi, R. (2021). Horizontal collaboration in oligopoly supply chain. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 39(3), 362e376. Raj, A., Dwivedi, G., Sharma, A., de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L., & Rajak, S. (2020). Barriers to the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in the manufacturing sector: An inter-country comparative perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 224, 107546.

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Salah, K., Nizamuddin, N., Jayaraman, R., & Omar, M. (2019). Blockchain-based soybean traceability in agricultural supply chain. IEEE Access, 7, 73295e73305. Sarote, P., & Shukla, O. J. (2021). Blockchain technology adoption in healthcare sector for challenges posed by COVID-19. In Recent advances in smart manufacturing and materials (pp. 363e369). Singapore: Springer. Shahed, K. S., Azeem, A., Ali, S. M., & Moktadir, M. A. (2021). A supply chain disruption risk mitigation model to manage COVID-19 pandemic risk. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 1e16. Tang, C. S. (2006). Perspectives in supply chain risk management. International Journal of Production Economics, 103(2), 451e488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2005.12.006 Tian, F. (2017). A supply chain traceability system for food safety based on HACCP, blockchain & Internet of things. In 2017 International conference on service systems and service management (pp. 1e6). IEEE. Valle, F. Della, & Oliver, M. (2021). Blockchain-based information management for supply chain data-platforms. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 11(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/ app11178161 Vimal, K. E. K., Rajak, S., & Kandasamy, J. (2019). Analysis of network design for a circular production system using multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 30(3), 628e646. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/JMTM-02-2018-0058 White, R., Marinakis, Y., Islam, N., & Walsh, S. (2020). Is Bitcoin a currency, a technology-based product, or something else? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 151, 119877. Xu, X., Rahman, F., Shakya, B., Vassilev, A., Forte, D., & Tehranipoor, M. (2019). Electronics supply chain integrity enabled by blockchain. ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES), 24(3), 1e25. Yadav, S., & Singh, S. P. (2020). Blockchain critical success factors for sustainable supply chain. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 152, 104505. Yaga, D., Mell, P., Roby, N., & Scarfone, K. (2019). Blockchain technology overview. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.11078. Zeng, A. Z., Berger, P. D., & Gerstenfeld, A. (2005). Managing the supply-side risks in supply chains: Taxonomies, processes, and examples of decision-making modeling. In Applications of supply chain management and E-commerce research (pp. 141e160). https:// doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23392-x_5

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CHAPTER 5

Role of blockchain in achieving solutions in ambiguous supply chain operations Divya Mishra1, Pushpa Singh2 and Narendra Singh3 1

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; 2Department of Computer Science and Engineering, GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida, India; 3Department of Management Studies, G. L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

1. Introduction Emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, Cloud and Blockchain technology have almost reformed the traditional market. Logistics, supply chain management (SCM) etc., are some dynamic and growing sectors for Blockchain implementation. Blockchain technology offers secure transfer of money, contracts, data-driven innovations for innovative applications, intelligent index-based insurance, fair payment system etc., without any third-party authentication. The blockchain is called a block of the chain that contains information. Each block consists of data, hash and hash of the previous block. Each block registers all of the current transactions stored into the Blockchain-based permanent database after completion. Data in the blockchain database is immutable. Blockchain is observed as a distributed, open ledger that will record every transaction between two parties verifiable, efficient and permanent (Iansiti & Lakhani, 2017) to form a tamperproof chain block in chronological order (Laurence, 2017). The main focus of supply chains is the flow of information and products between the various participants of organizations’ supply chains. Major supply chain participants are material procurement, material transformation into final products, and distribution of those products to consumers. Traditional SCM suffers from the problem of security, traceability and transparency. Blockchain technology overcomes the security problems, integrity control and clarity of the products and their content. Blockchain technology provides ways to build logs that interfere with the performance of business and transactions (Lemieux, 2016). Transaction data does not change because it cannot be interrupted while being distributed, received, Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00012-5

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verified by network compatibility, and stored in blocks. Blockchain removes intermediaries to attain all stakeholders’ trust to enhance the supply chain’s efficiency, too low transaction cost (Zhang, 2019). Blockchain technology has various consensus mechanisms to approve and validate the transaction in a distributed environment. Proof of Work (POW), Proof of Stack (POS) and Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS) are some well-known consensus protocols. Blockchain provides significant advantages such as transparency, trade ability, traceability etc. In a nutshell, blockchain provides sustainable supply chain management in various fields (Paliwal et al., 2020). Blockchain is a promising technology in the agriculture, healthcare, power grid and real estate sectors. A transparent supply chain of food based on blockchain has solved many barriers and challenges in food products and food-related issues among farmers and systems (Kamilaris et al., 2019). Blockchain technology provides transparent, secure health chain supply management, drug supply chain, insurance, and claim management (Singh & Singh, 2020). The remainder of the chapter is arranged as follows. Section 2 defines the conceptual framework of Blockchain and SCM. Blockchain architecture is discussed in Section 3. Section 4 represents the implementation challenges of Blockchain in SCM. Section 5 gives a brief description of the application of blockchain. Finally, Section 6 concludes the chapter.

2. Blockchain and supply chain management SCM is the organization of all activities that connect organizations from their suppliers and trading partners to their clients efficiently and effectively. SCM is a crucial business process in all dimensions of the economy. SCM uses precise techniques to link producers to consumer requirements via a blockchain (Borah et al., 2020). Due to increasing participants, data, stakeholders, and intermediaries, supply chains become more complex. Businesses are facing the challenges of complex SCM processes. Blockchain technology can reduce the complexity and enhance the supply chain’s efficiency to monitor each participant in the supply chain. Blockchain provides automated smart contracts, distributed ledger technology, secure and transparent system that reforms the electronic SCM. A smart contract is used as an actual contract among the participant of the supply chain.

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2.1 Conceptual framework of blockchain and SCM SCM is a raw material journey to finished product delivered to the enduser or customers. Blockchain technology removes intermediaries to enhance existing SCM (Queiroz et al., 2019). SCM offers the value product to the customer via interconnected parts of actions, such as eliminating raw material, manufacturing the finished product, distributing the product to middle-men (wholesalers, retailers), and distributing the product to the customer end-user as shown in Fig. 5.1. Each part can be easily considered as a “block”. Each piece accepts input and produces output. The output of one block becomes the input of another block. Even each block performed a set of transactions. Fig. 5.1 can be easily assumed as a blockchain that interacts with different supply chain participants under a Blockchain network. Each participant adds its specific details on the corresponding block and submits transactions on the Blockchain network in a particular way (Litke et al., 2019). Raw Material Supplier: The raw material supplier supplies the natural resource to the manufacturer block. Raw materials suppliers submit transaction details such as material, brand, quantity, price etc., to the manufacturer blocks. Manufacturing block: This block can validate the transaction details about the collected raw material by reading and verifying their transactions. The manufacturer block processed the raw material into a finished product supplied to the distributor’s blocks. The manufacturer blocks get ready with new transaction details such as manufacturer, experience, price of product etc. are submitted to the next distributor block.

Figure 5.1 Conceptual framework of SCM with blockchain.

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Distributor block: The distributor acts as a mediator between the manufacturer and distribution channel such as wholesalers. Distributor blocks signify multiple products and companies, offer a streamlined buying process, reduce costs, and act as a sales representative for the manufacturer. This block can have proof-of-location and conditions certifications registered in the ledger. Wholesaler block: The wholesaler’s blocks are buying the product on a considerable scale. The wholesaler can specify in selling a wide variety of different products to the retailers. This block also adds new transaction detail such as wholesaler, license no., location, transportation details etc. This block can verify the source of the products and transportation conditions. Retailer block: This block brings the product directly to the customer or end-user. Retailer block also added its specific logistic details as a new set of transactions. Finally, the customer accepts the final product, then submitted marketing with detailed transaction information for each block. End-User block: The end-user can have full access to purchased product origin transparently. Any block or participant cannot tamper with invoice details of the supply chain due to Blockchain technology. Blockchain has a consensus mechanism to endorse the transaction that increases immutability and guarantees transaction privacy in the supply chain. 2.2 Consensus mechanism Blockchain has various consensus mechanisms to approve and validate which transactions are authentic and added to the blockchain. Consensus mechanisms are protocols that ensure all participants, i.e., maintain and process the blockchain and synchronize before adding it into the chain of blocks. There are the following main consensus mechanisms as represented in Fig. 5.2. POW is the first consensus protocol used in bitcoin. The PoW system relies on miners to run the system. POW needs a computer node, which is referred to as miners. Miners are used to solving challenging computational tasks before authorizing transactions. After authorization, the transaction can add to Blockchain (Bentov et al., 2016). PoW is a permissionless blockchain where users need not get permission to participate in validating the transactions process. Bitcoin and Ethereum are an example of public permissionless blockchain. POS made the consensus mechanism entirely virtual, and the overall working of POS is the same as POW, but getting the end goal is

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Figure 5.2 Types of consensus mechanism.

completely changed. POS makes use of the premise that those who own most coins in a network are vested interest in keeping the network maintained and the value of its coins high. POS, instead of miners, there is a validator. POS used a randomized technique to define who gets to produce the next block. PoS can be both with or without permission. With permission, blockchain, there is a requirement to get approval for the transaction’s validation. Ripple and Hyperledger Fabric are an example of per blockchain with permission. DPOS is very fast and famous for its operation in EOS. It is also denoted as digital democracy due to its stake-weighted voting system. Users can stake their coins to vote for a certain amount of delegates. The weight of their vote relies on their stake; for example, if X takes 50 coins for a delegate and Y stakes five-coin for a representative, X’s vote weighs 10 times heavier than Y’s vote. 2.3 Feature of blockchain for SCM There are the following significant features of Blockchain for SCM. • Transparency: Blockchain provides transparent transactions without any third party. Transaction processing is faster since payment conditions are preprogrammed, and the ledger is updated automatically. Only authorize participants can visit the transaction. • Transaction fees are preapproved: For example, when you make cross-border payments with Swift, the transaction’s commission or fees is subtracted only after the end of the transaction. Transaction fees are usually relying on intermediaries’ banks or financial institutions. In the case of blockchain, you know the costs beforehand.

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Auditability: all the authorized participants can visit the transaction just after the transactions. No one can add, delete and modify any information to the blockchain. Reliable: Blockchain can work in distributed nature and hence, does not have a single point of failure. This feature makes blockchain more and more reliable.

3. Blockchain architecture for SCM Blockchain architecture for SCM is designed according to the distributed environment where each participant is decentralized according to the classic business transaction and management rule. The blockchain architecture for SCM consists of four-layer: application layer, consensus layer, network layer, data layer and physical infrastructure layer. The overall architecture is shown in Fig. 5.3.

Figure 5.3 Blockchain architecture.

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3.1 Application layer The application layer is a layer where the participant can interact with the blockchain application. This layer entails smart contracts, chain code and dApps, scripts, APIs, user interfaces, frameworks. The execution layer is the sublayer of the application layer, which deals explicitly with intelligent contracts and chain code. The code of smart contracts is implemented in Solidity and executed on the Ethereum runtime engine. Smart contracts facilitate SCM participants for transaction verification, negotiation and quick response. 3.2 Consensus layer The consensus layer is the most significant layer of blockchain technology. This layer provides block validation, block order, and confirming everybody agrees on it. The following are the key points regarding the consensus layer. This layer keeps all the nodes synchronized. There should be no single entity that can control the entire blockchain network. Various consensus mechanisms are discussed in Section 2.2. 3.3 Network layer The network layer is also called peer to peer (P2P) layer. This layer is used for internode communication. It provides discovery, transactions, and block propagation. The network layer is leveraged with P2P work programming, distributed algorithm and encrypted signature (Lu, 2018). 3.4 Data layer Blockchain is a distributed, vastly replicated database, where transactions are arranged in blocks and located in a P2P network. The data structure of a Blockchain can be characterized as a linked list of blocks, where transactions are ordered. This layer provides a trusted data access facility to blockchain applications. A cryptographic hash algorithm such as the SHA 256 algorithm provides signer authentication and message integrity. 3.5 Physical infrastructure layer This layer includes agreements, communications, hardware, miners, and anything else that lays the foundation for making blockchain a reality. This layer consists of the best performance used to build visual resources like storage, network, servers etc.

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3.6 Advantages of blockchain in SCM Blockchain technology provides effective traceability, transparency, automation, and security to each connected block and participant. Implementation in supply chain management offers the following advantages, as shown in Fig. 5.4. • A smart contract provides automation of the supply chain process. When participants agreed upon contracts, its execute automatically for service payment, shipment authorization, inventory management, etc. • Each participant in the supply chain with blockchain can validate the transaction between producer and consumer transparently. Any participant can view the details of another participant. • Blockchain empowers a particular supply chain aspect starting from the source of the product, storage, authenticity, property certificates, and all necessary records in a single ledger. • Blockchain guarantees the traceability of flows and products by recording all transactions made by users (Korpela et al., 2017). • Blockchain can “tokenize” an asset by dividing an object into shares that digitally denote ownership. These tokens are tradeable, and participants can transfer ownership without the physical support changing hands (Konashevych, 2020). • Blockchain streamlines the internal documents, and hence each participant can access correct data.

Figure 5.4 Advantages of blockchain-based SCM.

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4. Implementation challenges of blockchain in SCM Blockchain technology is considered a flawless supply-chain management portal by some people (Kottler, 2018). Blockchain is incorporated by many bigshot market leaders such as the Danish Crown and Walmart into their supply-chain management operations. According to the study by Markets and Market in 2018, by 2023, the global market of blockchain supply-chain exceeds $3.3 Billion. Supply-chain includes complex operations and often lack transparency, integrity, and resilience. Implementing a supply chain with blockchain will cover these significant gaps and make the executing and management of the supply chain easier and simple for all the parties involved. For better implementation, blockchain technology requires a thorough understanding and more detailed knowledge of the technique (Saberi et al., 2019; Scott et al., 2017; Öztürk & Yildizbasi, 2020). Till now, blockchain is quite unclear and undefined. The significant issues blockchain architecture implementation is facing today are discussed in this section of the chapter. Fig. 5.5 presents the significant challenges faced by SCM while implementing blockchain.

Figure 5.5 Blockchain implementation challenges.

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4.1 Implementation cost of blockchain Selecting the appropriate application of blockchain is a difficult task as most of the applications are still underdeveloped. The most suitable, convenient, and proper blockchain platforms incurred massive costs in implementing and even consuming energy. 4.2 Blockchain scalability Maximum potential users of the SCM blockchain platform are multinational businesses such as Walmart and Danish Crown, whose businesses are more than 10 crores. Given that leading blockchain applications are still not fully developed. Therefore, it is tough to scale these blockchain platforms efficiently to assist a significant client without complications. 4.3 Data privacy in blockchain Blockchain can be considered a distributed network ledger in which all the contributors can access the information or data on the Blockchain platform. Due to this virtue, there is a quite possibility of lack of data privacy against their competitors. Consequently, many probable players are afraid of moving their business to blockchain for fear of trailing down their competitive advantages. 4.4 Insufficient literacy in blockchain Blockchain technology is still in its initial phase of implementation. There is a lack of Blockchain literacy and technical knowledge of its use. Consequently, it is a challenging task to design and develop a strong business strategy based on technology. 4.5 Transitioning blockchain difficulty SCM is an integrated one-way manufacturing process that started its journey with logistics. Internet and digitalization have also reshaped the traditional SCM into electronic SCM or E-SCM. SCM to E-SCM was a gradual process of development that provides an efficient and fast response to its customers. Recently, blockchain has also become part of industry and e-SCM in a brief period. Hence, the organization has to train its staff and trading partner. SCM Blockchain implementation needs entirely new designs, transitioning from legacy structures that become very difficult and mark the blockchain’s challenges.

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4.6 Interoperability challenge Usually, users are incapable of interacting with another user in heterogeneous platforms. This interoperability is one of the persistent difficulties of SCM Blockchain implementation due to different consensus protocols, transaction mechanisms, and smart contract functionality. This deficiency of interoperability is holding back many probable users. 4.7 Lacks of partnership Blockchain is a complete novel technology, and understanding its basics and working principles requires the help of those who already have prior experience. However, finding the right partner is a challenging task, given the limited resources available to the full extent of the demand. Therefore, someone may not find the right solution. 4.8 Blockchain security Given the immaturity of the technology, there is a severe risk of exposing users to cybercrime. Until fraudulent issues are resolved, users may continue to be vigilant, and mass detection will not happen soon.

5. Applications of blockchain and supply chain in a different sector Blockchain permits the transfer of resources/money anywhere in the world without any third intermediaries’ parties. Blockchain with emerging technology has reshaped the traditional healthcare, agricultural, real estate etc. sectors (Singh et al., 2021). 5.1 Blockchain and supply chain in agriculture Agriculture can be easily associated with food supply chains. Agricultural products are used as an input in many multi-actors distributed supply chains, and the consumers are typically the ultimate user (Maslova, 2017). Blockchain technology is suggested in Agriculture and agricultural products in (Kamilaris et al., 2019) shown in Fig. 5.6. Block1 is a provider block that provides information related to crops, fertilizers, soil conditions, etc.; each participant can easily track this

Figure 5.6 Blockchain architecture in agriculture.

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information. The second block is the producer block, which submits information related to the farm, crop farming procedure, and associated policies. The third block considers financial transactions between distributors and producers. Forth block is a distribution site that includes shipping and in-transit details, tracking routes, the status of inventory status, transportation method and routes, etc. And complete transactions details between the suppliers and retailers are listed in the blockchain. The following link is a vendor block that provides information on each food item. For example, quantity, quality, expiration date, storage place conditions and shelf time are recorded in the chain. The product is finally delivered from the retailer and distributed to the customers or end-users. The customer can use a mobile phone connected to the Internet to scan a QR code associated with certain foods. All product-related information and recorded information within the block is visible to customers. 5.2 Blockchain and SC in healthcare The Healthcare sector is overwhelmed by errors, high administrative costs, inefficiencies and bureaucracy. Blockchain implementation can help the healthcare industry solve critical interoperability, compliance, and data security issues. It will also enable new business models, which will be patient-centric (Clauson et al., 2018). Implementing blockchain potentials in the healthcare sector will be a slow process, and it will take time to reflect the changes. Blockchain is likely to integrate with the healthcare industry in the short, medium and long term based on the various parameters such as scalability requirements, known stakeholders, and essential safety measures. Integrating blockchain with healthcare involves reimagining the process of accessing and owning healthcare data (Jayaraman et al., 2018). It could help in simplifying the back-office operations and can also improve traceability in the supply chain. Fig. 5.7 presents a roadmap of blockchain implementation in the healthcare industry. Blockchain implementation in the healthcare sector can provide new solutions and applications as it has various robust characteristics. Some of them are discussed here. Consistency of data: Blockchain maintains a single copy of the records; therefore, data will remain the same across the database. Hence, the issues related to tampered or duplicate data will resolve and data will be much more accessible to every stakeholder of organizations’ record-keeping systems.

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Figure 5.7 A potential roadmap of blockchain implementation in the healthcare industry.

Modification of data: Stakeholders can be given various rights to modify, view or delete data. Users can be assigned the right to add transactions in the database and making everything auditable and traceable. Data Restriction: An entity can restrict and own their data and select who all can get to access it. They are limiting the organization from selling anyone’s data to a third party. The individual can control the flow of data. Single Copy of Data: Blockchain helps maintain a single copy of the database, and it also provides a dynamic modification of the database for all its users. Decentralized Architecture: Various copies of the database is maintained at multiple places without any third-party administrator. It will reduce the overhead and will also prevent the inaccessibility and complete locking of the centralized systems. These characteristics of blockchain are excellent for integrating blockchain with handling patient’s data in the healthcare industry. Blockchain also maintains data integrity and makes it easier to share between users and more challenging to tamper. 5.3 Blockchain and supply chain in smart grids Advancement in the industrial revolution age resulted in the industrial 4.0 concept. Industrial 4.0 is based on four main principles; various interconnecting machines using the Internet; management of information processing and maintaining information transparency for better decision support systems; designing intelligent entities and support systems to support decision-making; and performing autonomous tasks. These revolutions rapidly increased electricity demand (Faheem et al., 2018). The smart grid concept was proposed to maintain efficient and effective electricity

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distribution, high level and low-level quality losses, and keep the security of electricity supply. The intelligent electricity grid enables the individual, small scale setups to generate and produce electricity and sell it to larger grids. Fig. 5.8 presents the basic block diagram of the smart grid. However, the smart grid concept is a complex system as various transactions between the electricity generator and its consumption should be recorded, verified and analyzed. The conduct of this transaction should also be registered and verified. Blockchain can be used as a tool to manage and record the electricity transactions for the smart grid. Intelligent contracts will perform and record the transactions, and the deployed networks will act as a transaction verifier. Blockchain will establish an immutable transaction connection to ensure the electricity trade’s execution between the generator and the consumer (Agung & Handayani, 2020). It will also maintain the records, verify the transaction history for future audits, or solve the transaction disputes. Fig. 5.9 represents the difference between the traditional and blockchain implementation of the smart grid business process. Smart grid implementation with blockchain allows users to works on the replica of the transactions, records and ledgers. These transactions and roster are digitally signed and stored, and transmitted in an encrypted format.

Figure 5.8 Basic block diagram for smart grid.

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Figure 5.9 Difference between the traditional and blockchain implementation of smart grid business process.

5.4 Blockchain and supply chain in real estate Capital funding increased in real estate venture to about $12.6 billion in 2017. Blockchain technology can set up a chance to upend the way property is sold and purchased. Blockchain can assure many young generations with experienced millennial buyers to buy a house (Global Real, 2019; Latifi et al., 2019). With blockchain technology, fraud will be reduced; exorbitant fees will be diminished; property selling sources will become more transparent and overall purchase and sell real estate markets will be more authentic and dynamic. Fig. 5.10 represents the transformation of the real estate industry using Blockchain technologies.

Figure 5.10 Transforming real estate using blockchain.

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6. Conclusion Blockchain technology has the potential innovation to alter various existing traditional supply chain operations and management. Blockchain architecture offer secure, distributed, transparent, collaborative, immutable systems that too in reduce cost. The consensus mechanism of blockchain ensures that all supply chain participants contain identical copies of the distributed database, and validating the transaction takes place among the participant. Each participant can trace, trade, and transparently streamline his process. Blockchain technology permits industries to design an additional flexible supply chain that firmly addresses new external and internal challenges.

References Agung, A. A. G., & Handayani, R. (2020). Blockchain for smart grid. Journal of King Saud University-Computer and Information Sciences, 34(3), 666e675. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jksuci.2020.01.002 Bentov, I., Gabizon, A., & Mizrahi, A. (February 2016). Cryptocurrencies without proof of work. In International conference on financial cryptography and data security (pp. 142e157). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. Borah, M. D., Naik, V. B., Patgiri, R., Bhargav, A., Phukan, B., & Basani, S. G. (2020). Supply chain management in agriculture using blockchain and IoT. In Advanced applications of blockchain technology (pp. 227e242). Singapore: Springer. Clauson, K. A., Breeden, E. A., Davidson, C., & Mackey, T. K. (2018). Leveraging blockchain technology to enhance supply chain management in healthcare: An exploration of challenges and opportunities in the health supply chain. Blockchain in Healthcare Today, 1(3), 1e12. Faheem, M., Shah, S. B. H., Butt, R. A., Raza, B., Anwar, M., Ashraf, M. W., … Gungor, V. C. (2018). Smart grid communication and information technologies in the perspective of Industry 4.0: Opportunities and challenges. Computer Science Review, 30, 1e30. Global real estate market outlook. (April 2019) [online] Available: https://www.cbre.com/ research-and-reports/2017-Global-RE-Market-Outlook. Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. R. (2017). The truth about blockchain. Harvard Business Review, 95, 118e127. Jayaraman, R., AlHammadi, F., & Simsekler, M. C. E. (December 2018). Managing product recalls in healthcare supply chain. In 2018 IEEE international conference on industrial engineering and engineering management (IEEM) (pp. 293e297). IEEE. Kamilaris, A., Fonts, A., & Prenafeta-Boldύ, F. X. (2019). The rise of blockchain technology in agriculture and food supply chains. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 91, 640e652. Konashevych, O. (2020). General concept of real estate tokenization on blockchain: The right to choose. European Property Law Journal, 9(1), 21e66. Korpela, K., Hallikas, J., & Dahlberg, T. (January 2017). Digital supply chain transformation toward blockchain integration. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii international conference on system sciences.

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Kottler, F. (August 8, 2018). Potential and barriers to the implementation of blockchain technology in supply chain management. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3231695. Available at: SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract¼3231695. Latifi, S., Zhang, Y., & Cheng, L. C. (July 2019). Blockchain-based real estate market: One method for applying blockchain technology in commercial real estate market. In 2019 IEEE international conference on blockchain (blockchain) (pp. 528e535). IEEE Computer Society. Laurence, T. (2017). Blockchain for dummies. John Wiley & Sons. Lemieux, V. L. (2016). Trusting records: Is blockchain technology the answer? Records Management Journal, 26(2), 110e139. https://doi.org/10.1108/RMJ-12-2015-0042 Litke, A., Anagnostopoulos, D., & Varvarigou, T. (2019). Blockchains for supply chain management: Architectural elements and challenges towards a global scale deployment. Logistics, 3(1), 5. Lu, Z. (2018). The architecture of blockchain system across the manufacturing supply chain. Maslova, Ann (2017). Growing the garden: How to use blockchain in agriculture. https:// cointelegraph.com/news/growing-the-garden-how-to-use-blockchain-inagriculture. Öztürk, C., & Yildizbasi, A. (2020). Barriers to implementation of blockchain into supply chain management using an integrated multi-criteria decision-making method: A numerical example. Soft Computing, 24, 14771e14789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500020-04831-w Paliwal, V., Chandra, S., & Sharma, S. (2020). Blockchain technology for sustainable supply chain management: A systematic literature review and a classification framework. Sustainability, 12(18), 7638. Queiroz, M. M., Telles, R., & Bonilla, S. H. (2019). Blockchain and supply chain management integration: A systematic review of the literature. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 25(2), 241e254. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-03-2018-0143 Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., Sarkis, J., & Shen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 57(7), 2117e2135. Scott, B., Loonam, J., & Kumar, V. (2017). Exploring the rise of blockchain technology: Towards distributed collaborative organisations. Strategic Change, 26(5), 423e428. Singh, P., & Singh, N. (2020). Blockchain with IoT and AI: A review of agriculture and healthcare. International Journal of Applied Evolutionary Computation (IJAEC), 11(4), 13e27. Singh, P., Singh, N., & Deka, G. C. (2021). Prospects of machine learning with blockchain in healthcare and agriculture. In Multidisciplinary functions of blockchain technology in AI and IoT applications (pp. 178e208). IGI Global. Zhang, J. (2019). Deploying blockchain technology in the supply chain. In Computer security threats. IntechOpen.

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CHAPTER 6

Issues and challenges of blockchain technology implementation in the meat supply chain V. Senthil and K. Mathiyazhagan

Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

1. Introduction Blockchain is a peer-to-peer distributed ledger that is cryptographically secure, append-only, immutable, and updateable only via consensus or agreement among peers. A Blockchain is a layer of a distributed peer-topeer network running on top of the internet and is a distributed shared ledger, it can be considered as a shared ledger of transactions. The transactions are ordered and grouped into blocks. Consensus is a process of agreement between distrusting nodes on a final state of data and an agreement between “n” nodes is called distributed consensus. The requirement for a consensus mechanism is agreement, termination, validity, tolerance, and integrity. In an agreement, all honest node decides on the same value whereas in a termination all honest nodes terminate the execution of the consensus process and eventually reach a decision. The validity is a value agreed upon by all honest nodes same as the initial value proposed by at least one honest node and fault-tolerant is a consensus algorithm to run in the presence of faulty or malicious nodes. Integrity is a requirement where no node makes the decision more than one. The nodes make decisions only once in a single consensus cycle. Each block in a blockchain technology chain is “chained” to the next block, in a linear, chronological order, using a cryptographic signature (Bogart & Rice, 2015). The blocks contain a copy of the last transactions since the last block was added. Thus, the shared block, or ledger, is linked to all participants who use their computers in a network to validate or confirm transactions, removing the need for a third party (Christidis & Devetsikiotis, 2016; Porru et al., 2017). The elimination of a central Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00016-2

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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instance in distributed network implies a radical shift to direct transactions between nonintermediaries or intermediary services (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016). It can record transactions in a transparent, secure, decentralized, efficient, and low-cost way (Bahga, 2016; Schatsky & Muraskin, 2015). Blockchain within Smart Contract provides transparent royalties in realtime distributions to everyone involved in both the music and film industries (Dair & Beaven, 2017). State documents, e-voting, auctions, public procurement, and the registration of companies could be possible through Blockchain Technology, preventing fraud, establishing trust between the citizens and the state, and enhancing business performance in the public sector (Barnes et al., 2016). Business processes such as interoperability, flexibility to adapt to changes, and lack of trust and security are not fully addressed in interorganizational collaborations between mutually untrusted parties (Pourmirza et al., 2017). Fig. 6.1 shows the worldwide blockchain business forecasted value for the period 2017e30 (https://www.gartner. com/en/documents/3628617). Currently, the meat business model is based on private databases generally maintained by goat owners and meat sellers, whereas distributed ledger can serve as a single source of truth for all member organizations that are using blockchain. In short, Blockchain Technology is a decentralized distributed system and is defined as a platform whereby peers can exchange values using transactions without the need for a central trusted arbitrator. This study analyses the issues and challenges of using blockchain technology in the meat supply chain.

Figure 6.1 Blockchain forecasting 2017e30.

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2. Goat rearing, meat cuisines, and marketplaces 2.1 Review background Goat (sheep) is a multi-functional animal and plays a significant role in the economy and nutrition of landless, small, and marginal farmers in the country. Goat rearing is an enterprise that has been practiced by a large section of the population in rural areas. In pastoral and agricultural subsistence societies in India, goats are kept as a source of additional income and as insurance against disaster. Goats are also used in ceremonial feastings and for the payment of social dues. Advantages of goat rearing are initial investment needed for Goat farming is low, due to small body size and docile nature, housing requirements and managemental problems with goats are less. Goats are prolific breeders and achieve sexual maturity at the age of 10e 12 months gestation period in goats is short and at the age of 16e 17 months, it starts giving milk. Twinning is very common, and triplets and quadruplets are rare. The risk of goat farming is very much less in droughtprone areas compared to other livestock species (https://apeda.gov.in/). Unlike large animals, in commercial farm conditions, both male and female goats have equal value. Goats can thrive well on a wide variety of thorny bushes, weeds, crop residues, and agricultural by-products unsuitable for human consumption. Modern and well-established scientific principles, practices, and skills should be used to obtain maximum economic benefits from goat rearing. Some of the common management practices recommended for goat rearing are housing management, selection of breeding stock and its management, feeding management, protection against diseases, breeding care, care during pregnancy, and caring for kids. 2.2 Goat meat, cuisines and technologies Goat meat is more lean and relatively good for people who prefer a lowenergy diet, especially in summer and sometimes goat meat is preferred because of its “chewability”. In addition to all the environmental and health benefits, goat meat is delicious. It has a sweet, slightly gamy flavor that many people absolutely love. It’s also versatile. One can eat goat meat in curries, Mexican dishes, Jamaican stews or just between a couple of pieces of bread and a sandwich. In South Asia, where mutton curry is popular, “mutton” is used for both goat and lamb meat. Goat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world’s cuisines. The cuisines that are best known for their use of goats include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, North African, West African, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Mexican,

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Caribbean (Haiti), and Ecuadorian. Goat meat can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried, or made into sausage. Cabrito, is a very typical food of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; in Italy, it is called “capretto”. Goat jerky is also another popular variety (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_meat). The mega event of the Annual World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off is popular since 1973. On the Indian subcontinent, the rice dish mutton biryani and mutton curries prepared in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, and Bihar, use goat meat as a primary ingredient to produce a rich taste. Curry goat is a common traditional Indo-Caribbean dish. Technology for meat species identification through molecular tools. Technologies for setting up small-scale value-added meat products units, technologies for emulsion-based meat products-sausages, patties, nuggets, croquettes, meatballs etc., Technologies for shelf-stable meat products-retort meat curries, dried meat, meat pickle, and others. Indian goat and meat marketplace - The marketable products of goat farming include fattened kids, manure, and culled animals. Marketing avenues for the above products are slaughterhouses and individual meatconsuming customers and agriculture farms. Therefore, the availability of either slaughtering facilities or traders who will purchase live animals should be ensured to convert the fatteners into wholesome meat and meat products. India is the largest goat meat producer after China. The rate of goat meat production doubled the production rate in the previous decade. Despite a steady increase in supply, goat meat prices are continuously rising. The Wholesale Price Index shows that the prices of goat meat have increased from 60% to 75% in the past 5 years. “The main reason for the price increase is the rising export of goat meat to West Asia,” said the former president of the New Delhi Meat Traders Association. Sixty countries are importing goat meat from India and the major importers are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Angola, Qatar, Oman, and Egypt. Nearly 80% of the goat meat and mutton export is to West Asia. India is the largest exporter of Sheep & Goat meat to the world. The country has exported 14,128.85 MT of sheep & goat meat to the world for the worth of Rs. 646.69 Crores (90.77 USD Millions) during the year 2019e20 (https:// apeda.gov.in/). The goat meat market is set to rise as the middle class is expanding and also meat consumption is increasing according to the National Center for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, Delhi. The individual products under the goat meat subhead are as below: Carcasses of Lamb (Fresh), Carcasses of Sheep (Fresh), Meat of Sheep with Bone (Fresh),

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Boneless meat of Sheep (Fresh), Carcasses of Lamb (Frozen), Carcasses of Sheep (Frozen), Meat of Sheep with Bone (Frozen), and Boneless Meat of Sheep (Frozen). Blockchain Technology and meat supply chain: One of the persistent problems in the goat meat business is unreported and unregulated. Consumers are now increasingly looking for transparency and full traceability to make sure that they purchase genuine goat meat. This provides details on when and where the goat was grown, its age, its breed, the result of quality checks by auditors, etc., these details provide a sense of satisfaction and instill confidence in consumers about the genuineness. Indian goat meat market has three actors such as goat growers (or owners), meat suppliers, and meat consumers. Meat consumers are individuals who purchase a minimum quantity of meat as 100 g to 2 kg or bulk purchasers like restaurants who purchase more than 2 kg. Consumers are purchasing a smaller quantity of meat for their nuclear family requirements or purchasing a huge quantity of meat for their family gatherings. Since multiple actors are involved who are not confined to a single organization and goat meat is an asset that moves through the supply chain, that is, the ownership is changed as it moves through the supply chain. The properties of goat meat can generally be digitized and stored on the blockchain. Any related documents shall be stored on a central database by the needed parties. Transparency, decentralized trust, cost savings, and Efficiency are benefits to all the actors who are involved in the goat market. The objective of this research is to investigate the awareness of blockchain technology among stakeholders and explore the issues and challenges of blockchain implementation in the Indian goat meat business. This research will answer questions such as, who owns what? And what are the various benefits of blockchain technology to actors in the goat meat business?

3. Case illustration The telephonic interview method is used to collect the data from goat owners, meat sellers, and meat consumers with the interview duration of 5e30 min. The summary of telephonic conversations are as follows, the price of a goat is inversely proportional to its age, and the states such as Telangana and Maharashtra have exclusive sheep corporation for better planning of livestock, income for rural people, and for biodiversity. The mobile phone is the highest communication device among the stakeholders of the meat business and Whatsapp is a messaging technology with photo

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Blockchain Technology

Goat Owners

Goat Meat Sellers

Goat meat consumers

Figure 6.2 Conceptual business model.

sharing. Meat sellers are purchasing goats from wholesale marketplaces. Heavy trucks, autos, and two-wheelers are used to carry the purchased goats to their respective shops. Fig. 6.2 depicts the conceptual block diagram of our proposed business model. 3.1 Sample marketplace The goat market at Ettaiyapuram, Tamilnadu, India saw roaring business as it reopened after lockdown relaxations. Sale of ₹6 crore-worth goats and sheep were made on Deepavali eve. The goat market, popularly known as “Saturday Market”, used to record business anywhere between ₹50 lakh and ₹1 crore on any ordinary day. During festival seasons like Ramzan, Bakrid, Deepavali, Christmas, and Pongal, the sale would move up to ₹3 crores since the buyers come from various parts of Tamil Nadu including Chennai. When sellers and buyers converged on this market on Friday, around 12,000 sheep and goats were brought for auction. A fully grown goat fetches up to ₹13,000e15,000 for the owners. “The price rise was due to the direct participation of consumers in the auction along with the traders and the butchers,” said the buyers. However, goat owners felt that it was 15%e20% less than the actual price that would prevail in this market. Fig. 6.3 depicts the sample marketplace named “Ettaiyapuram” in Tamilnadu. 3.2 Sample summary The telephonic interview method is used for sample collection. Goat owners; meat sellers and consumers are randomly selected for the telephonic conversations. During the COVID period also, most of the time consumers are purchasing meat from the nearby butcher. The different type of goats is listed in Table 6.1. Meat cuisines and consumer preferences are

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Figure 6.3 Sample marketplace.

listed in Table 6.2. As per our samples, mutton biryani is a favorite cuisine. The men and women are learning new cuisines from their mothers, relatives, and friends but the young couples are learning the biryani making process from YouTube videos. 3.3 Implementation of blockchain in the meat business A simple Quick Response code scan should reveal the story of the goat to its consumers. The data collected from RFID tracking and various Internet of Things devices can be inserted into the blockchain. This provides details on when and where the goat was grown, its age, its breed, the result of quality checks by auditors, etc., these details provide a sense of satisfaction and instill confidence in customers about the genuineness of goat and its processing workflow. Following research questions are framed to analyze the implementation of blockchain technology in the meat business, • Does the meat business involves sharing of assets/data between multiple actors? Yes, multiple actors (owner, seller, and consumer) are involved who are not confined to a single organization. Goat meat is an asset shared between various participants. • Is there any impact due to sharing/hiding information between participants?

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Table 6.1 Types of Indian goats in the market. Type

Goat photo

Type

Goat photo

Type

Sirohi

Osmanabadi

Attapady

Boer

Sojat

Gaddi

Jamunapari

Totapari

Assam hill

Beetal

Kota

Barbari

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Goat photo

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Table 6.2 Meat cuisines and consumer preferences. Consumer A

Consumer B

Consumer C

Consumer city

Dublin (Ireland)

Bangalore (India)

Frequency of purchase Family size Buying place

Once a month

Thrice in a month

4 Supermarket (frozen)

4 Nearby butcher market

Preferable part of the meat Cuisine made at homes

Bones, flush, liver, bone marrow, Mutton biryani, Chettinadu gravy, Bone soup, Irish grilled chop, Irish lamb stew

Favorite family items

Mutton biryani, Chettinadu gravy, Irish lamb stew Family members, Irish friends, YouTube

Boneless mutton, liver, and legs Mutton biryani, Mutton gravy, Liverfry with pepper, Mysore mutton pulao, Mutton balls fry Mutton biryani, Mutton balls fry

Madurai (India) Twice a month 4 Nearby butcher market Bones and flush Mutton gravy, Mutton pepperfry, Mutton biryani

Learning techniques

• •

• •

Mother, Kannada friends, YouTube

Mutton biryani Mother, Friends, YouTube

Yes. Intermediaries are involved. The goat meat does not reach the restaurant or the supermarket directly. They are passed through intermediaries. Does the solution require shared write access? Yes. Goat is an asset that moves through the supply chain, that is, the ownership of goat meat is changed as it moves through the supply chain. Can the solution work without deleting? Yes. As of today, the goat meat supply chain does not mandate the delete of data. Also, deleting of change of hands will not help build the transparency desired. Is it required to store a large amount of nontransactional data? No. The properties of goat meat can generally be digitized and stored on the blockchain. Is it required that only a very small group or an entity needs all control? Yes. The parties participating in the supply chain control the supply chain functionality.

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4. Issues and challenges of blockchain adoption 4.1 Legal issues and challenges Legal issues are Regulation, Applicability of existing laws and regulations is unclear, remains to be seen what new laws and regulations will be promulgated to specifically address blockchain deployments. Applicable Laws are which jurisdiction or laws apply? Taxation, privacy, and data securityTransfer of data across borders, how to determine where the data breach occurred? And need to balance confidentiality, traceability, and cybersecurity. Conflict of laws considerations - how would court orders be enforced and implemented, and against whom? Collaboration - Competitors working together, antitrust considerations, the ability of blockchain to be used to facilitate collusion or exchange sensitive information, and establishment of technical standards. Blockchain Legal aspects and Tax Laws e cross-world trade without any single controlling authority calls. As governments across the world declared cryptocurrency illegal and in most countries its legislation status is not clear, citizens and investors find it difficult to file a tax on the earned profit after investments in cryptocurrency. 4.2 Risk issues and challenges Trustworthiness is a key element of blockchain technology and one of its main drivers, so developers should design all aspects in their applications in a way to support and provide that property. In this regard, we see smart contracts that get used in many projects as critical because they can offer various possibilities for malicious behavior and are prone to crucial coding errors in their development. The ability to use Turing-complete programming languages opens up not only numerous use cases and functionalities but also increases complexity and thus the potential for human mistakes and the number of backdoors/exploits. These can cause, for example, crashes of the processes or vulnerabilities of the program itself that may allow hackers to steal the resources that a digital contract manages. The novelty of smart contracts justifies the circumstance that the common knowledge about their design, implementation, programming, and validation to implement in the meat business. 4.3 Cost issues and challenges Blockchain Technology has an initial cost and its use is not free of cost which is a drawback of decentralization. The users have to pay for the transactions and computational power (Beck, 2016). Immaturity of the

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Technology: Blockchain is a new technology that represents a complete shift to a decentralized network and might lead to organizational transformation, including changes in strategy, structure, process, and culture (Olnes et al., 2017). Digital illiteracy is a major challenge among the stakeholders of the meat business, there will be huge cost involvement to overcoming this.

5. Conclusion Currently, there is not much pertinent literature on blockchain technology for the meat business, but the amount is growing, suggesting that this research subject is in an early phase. Since there is little literature, it would not make sense to structure it. Overall, it is still a fairly new technology, so it is not yet possible to say for sure how the masses will interact with it and what behavior will emerge. Despite a growing interest in the potential of blockchain to transform businesses, there are few concrete examples or scholarly literature showing how blockchain is operationalized in practice. Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) such as blockchains can significantly lower the costs of verification, thereby facilitating contract enforcement in digital transactions. When verification becomes easy and cheap, transaction intermediaries that provide contract fulfillment services may become redundant, enabling decentralized marketplaces for the meat business on a large scale. Missing Standardization and Frameworks - Established standards and frameworks for blockchain technologies can be vital and bring several advantages with them like time-saving, error prevention, and increased security. Through our analysis, we have concluded that the Indian meat businesses are largely absent in blockchain technology. So far, blockchain technology service providers have taken a pioneering role and mostly programmed their applications in different languages without technical specifications. Thus, many unique application structures emerged that have their advantages and disadvantages as well as security risks and vulnerabilities. Standards for blockchain technology for the meat business can help to foster its adoption, and interoperability, make systems more secure, in particular, build trust (Deshpande et al., 2017). Also, they enhance the accessibility to the general development of blockchain applications. Blockchain is the technology that can lead to significant changes in our business environment and will have a great impact on the next few decades. It can change the way we perceive the business process and can transform

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the Indian economy. Therefore, this study will be helpful to the academician and research communities to further investigate blockchain technological solutions to implement in the meat business.

References Amritraj, S., Parizi, R. M., Zhang, Q., Raymond Choo, K.-K., & Dehghantanha, A. (2020). Blockchain smart contracts formalization: Approaches and challenges to address vulnerabilities. Computers & Security, 88, 101654. Bahga, M. (2016). Blockchain platform for industrial internet of things. Journal of Software Engineering and applications, 9, 533e546. Barnes, A., Brake, C., & Perry, T. (2016). Digital voting with the use of blockchain technology Team Plymouth Pioneers - Plymouth University. Beck, R., Stenum Czepluch, J., Nikolaj Lollike, N., & Malone, S. (2016). In Blockchain-the gateway to trust-free cryptographic transactions (p. 153). ECIS. Research Paper. Bogart, S., & Rice, K. (2015). The blockchain report: Welcome to the internet of value. https:// blockcointoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Practical-Blockchain_-A-GartnerTrend-Insight-Report.pdf. Christidis, K., & Devetsikiotis, M. (2016). Blockchains and smart contracts for the internet of things. IEEE Access, 4, 2292e2303. Deshpande, A., Katherine, S., Louise, L., & Salil, G. (2017). Understanding the landscape of Distributed Ledger Technologies/Blockchain: Challenges, opportunities, and the prospects for standards. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/ research_reports/RR2223.html. https://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/SubHead_Products/Sheep_Goat_Meat.htm. http://www.cirg.res.in/. https://www.csir.res.in/gallery/central-food-technological-research-institute-cftri-mysore. https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3628617/practical-blockchain-a-gartner-trendinsight-report. https://www.ncaer.org/. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/ettaiyapuram-goat-market-witnesses-6crore-worth-business/article33095246.ece. https://vbigfri.icar.gov.in/. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_meat. O’ Dair, M., & Beaven, Z. (2017). The networked record industry: How blockchain technology could transform the record industry. Strategic Chamnge, 26(5), 472e480. Olnes, S., et al. (2017). Blockchain in government: Benefits and implications of distributed ledger technology for information sharing. Government Information Quarterly, 34(3), 355e364. Porru, S., Pinna, A., Marchesi, M., & Tonelli, R. (2017). Blockchain oriented software engineering: Challenges and new directions”. In 39th international conference on software engineering companion (pp. 169e171). Pourmirza, S., Peters, S., Dijkman, R., & Grefen, P. (2017). A systematic literature review on the architecture of business process management systems. Information Systems, 66, 43e58. Schatsky, D., & Muraskin, C. (2015). Beyond bitcoin. Blockchain is coming to disrupt your industry. Deloitte University Press. Tapscott, D., & Tapscott, A. (2016). The impact of the blockchain goes beyond financial services. Harvard Business Review.

CHAPTER 7

Blockchain technology approach for drug delivery in health care: A review K.N.G.L. Reshwanth1, G. Rajyalakshmi1, Yendeti Venkata Siva Prasanth2, Chalicham Hanish1, S. Aravind Raj1 and K. Jayakrishna1 1

School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India; School of Electronics Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

2

1. Blockchain technology in health care Gordon and Catalini have made study on Facilitating the Transition to Patient. Authors focused on Patient-focused interoperability, in any case, carries with it new difficulties and prerequisites around security and protection, innovation, motivations, and administration that should be addressed for this sort of data sharing to prevail at scale. The current study concentrates on how blockchain innovation may work with this change through five components: (1) digital access rules, (2) data aggregation, (3) data liquidity, (4) patient identity, and (5) data immutability. We then, at that point take a gander at hindrances to blockchain-empowered patientdriven interoperability, explicitly clinical data exchange volume, protection and 29 security, patient commitment, and motivations. Authors concluded finish up by noticing that while patient-driving interoperability is an interesting pattern in medical services, given these difficulties, it stays not yet clear whether blockchain can work with the progress from establishment driven to patient-driven data sharing (Gordon & Catalini, 2018). Attaran has made study on challenges and opportunities in Healthcare using blockchain Technology. Pivot roles blockchain innovation play in tackling probably the most basic and testing issues confronting the medical care industry. The creator distinguishes difficulties and openings for carrying out blockchain innovation in medical services and sums up wellbeing related blockchain items and central participants offering arrangements across various applications. In doing this, our exploration broadens and supplements existing blockchain research in medical services. The Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00004-6

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Researcher concluded that specialists will learn blockchain use cases and business possibilities for the medical services industry, key qualities and difficulties tended to by blockchain, drivers for change, and obstructions to the passage, and basic spaces of concern regarding the variation of blockchain innovation into medical care associations (Attaran, 2020). Anjum et al. has mapped Research trends of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare. Authors has seen based on the flow research pattern investigation by means of graphical representation and bibliographic material examination. Consequently, this investigation maps the development of logical and scholarly exploration led concerning blockchain that is applicable to medical services by using a bibliometric scientific strategy to comprehend the best in class. Author displayed outcomes as valuable bits of knowledge like the yearly pattern of distributions, top recorded creators, foundations, nations, and distributers from around the world. In addition, this article helps researchers in fostering a hypothetical structure to give an essential wellspring of reference for additional investigations with respect to blockchain innovation in the medical services area (Anjum et al., 2020). Radanovic and Likic has analyzed the opportunities for use of Blockchain Technology in Medicine. Author address in future uses will venture into medication, science, training, protected innovation, and inventory network the board. Likely applications in the field of medication could incorporate electronic wellbeing records, health care coverage, biomedical exploration, drug supply, and obtainment cycles, and clinical schooling. Fig. 7.1 depicts that Blockchain technology leads to reduce of costs in Healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. Author analyze the use of blockchain isn’t without its shortcomings and right now, this innovation is

Figure 7.1 Usage of blockchain advantages in various aspects.

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amazingly juvenile and needs open or even master information, making it difficult to have an unmistakable vital vision of its actual future potential. There are issues with versatility, security of shrewd agreements, and client reception (Radanovic & Likic, 2018). Alla et al. has made analysis on Blockchain Technology in Electronic Healthcare Systems. Author states the arising blockchain innovation is a progressive component, which guarantees data honesty and privacy inside any framework. Some medical services suppliers have been slanted to carry out blockchain innovation as it presents a decentralized and scrambled method of putting away and sharing data. This arising innovation has an extraordinary potential to improve the secrecy and respectability of Electronic Health Records. The blockchain is introduced as a worldview transformer with its inventive way to deal with decentralized administration, strength, security, and changeless review trail. Author states that blockchain in medical services have shown that it isn’t just changing innovation yet in addition a method of working together, rethinking the relations of entertainers from medical services suppliers to patients, drug industry to researchers (Alla et al., 2018). Khan et al. has analyzed Blockchain technology, improvement suggestions, and its application healthcare. Author have expounded on various basic parts of Blockchain innovation like its way of working component, conceivable improvement ideas by utilizing Proof-of-Stake, and other custom varieties, endeavoring seven kinds of difficulties by various book methods. Additionally, we have likewise clarified the present status of the craftsmanship in blockchain’s nonmonetary applications like Healthcare in which the commitment of four-layered custom blockchain models identified with accuracy medication and the clinical preliminary was remarkable. Fig. 7.2 shows that blockchain technology can be used in transactions, which ensure more safety. Authors showed that versatile application model called HDG for the robotization of clinical records without compromising protection was additionally a noticeable commitment (Khan et al., 2020). Chakraborty et al. has made a secure Healthcare system design framework using Blockchain Technology. Author states blockchain as an exchange and access the executives framework and furthermore a fitting vehicle for spreading out precise and confided in data for presenting with intentional clinical care and advantages to the patients across world. Fig. 7.3 describes about how health care system can be improved and linked with various domains for more effective treatment. Author access the

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Figure 7.2 Process of transaction execution on blockchain.

Figure 7.3 Framework for the complete healthcare system.

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executives and capacity of the data to deal with the exchanges, we will in general propose the idea of blockchain, which is a consortium of various partners like emergency clinics, Doctors, drug stores, Pathology, Imaging Centers, Medical Research Centers, and Insurance Companies. Subsequently, such frameworks can be considered as a critical entire in inspiring the general public with exact and productive medical services (Chakraborty et al., 2019). Rathee et al. has made a hybrid framework for multimedia data processing in IoT-healthcare using blockchain technology. Author in IoT medical services upgrades the nature of patients care and lessens the expense by apportioning the clinical assets in a proficient manner. Be that as it may, various dangers can happen in IoT gadgets started by different interlopers. In some cases, to make their own benefit, despite the fact that the clinical shop or pathology labs are not of acceptable standing, the specialists constrained the patients to do the lab tests, or purchase the drugs from those associations only. Author dissected against the ordinary methodology and approved with further developed reenacted results that offer 86% achievement rate over item drop proportion, adulteration assault, wormhole assault and probabilistic confirmation situations in view of Blockchain procedure (Rathee et al., 2020). Sharma et al. has made research on applications to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Author has concentrated on. The challenge most governments are experiencing is the absence of an exact instrument to distinguish the recently tainted cases and foresee COVID contamination hazards. The need for innovation enabled answers for battle during this COVID-19 emergency. The Author considered different components of blockchain innovation, like decentralization, straightforwardness, and immutability, can assist with controlling this pandemic by early recognition of flare-ups, optimizing drug conveyance, and ensuring client protection during treatment. Author concludes that blockchain innovation is to assist with controlling the spread of this pandemic. This innovation can help during this pandemic emergency by giving further developed arrangements, episode following, client security insurance, the presentation of the clinical production network, gift following, and safe everyday tasks (Sharma et al., 2020). Faisal et al. has made study on Blockchain Model for Drug Supply Chain Integrity Management in a Smart Hospital. Author states that WHO, around 30% of the absolute medication sold in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is fake. The Author likewise portrays that e ascent of Internet drug

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stores has made it harder to normalize drug wellbeing. It is hard to recognize fakes on the grounds that these medications go through various complex circulated networks, in this way shaping chances for fakes to enter the bona fide inventory network. Author used Hyperledger Fabric based on blockchain technology to handle secure drug supply chain records. Author proposed framework takes care of this issue by managing drug record exchanges on a blockchain to make a brilliant medical care environment with a drug inventory network. A brilliant agreement is dispatched to give timerestricted access to electronic drug records and furthermore patient electronic wellbeing records. Additionally completed various examinations to show the convenience and proficiency of the planned stage. Author finally made conclusion that Hyperledger Caliper as a benchmarking instrument to direct the presentation of the planned framework as far as exchanges each second, exchange inertness, and asset use (Jamil et al., 2019). Alsamhi et al. has made study on Blockchain for decentralized multidrone combat COVID-19 and future pandemics. Author address that drone missions will progressively depend on drone coordinated effort, which requires the drones to lessen correspondence intricacy and be controlled in a decentralized design. Blockchain innovation turns into an absolute necessity in mechanical applications since it gives decentralized data, accessibility, immutability, and irreversibility. Author introduces decentralized autonomous multi-drones to achieve the assignment cooperatively. Improving blockchain with an agreement calculation can further develop network dividing and adaptability to battle COVID-19. The multi-drones task is to battle COVID-19 through checking and recognizing, social distancing, sanitization, data investigation, conveying merchandise and clinical supplies, and declaration while keeping away from crashes with each other. Author concluded that End to End (E2E) delivery application of combination blockchain and multi-drone in combating COVID-19 (Alsamhi et al., 2021). Vora et al. has made framework for Securing Electronic Health Records. Author has existing state-of-the-art schemes taking care of the security of EHRs have brought about data being by and large inaccessible to patients. These schemes struggle in giving the proficient harmony between data protection, the need for patients, and suppliers to routinely connect with data. Fig. 7.4 depicts about the various trends change in blockchain technology over the years and what are the effective factors for blockchain technology and stakeholders as well. Author states that blockchain

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Figure 7.4 Revolution in healthcare sector: (A) Blockchain market over the years and predictions for the future, (B) Different parameters in the EHRs, (C) Evolution of the technologies used in EHR-systems, and (D) Stakeholders in the EHRs.

innovation settles the previously mentioned issues since it shares the data in a decentralized and conditional design. This can be utilized in the medical care area to keep up with the harmony among protection and accessibility of EHRs. Author concludes that proposed that framework fulfills the needs of patients, providers, and third parties (Vora et al., 2018). Haq and Euska has made work in Blockchain Technology in Pharmaceutical Industry to prevent counterfeit drugs. Author has made study on market that market worth of drug falsifying has arrived at billions of dollars yearly. One reason for drugs forging is the defective store network framework in the drug business. Drugs change proprietorship from producers to wholesalers, merchants, and afterward drug specialists before they arrive at the client. In current store network framework, data isn’t divided among frameworks, makers don’t have the foggiest idea what befallen their items, drugs administrative authority has zero ability to see of the framework, reviews are convoluted and exorbitant, and organizations can’t follow-up patients. Author states that instructions to utilize blockchain innovation in the drug store network to add discernibility, deceivability, and security to the drugs supply framework. The proposed framework will be utilized in the drug business to follow the drugs from their assembling until their conveyance to patients. After the utilization of a drug, its impact

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on the patient will be recorded to a database for future insights. Author finally states that permissioned blockchain will be utilized for putting away exchanges and just believed gatherings will be permitted to join the organization and push data to the blockchain (Haq & Esuka, 2018). Im et al. has made study on implementation of Blockchain based Online pharmacy with customer privacy protection. Author studied that COVID 19 limits up close and personal contact, and online contact stages are arising in the clinical area. Be that as it may, there are likely dangers of medication lapse, medication abuse, and dependable materials the executives for secure conveyance. Author uses basically three critical practical necessities for online drug store, and plan the blockchain-based online drug store to meet the prerequisites. To secure the patient’s protection and to guarantee alter free discernibility, we join the staggered access verification conspire for every member (governments, clinical circles, and patients). Fig. 7.5 depicts how we can digitally monitor the spreading of COVID19 via using blockchain technology in Healthcare. Author showed that framework ensures patient’s security minus any additional framework modification (Im et al., 2021).

Figure 7.5 Blockchain-based system for digital contact tracing to curb spreading of COVID-19.

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Ahmad et al. has made how COVID-19 Pandemic leads in development of Blockchain and it vast applications during COVID. A huge piece of the present medical care frameworks is incorporated and miss the mark in giving essential data security and protection, data immutability, straightforwardness, and discernibility provisions to recognize cheats identified with COVID-19 immunization confirmation, neutralizer testing, and clinical supplies. Blockchain innovation can help to battle the COVID-19 pandemic by guaranteeing protected and dependable clinical supplies, the precise ID of infection problem areas, and building up data provenance to check the certifiable individual defensive gear that is decentralized, reliable, recognizable, and straightforward. Author concludes that less of the present medical care frameworks is incorporated and miss the mark in giving essential data security and protection, data immutability, straightforwardness, and discernibility provisions to recognize cheats identified with COVID-19 immunization confirmation, neutralizer testing, and clinical supplies. Blockchain innovation can help to battle the COVID-19 pandemic by guaranteeing protected and dependable clinical supplies, the precise ID of infection problem areas, and building up data provenance to check the certifiable individual defensive gear that is decentralized, reliable, recognizable, and straightforward (Ahmad et al., 2020). Alam has made study on Mobile Healthcare system architecture for the Real-time Monitoring of the COVID-19 Patients. Author presented that blockchain-based medical care frameworks that would help work with portable administrations and telehealth, consequently limiting patient pressing factors and limiting the cost of fundamental clinical administrations Such exploration builds up blockchain-based engineering that looks at the opportunities for distributed, time-stepping, and shared preparing advantages of blockchain to make a cutting edge framework for the verification and ID of associated irresistible occurrences with COVID-19. Authors have introduced a novel blockchain-based design for versatile medical care framework engineering for the continuous observing of the COVID-19 Patients. This investigation offers construction for individuals with COVID-19 infective illnesses and distinguishes clinical issues and electronic diagnostics. Digital gadgets, like cell phones, could arrange any versatile applications. Such applications could screen COVID-19 patients better. Portable applications on cell phones are planned to limit time and discount and work on the proficiency of irresistible patients. The four-layer structure is presented through IoT and Blockchain methods (Alam, 2021).

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2. Conclusion Study has concluded that Block has various impact on health care development and leads to the development of drug delivery system as well. Blockchain innovation can help to battle the COVID-19 pandemic by guaranteeing protected and dependable clinical supplies, the precise ID of infection problem areas, and building up data provenance to check the certifiable individual defensive gear that is decentralized, reliable, recognizable, and straightforward. Blockchain will be utilized for putting away exchanges and just believed gatherings will be permitted to join the organization. Blockchain also plays a crucial role in storage of patient data in a safe place where no one can access easily and delivery systems upgradation, which leads for more development.

References Ahmad, R. W., Salah, K., Jayaraman, R., Yaqoob, I., Ellahham, S., & Omar, M. (2020). Blockchain and COVID-19 pandemic: Applications and challenges. IEEE TechRxiv. Alam, T. (2021). Blockchain-enabled mobile healthcare system architecture for the realtime monitoring of the COVID-19 patients. Available at: SSRN 3772643. Alla, S., Soltanisehat, L., Tatar, U., & Keskin, O. (May 2018). Blockchain technology in electronic healthcare systems. In Proceedings of the 2018 IISE annual conference (pp. 1e6). Alsamhi, S. H., Lee, B., Guizani, M., Kumar, N., Qiao, Y., & Liu, X. (2021). Blockchain for decentralized multi-drone to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics: Framework and proposed solutions. Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies, 32, e4255. Anjum, H. F., Rasid, S. Z. A., Khalid, H., Alam, M. M., Daud, S. M., Abas, H., … Yusof, M. F. (2020). Mapping research trends of blockchain technology in healthcare. IEEE Access, 8, 174244e174254. Attaran, M. (2020). Blockchain technology in healthcare: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 1e14. Chakraborty, S., Aich, S., & Kim, H. C. (February 2019). A secure healthcare system design framework using blockchain technology. In 2019 21st international conference on advanced communication technology (ICACT) (pp. 260e264). IEEE. Gordon, W. J., & Catalini, C. (2018). Blockchain technology for healthcare: Facilitating the transition to patient-driven interoperability. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 16, 224e230. Haq, I., & Esuka, O. M. (2018). Blockchain technology in pharmaceutical industry to prevent counterfeit drugs. International Journal of Computer Applications, 180(25), 8e12. Im, C. W., Kim, D. H., Jang, J. E., Shin, E. J., Lee, H. C., Kim, T. H., & Kim, S. W. (2021). Blockchain based online pharmacy with customer privacy protection. Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference, 28(1), 33e36. Jamil, F., Hang, L., Kim, K., & Kim, D. (2019). A novel medical blockchain model for drug supply chain integrity management in a smart hospital. Electronics, 8(5), 505. Khan, F. A., Asif, M., Ahmad, A., Alharbi, M., & Aljuaid, H. (2020). Blockchain technology, improvement suggestions, security challenges on smart grid and its application in healthcare for sustainable development. Sustainable Cities and Society, 55, 102018.

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Radanovic, I., & Likic, R. (2018). Opportunities for use of blockchain technology in medicine. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 16(5), 583e590. Rathee, G., Sharma, A., Saini, H., Kumar, R., & Iqbal, R. (2020). A hybrid framework for multimedia data processing in IoT-healthcare using blockchain technology. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 79(15), 9711e9733. Sharma, A., Bahl, S., Bagha, A. K., Javaid, M., Shukla, D. K., & Haleem, A. (2020). Blockchain technology and its applications to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Research on Biomedical Engineering, 1e8. Vora, J., Nayyar, A., Tanwar, S., Tyagi, S., Kumar, N., Obaidat, M. S., & Rodrigues, J. J. (December 2018). Bheem: A blockchain-based framework for securing electronic health records. In 2018 IEEE globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps) (pp. 1e6). IEEE.

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CHAPTER 8

Application of Blockchain Technology in agri-food supply chains: Opportunities and challenges Rajesh Kr Singh and Laxmi Pandit Vishwakarma Management Development Institute Gurgaon, Haryana, India

1. Introduction The Agri Food supply chain is a complicated chain ever since ages. This industry has served billions and billions of customers over years and has served foods to many plates daily. With serving billions of plates, this chain comes with numerous challenges. Customer’s trust acts as an important parameter for the success of any organization. The same concept applies for organizations in Agriculture sector. The customers have the full right in acquiring any knowledge regarding the ingredients and origin of the products (Imeri & Khadraoui, 2018; Velis & Brunner, 2013). They should be aware of the product life cycle (PLC) to make sure the products they are using are safe, have high quality and are sustainable (Hassan et al., 2019). The Agri food supply chain must be sustainable to improve purchase willingness and customer’s trust. Proper tracking and authorization of information are important throughout the supply chain (Galvez et al., 2018). According to a study by Markets and Markets, in 2020, the market size of Agri food supply chain is estimated at USD 133 million and this growth is projected at a growth of CAGR of 48.1% and will reach USD 948 million by 2025 (Markets and Markets, 2020). In today’s world, the Agri food supply chain is global, structured and interconnected. Mostly, the food documentation, provenance, compliances check and other attributes are stored on the private databases or on the papers, which are inspected mainly by the third party (Trienekens et al., 2012). This situation increases error, frauds, financial losses. Therefore, the industries collaborate with organizations, consumer associations, government bodies providing better transparency and building trust among stakeholders. Blockchain technology Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00014-9

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provides both of them for an Agri food supply chain (Andoni et al., 2019; Galvez et al., 2018; Sikorski et al., 2017; Yong et al., 2019; Ølnes et al., 2017). Agri food supply chains (AFSC) is passing through business environment of VUCA. It stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. AFSC faces all four situations. These situations can be easily understood by the growing pressure on farmers, long-term environmental concerns, the rapid changing industry and fast adoption of new technologies. The agriculture industry is forced to make a balance between production and preservation due to today’s VUCA world. The government regulatory bodies are pushing the organization to adopt sustainable practices and use more environmentally friendly methods. Due to this reason, many organizations across the agriculture spectrum are adopting new technologies and investing heavily in innovations. Data Analytics, Biotechnological Advances, GPS technology, The Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence are helping organizations to boost their profitability. Automation and Robotics are transforming the agriculture sector and are reducing human error whereas Blockchain technology has revolutionized the entire Agri food supply chain by providing transparency and traceability. Volatility (or the speed or the nature of change): The factors included here are the changing customer preferences, adoption of new technologies and advanced innovations. Volatility occurs due to climatic changes, global warmings, creation of unemployment in this sector. The volatility in the agricultural food supply chain creates uncertainty (Kraaijenbrink, 2018). Uncertainty (its people’s incapability to understand the ongoing situation): It deals with the inability to predict the future because of the people’s incapability to understand the ongoing situation. The Real uncertain situations are those wherein the situation doesn’t allow anything to predict not even on a statistical basis (Kraaijenbrink, 2018). Complexity (the total number of factors and their relationship): It refers to the current situations, the total number of factors involved in this situation, and the relationship between those situations, which makes them complex. Any increase in the number of factors increases the relationship among them, making the environment more complex (Kraaijenbrink, 2018). Ambiguity (invisibility or nonclarity): Such conditions occur when the information is incomplete or inaccurate it’s hard to draw any conclusions. Moreover, it refers to the vagueness or fuzziness of the situations, which brings nonclarity and invisibility (Kraaijenbrink, 2018).

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There are many technologies like Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, etc., which are helping organizations to be resilient. Satisfying the demand of the growing population, meeting consumer’s needs, reducing the environmental footprints, minimizing the agriculture supply chain costs and attaining sustainability are the drivers of the adoption of Blockchain Technology. The wastage of food commodities depends on several factors such as imbalances in the demand and supply, price variations, government policies, depending on the type of country-a developed or a developing country, weather conditions, water and soil quality, availability, import and export conditions etc. Different models and techniques are studied by many researchers for the adoption of Blockchain Technology to make the supply chain more efficient and effective. Further, the VUCA world issues in the Agri Food Supply Chain can be overcome by the adoption of Blockchain Technology. Hence, the adoption of blockchain technology is important and relevant.

2. Blockchain technology and it’s applications in Agri food supply chain 2.1 Blockchain technology Blockchain technology is a distributed, shared and a tampered proof digital ledger that comprises of multiple digital records in packets named “blocks” (Kakavand et al., 2017), which are connected by cryptographic hashes. These blocks emerge as digital decentralized databases, which coordinate various transactional activities (Fern andez-Carames & Fraga-Lamas, 2018). Each block is unique. The transactions occur from the blocks, which are connected having a series of hash pointers, which cannot be altered, reversed or changes. This technology works on the consensus mechanism to build the trust of nodes (Buterin, 2015; Zhao et al., 2017). All the nodes of the decentralized system contain a copy of the ledger. Therefore, whenever any modifications or alterations are made, it takes consent from the participants. With this, the participants are also informed about the changes made and the transactions are verified. This emerging technology is highly encrypted and hence the chances of corruption reduce through the implication of this technology. For example, Smart Contracts enables users to share data and perform transactions without the intervention of a thirdparty trust entity. Such transactions are safer and are difficult to tamper with (Galvez et al., 2018).

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Blockchain Technology is different from the traditional transactional systems because it does not involve any banks but still it is considered as a trusted technology. One of the major reasons for such trust is due to the reason that this technology uses the hashes, which are interconnected to the blocks and are responsible for safer transmission of data. Any change in the blocks can lead to changes in the hashes of the consecutive blocks and hence can be easily identified. To make any changes in the blocks, consent from all the members is taken in the blockchain technology. Feng et al. (2020) explain the functional characteristics of blockchain technologies. These characteristics include smart contracts in the traceability of food products and business process, data tamper proof and traceable, consensus mechanism, decentralized and trustless network, transaction transparency anonymity of the traceability chain, high authenticity of systems and data. In the Agri food supply chain, blockchain technology provides traceability business processes. The information contained in these traceability transaction systems can be easily verified by the users and are considered as a safer and a permanent option by many organizations because it not only cuts the middlemen involvement but also improves speed and coverage, reduces costs and provides higher transparency for consumers (Aiello et al., 2015; Galvez et al., 2018). 2.2 Application of Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain Blockchain is a new and innovative technology that works on peer-to-peer data transmission, encryption algorithm, data storage (Khan & Salah, 2018). The current food supply chain’s complexity and length have created a huge distance between the producer and the consumer. The growing demands of food products in recent years due to the growing population, consumer preferences have forced organizations to adopt Blockchain Technology. The existing Agri food supply chains have made it very difficult for producers to reach their customers for their concern about food on time. The present system has most of the data and information audited by a third party and stores the data on a centralized repository (Naik, 2020). For example- Walmart has used blockchain technology to track Lettuce and Spinach. After many consumers got sick from eating the contaminated Lettuce, Walmart has conducted a study for detailed information about their food for more than 100 farms and several retailers involved in the entire supply chain. The usage of Blockchain technology in their Agri food supply chain has helped the organization in saving cost, providing fresh

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food to their customers, reducing risk and boosting their digital system. The adoption of blockchain technology by a giant organization- Walmart has revealed the importance of Blockchain technology in the Agri food supply chain. The major benefit, which the organization has received by the adoption of technology is to keep a track of their food through the supply chain. Previously also, Walmart has conducted the same study with the Sliced Mangoes. They have conducted this study to understand the traceability of the Mangoes. There they found out that to tract the sliced mangoes, they need 6 days, 18 h and 26 min from its original farm. But after the adoption of Blockchain technology, this time got reduced to 2.2 s. They observed that the database stored by the network has several computers connected to it, saving the records on multiple locations same time. As the data is been saved at multiple locations, it was difficult to change or alter any data, making this technology a safer method to adopt. In the same manner, Walmart was able to tract its products such as Poultry and Yogurt through their systems. But the major challenge was that Blockchain technology does not prevent food material from frauds. For example- A Blockchain technology can provide the digital records of all the boxes in the supply chain. Suppose there are sliced mangoes inside the boxes. Then in that case the blockchain technology will provide the information of the mangoes inside the boxes but will not be able to detect if anyone in between the chain has opened that box and have replaced those mangoes with any kind of illegal drugs or harmed products. For such inspection, the organization needs human intervention. Hence, this technology does not prevent the organization from frauds (Corkery & Popper, 2018). This technology provides better visibility, transparency and traceability in their commodity. Implementing this technology lands up in an “Uberization” of the agri-food value chain, resulting in eliminating middlemen and minimizing the transaction costs (Naik, 2020). Many researchers still argue that Blockchain technology in Agri food supply chain is under-researched and is not fully explored (Feng et al., 2020). It is still in the infancy stage in the emerging and fast-changing environment (Motta et al., 2020). Blockchain technology is the cutting-edge technology that provides full transparency and traceability to the Agri food supply chain (Feng et al., 2020). This helps the organizations to have a positive effect to attain sustainability in Agri food. This technology is considered a safer, efficient, transparent and traceable method. It helps the organizations in getting the complete information from farming to sales using Internet of Things based devices, which helps in acquiring real-time food products information and

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persistence of food products from Agri food supply chain (Galvez et al., 2018; Ølnes et al., 2017). The suppliers of farm input are the people who are responsible for the growth of crops, raw materials such as seeds, animals, milk etc. The farmers are the ones who make the primary agricultural products and supply them further. The processors process the food products, packages the product and can sometimes directly sells the products to the consumers (like some restaurants get the food products directly from the processors). The distributors are the ones who either directly deals with the farmers or the processors. If the food products are primary (like vegetables) then they directly deal with the farmers but if the food products are processed or are the secondary products then they deal with the distributors (for example packaged food products). After the distributor, the food products are sold to the retailer for making easily accessible to the customers. These retails can be any kirana stores or any big retail stores like Big Bazar, D-Mart etc. From here, the food products reach the customers. The Agri Food Supply Chain uses the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) at all the stages of the supply chain and brings traceability among the entire chain. The Agri food supply chain consists of suppliers of farm inputs, farmers, processors, distributor, retailer, consumers. The supply chain management is the chain that is designed to meet the customer requirements. A high level of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity is observed in the Agri food supply chain for the quality and safety of food products. It arises due to invisible costs associated with the supply chain and the huge competition among different market players. The role of technology holds significant importance in the entire supply chain. The application of blockchain technology can be seen in every stage of the supply chain. There must be smooth movement of the food products in the entire supply chain. The supply chain follows high standards of rules, regulations and undergoes numerous certification programs to deliver high quality food products. The application of blockchain technology in the Agri food supply chain is explained in the flow diagram as shown in Fig. 8.1 (Lenniy, 2020). The DLT is a shared database or shared ledger, which is redundant and immutable spread across different user, supply chain partners and numerous institutions (Mainelli & Smith, 2015).

3. Benefits of adopting the blockchain technology The Blockchain Technology in the Agri food supply chain provides several benefits like - it builds and improves supply chain trust and collaboration,

Application of Blockchain Technology in agri-food supply chains

Suppliers of Farm inputs

Farmers

Processors

Distributor

Retailer

Consumer

107

•The supplier sells the agricultural raw materials to the producers. •All the sold raw materials are registered through Barcode Detectors and are registered in the DLT. From this registration, the initial data is been saved in the system.

•The producers collect the data from the suppliers, record them again in their system (if required) and then verify the data from the DLT. The data collected here are of stock conditions, pesticides, feed, temperatures, moistures, farm locations, soil and stock conditions etc. •The data on product growth is added here along with the initial data.

•The manufacturer uses the QR code to scan the final products. The scanning is done after all the packaging, inspections required according to the norms of the brands. •The certificates require to show that the product is following all the compliances is maintained at this stage. •The initial data, the data on the product growth and the certifications data is added at this stage.

•The final product is stored and transported to the retailers or sometimes directly to the restaurants, branches mainly consumers. •The timing of the shipments and the condition of the product during the transportation is recorded along with all the above data's.

•The retailer uses Big Data Technologies, Machine Learning etc. to predict the stock or order coming in the future from the customers. Based on this, the retailers promote promotional codes, upload their inventory data's and sells the products to the consumers. •The QR code helps in finishing the above steps fast. With the scanning of QR code, the retailers fill their inventory fast and easily tracks the promotional codes or any offers. •The data is now updated with the financial data's as well.

•The consumer gets the entire information about the products through the scanning of the QR codes including when, how, where and by whom they will receive the final product. •At this stage, the data is updated with the final price and delivery location of the products.

Figure 8.1 Application of blockchain technology at all the stages of AFSC.

sustainability, reduces economic losses, improves food safety, quality and security, promotes low energy consumption and less storage capacity, simplify the Agri food supply chain and streamline operations, minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services, helps in better decision-making. The limited study is done in this domain to understand how this technology helps the organizations in improving the transparency, quality and the security of food and food products in the total Agri food supply chain (Kim & Laskowski, 2017; Yiannas, 2018).

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Information can be traced from Internet of Things (IoT) based devices such as QR code, Radio Frequency Identification, Near- Field Communication (NFC). All this data and information is shared on a real time basis but with no guarantee of preventing data tampering (Imeri & Khadraoui, 2018). Blockchain technology can be easily combined with other technologies such as NFC, which helps in tracking Agri-food. When combined, the system provides better security and transparency. Blockchain technology-based traceability provides accountability and transparency (Kshetri, 2018; Tama et al., 2017), cybersecurity, authentication and protection (Galvez et al., 2018; Kshetri, 2018), fraud prevention and traceability (Jin et al., 2017). Some of the benefits of Blockchain Technology in the Agri food supply chain are discussed below: i. Promotes low energy consumption and Less storage capacity Reyna et al. (2018) observed that a standardized system should be measured in terms of storage capacity and energy consumption. Feng et al. (2020) explain that a blockchain system needs a high speed, low power consumption and a secured performance system. ii. Reduces economic losses Blockchain technologies provide traceability for the whole Agri food supply chain that helps to keep a continuous watch and provides more shelf life to the food products resulting in reducing food wastage and economic losses (Korpela et al., 2017; Mohanta et al., 2018). It reduces the total costs associated with the Agri food supply chain (Manupati et al., 2020; Modgil & Sonwaney, 2019; Saberi et al., 2019). iii. Improves supply chain trust and collaboration The major application of Blockchain Technology is that it builds trust and collaboration among the supply chain partners (Modgil & Sonwaney, 2019). It helps the farmers to build trust with their marketing teams accountable the promoting their products (Naik, 2020). Blockchain technologies help to restore trust and collaboration among the supply chain partners. iv. Transparency and Traceability Bai and Sarkis (2020) highlight that Blockchain Technology enhances the traceability and transparency of the Agri food supply chain. The use of blockchain technology helps the organization in providing food traceability, which further helps the organization in improving food sustainability (Kamilaris et al., 2019). Traceability is important as it helps to timely check the quality, security and safety of food (Feng et al., 2019;

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Li et al., 2020; Tsang et al., 2018). Prashar et al. (2020) and Wang et al. (2019) ensure that Blockchain technology provides traceability and visibility for Agricultural products. Many authors have argued that the current traceability in the Agri food supply chain is not effective to build customer’s trust (Helo & Hao, 2019; Khan & Salah, 2018). To improve the traceability of Agri food supply chain, organizations there is need to develop effective information management to improve traceability (Motta et al., 2020). Feng et al. (2020) provide insights on how blockchain technology can be used to improve the traceability of the Agri food supply chain. Traceability plays a major role in maintaining food’s safety, quality and security (Feng et al., 2020). v. Sustainability Sustainability related issues raise the concern of using the adoption of pollution preventing technologies like Blockchain technology (Bag et al., 2020; Dong et al., 2019). Blockchain technology helps in sorting the waste materials. The use of data and information in Agri food supply chain improves sustainability (Walter et al., 2017). Manupati et al. (2020) highlight that Blockchain Technology reduces carbon footprints. Blockchain technology helps to promote sustainability. It helps to manage resources efficiently and effectively. vi. Simplifying the Agri food supply chain and streamline operations Blockchain technology helps in simplifying the Agri food supply. This technology provides better software and hardware integration, which improves the overall performance chain and streamline the operations (Kim & Laskowski, 2017, 2018). vii. Improves Food Safety, Quality and Security Transparency, Durability and Integrity help the organization to maintain food quality safety and security (Banerjee et al., 2018; Helo & Hao, 2019; Tsang et al., 2018). Prashar et al. (2020) confirm that Blockchain technology helps to ensure food safety. viii. Minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services Blockchain technology proves to be a risk management tool for farmers. It minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services. Blockchain contributes to making timely payments based on the weather data defined under smart contracts (Gatteschi et al., 2018). Smart contracts allow periodic payments among the stakeholders wherein any changes made in the transactions, gets easily appeared in the blockchain (Xiong et al., 2020). The transactions will be completed through a reliable

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approach. Any malfunctions or frauds can be easily detected through Blockchain technology (Sylvester, 2019). This minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services through smart contracts. ix. Better decision-making The technologies like Blockchain Technology, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things helps the farming communities and agricultural practitioners to obtain important information, which helps them in better decision-making (Kaddu & Haumba, 2016). The benefits of Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain are summarized in Table 8.1.

4. Challenges in implementing blockchain technology The leakages in the Agri food supply chain give rise to concerns like data tampering and data privacy, which is an alarming issue for farmers, governments, cold chain managers and customers (Caro et al., 2018). But these issues can be solved by using Blockchain technology. The Blockchain technology acts as a promising technology that helps organizations to build a trust mechanism and solve the security and transparency issues such as prevention of tampering data (Andoni et al., 2019; Galvez et al., 2018; Sikorski et al., 2017; Yong et al., 2019; Ølnes et al., 2017). But the organizations are facing multiple challenges in adopting Blockchain Technology, which must be overcome in the near future. The challenges with this technology are in terms of standardization, interoperability, practical operations and system infrastructure. The organizations must also have to understand the applications of blockchain technology on technical integration, participant trust and collaboration, policy support (Lin et al., 2017). Multiple challenges faced by the Blockchain technology in the Agri food supply chains are discussed below: i. Infrastructure The current Blockchain Technology has poor infrastructure and requires an infrastructure integrating all the agricultural supply chains meeting up all the quality based and a traceability system (Nizamuddin et al., 2019). The infrastructure must be made in such a way that it follows all the latest government policies (Nizamuddin et al., 2019; Kshetri, 2019; Thakur et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2019; Zheng et al., 2018).

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Table 8.1 Benefits of Blockchain Technology in the Agri food supply chain (AFSC). Benefits of Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain

Promotes low energy consumption and less storage capacity Reduces economic losses

Improves supply chain trust and collaboration

Transparency, traceability

Sustainability

Simplifying the entire chain and streamline its operations Improves food safety, quality and security

Minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services Better decision-making

Feng et al. (2020), Chang et al. (2019), Reyna et al. (2018) Manupati et al. (2020), Saberi et al. (2019), Modgil and Sonwaney (2019), Mohanta et al. (2018), Korpela et al. (2017) Naik (2020), Saberi et al. (2019), Modgil and Sonwaney (2019), Liang et al. (2018), Cartier et al. (2018), Ølnes et al. (2017) Prashar et al. (2020), Wang et al. (2019), Feng et al. (2020), Feng et al. (2019), Helo and Hao (2019), Andoni et al. (2019), Yong et al. (2019), Galvez et al. (2018), Kshetri (2018), Yiannas (2018), Kim and Laskowski (2018), Banerjee et al. (2018), Tsang et al. (2018), Ølnes et al. (2017), Kim and Laskowski (2017), Jin et al. (2017), Li et al. (2020), Tama et al. (2017), Sikorski et al. (2017), Aiello et al. (2015) Mukherjee et al. (2021), Manupati et al. (2020), Bag et al. (2020), Dong et al. (2019), Chang et al., (2019), Galvez et al. (2018), Walter et al. (2017) Kim and Laskowski (2018), Kim (2017) Prashar et al. (2020), Feng et al. (2020), Yong et al. (2019), Feng et al. (2019), Andoni et al. (2019), Galvez et al. (2018), Tsang et al. (2018); Kim and Laskowski (2017) Xiong et al. (2020), Sylvester (2019), Gatteschi et al. (2018), Haveson et al. (2017) Kaddu and Haumba (2016)

ii. Interoperability and Standardization The Blockchain architecture should be made in such a way that it allows the interoperability between the other technologies when connected to build trust and to secure the transferred information. Interoperability and

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Standardization between the ledgers are very important in blockchain technology (Kamilaris et al., 2019). The systems made must be sure that it provides the Interoperability and standardization between them (Lin et al., 2017). iii. Government Regulations There should be proper government rules and regulations for using blockchain technology because uncertainties and illegal use of this technology occurs sometimes (Galvez et al., 2018). Presently, there is a lack of proper government regulations in many countries. The IoT domain regulations differ from country to country (Reyna et al., 2018). Regularities must come up with rules to maintain data privacy and to protect consumer data (Kumar & Mallick, 2018). Regulators from different industries and countries must understand this technology carefully and then should analyze the situations carefully. iv. Technical challenges Technical challenges in Blockchain consists of stability and scalability requirements (Koteska et al., 2017; Reyna et al., 2018). The transaction speed is slow and the current scalability of the blockchain technology is inadequate (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Azzi et al., 2019; Helo & Hao, 2019; Kamilaris et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2019; Zheng et al., 2018). As there is an increase in the number of transactions in blockchain technology, the amount of data increase and it becomes difficult in loading, storing and computing a large amount of data (Zheng et al., 2017). v. High Investments Initially, high investment is required to adopt Blockchain Technology. Lin et al. (2017) confirmed that Agri food supply chain requires a high amount of investment to embed blockchain technology to improve traceability. This high investment is due to the costs associated with the hardware’s installed at the stations, involvements of different participants in the supply chain, costs associated with sharing and validating transactions on the ledgers (Kshetri, 2019; Thakur et al., 2019). The right amount of capital is needed for adopting blockchain technology (Zhao et al., 2019). The challenges in implementing Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain are summarized in Table 8.2.

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Table 8.2 Challenges in implementing Blockchain Technology in the Agri food supply chain. Challenges in implementing the Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain

Infrastructure

Government Regulations

Technical challenges

Interoperability and Standardization High Investments

Zhao et al. (2019), Nizamuddin et al. (2019), Kshetri (2019), Thakur et al. (2019), Zheng et al., (2018), Fern andez-Carames and Fraga-Lamas (2018), Lin et al. (2017) Biswas and Gupta (2019), Kamilaris et al. (2019), Thakur et al. (2019), Zhao et al. (2019), Kumar and Mallick (2018), Saberi et al. (2018), Galvez et al. (2018), Lin et al. (2017) Koteska et al., (2017), Azzi et al. (2019), Kamilaris et al. (2019), Helo and Hao (2019), Thakur et al. (2019), Zhao et al. (2019), Reyna et al. (2018), Zheng et al., (2018), Lin et al. (2017), Zheng et al. (2017) Kamilaris et al. (2019), Kumar and Mallick (2018) Kshetri (2019), Thakur et al. (2019), Zhao et al. (2019), Lin et al. (2017)

5. Conclusion In this study, the adoption of Blockchain Technology in the Agri food supply chain, its applications, opportunities and challenges are discussed. Here, the importance of Blockchain technology is examined and explored. The application of Blockchain technology is elaborated with the secondary information available on Walmart. With the adoption of Blockchain technology, Walmart has experienced several benefits including the improvement in the transparency, traceability of food products, reduction in operating costs, satisfying customer’s demand on time and improving food safety, security and quality. In the case of Sliced Mangoes, it is found that before the adoption of Blockchain technology, Walmart took 6 days, 18 h and 26 min from its original farm to trace the product. But after the adoption of Blockchain technology, this time got reduced to 2.2 s. Several benefits of Blockchain Technology are listed down in this study. These benefits are: it promotes low energy consumption and less storage capacity; reduces economic losses; improves supply chain trust and collaboration; provides transparency and traceability; sustainability; simplifies the Agri food supply chain and streamline operations; improves food safety, quality and security; minimizes the financial risks and helps the producers to access financial services; enhances decision-making process.

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Along with numerous benefits, the challenges for adoption of Blockchain Technology are also explored. The challenges explored in this study are infrastructure; government regulations; technical challenges; interoperability and standardization; high investments. This study will help the organizations in successfully adopting the Blockchain Technology in Agri food supply chain. Findings of this study will benefit the supply chain partners of Agri food supply chain as well as the researchers in this field. The adoption of Blockchain technology is still in the nascent stage and more studies should be conducted in this field to extend the knowledge base. In the future, the identified benefits and challenges for the adoption of Blockchain technology in Agri food supply chain can be empirically tested and analyzed.

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Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., & Sarkis, J. (2018). Blockchain technology: A panacea or pariah for resources conservation and recycling? Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 130, 80e81. Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., Sarkis, J., & Shen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 57(7), 2117e2135. Sikorski, J. J., Haughton, J., & Kraft, M. (2017). Blockchain technology in the chemical industry: Machine-to-machine electricity market. Applied Energy, 195, 234e246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.03.039 Sylvester, G. (2019). E-Agriculture in action: blockchain for agriculture (opportunities and challenges). Bangkok: International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Tama, B. A., Kweka, B. J., Park, Y., & Rhee, K. H. (2017). A critical review of blockchain and its current applications. In 2017 international conference on electrical engineering and computer science (ICECOS). IEEE (p. 109e113). Thakur, V., Doja, M. N., Dwivedi, Y. K., Ahmad, T., & Khadanga, G. (2020). Land records on blockchain for implementation of land titling in India. International Journal of Information Management, 52, 101940. Trienekens, J. H., Wognum, P. M., Beulens, A. J. M., & van der Vorst, J. G. A. J. (2012). Transparency in complex dynamic food supply chains. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 26, 55e65. Tsang, Y. P., Choy, K. L., Wu, C. H., Ho, G. T. S., Lam, C. H., & Koo, P. S. (2018). An Internet of Things (IoT)-based risk monitoring system for managing cold supply chain risks. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 118(7), 1432e1462. Velis, C. A., & Brunner, P. H. (2013). Recycling and resource efficiency: It is time for a change from quantity to quality. Waste Management & Research, 31(6), 539e540. Walter, A., Finger, R., Huber, R., & Buchmann, N. (2017). Opinion: Smart farming is key to developing sustainable agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, 6148e6150. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1707462114 Wang, Y., Singgih, M., Wang, J., & Rit, M. (2019). Making sense of blockchain technology: How will it transform supply chains. International Journal of Production Economics, 211, 221e236. Xiong, H., Dalhaus, T., Wang, P., & Huang, J. (2020). Blockchain technology for agriculture: Applications and rationale. Frontiers in Blockchain, 3, 7. Yiannas, F. (2018). A new era of food transparency powered by blockchain. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, 12(1e2), 46e56. Yong, B., Shen, J., Liu, X., Li, F., Chen, H., & Zhou, Q. (2020). An intelligent blockchainbased system for safe vaccine supply and supervision. International Journal of Information Management, 52, 102024. Zhao, G., Liu, S., & Lopez, C. (2017). A literature review on risk sources and resilience factors in agri-food supply chains. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 739e752. Zhao, G., Liu, S., Lopez, C., Lu, H., Elgueta, S., Chen, H., & Boshkoska, B. M. (2019). Blockchain technology in agri-food value chain management: A synthesis of applications, challenges and future research directions. Computers in Industry, 109, 83e99. Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H. N., Chen, X., & Wang, H. (2018). Blockchain challenges and opportunities: A survey. International Journal of Web and Grid Services, 14(4), 352e375. Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H., Chen, X., & Wang, H. (June 2017). An overview of blockchain technology: Architecture, consensus, and future trends. In 2017 IEEE international congress on big data (BigData congress) (pp. 557e564). IEEE.

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CHAPTER 9

The application of blockchain in talent supply chain management R. Deepa

Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai, India

1. Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) is at the cross-roads of major technology adoption like Artificial Intelligence, Human Resource (HR) Analytics using Machine Learning, Cloud-based HR solutions, Process automation, Digital transformation, and Blockchain technology. Specifically, HR is at the threshold of adopting the Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud model in its processes and practices. Blockchain technology is not far behind as many organizations see blockchain as a breakthrough in hiring, background verification, payroll processing, for record-keeping related to employee’s data and maintaining legal contracts in the gig economy (Mishra and Venkatesan, 2021). The use of blockchain as compared to other technology is growing incrementally, with a few organizations piloting the technology for specific purposes as against an entire organization adopting blockchain in HR (Zielinski, 2020). “Blockchain is a de-centralized, distributed ledger of value transactions in which each record is dependent on the records that precede it, thereby creating a chain of validity which is extremely difficult to tamper with. The unchangeable digitally recorded data are in the form of packages or blocks.” Crypto token is a type of cryptocurrency that resides in the blockchain and can be used to purchase data or services in a decentralized manner (Sharma, 2018). Talent supply chain management deals with the uncertainty in demand and supply of talent often accompanied by skill mismatch. It is a strategic approach to obtain and optimize talent supply to match the market demand. To optimize talent supply so as the demand of talent is met, organizations follow multiple strategies (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017). They draw talent from multiple categories like full-time employees, temporary employees, freelancers, and independent contractors (Biswas, 2018). Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00015-0

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Similarly, drawing talent from suppliers of talent in the supply chain include, higher educational institutions, professional Edutech companies that offer certifications, digital platforms catering to the gig economy and agencies that supply applicants and temporary employees (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017). It is important to address the issues of skill mismatch and provide industry-ready talent. Thus, a collaborative approach is required between the employer and suppliers of talent so that talent can be mobilized on-demand for a lean organization, where the employer must also strive to develop employees and eliminate attrition of full-time talent (Biswas, 2018). This also requires effective tactics for sourcing talent and following sourcing strategies according to high impact business value that have unique and critical requirements like skill mapping for a better personorganization fit (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017). Based on the challenges in the talent supply chain like optimizing sourcing strategies, skill mapping, supplier-employer collaboration, and multiple categories of talent including contractual employees, blockchain solutions can provide a panacea to many issues. One of the major areas of concern in sourcing is the maintenance and validation of employee records. While maintenance of employee records has found Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Database Management System (DBMS) solutions, validation of employee records, claimed to be obtained from third parties like college certificate, experience certificate, etc. is a point of validation. Authenticating data remains a gray area, with background verification agencies adding to the recruitment cost and applicants resorting to fraudulent practices in providing experience and qualification data (Mishra and Venkatesan, 2021). This can be overcome with blockchain repositories providing open access or restricted access that comes verified at a crypto cost for the employer. Employee data is also held secure and the blockchain technology plays a disruptive role in doing away with service providers in both recruitment and background verification (DeHR, 2021). In the present COVID times, maintaining vaccination data given by employees based on trust, as against data obtained from the decentralized medical records repository, that comes authenticated, is a big boost to the HR validation landscape (Hill, 2021). Again, a decentralized blockchain system can enable smart contracts that are secure for organizations to enter gig contracts with freelancers (Chillakuri & Attili, 2021; Koncheva et al., 2019). While there are several use cases of HR that can be discussed where blockchain can be useful, very few organizations have piloted blockchain technology as they consider several barriers to implementing blockchain.

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Therefore, this case research study identifies important challenges in the talent supply chain of the HR industry that can be resolved by mapping various characteristics of the blockchain capabilities. The study further discusses the barriers in adopting blockchain technology in HR and the implications of adopting blockchain technology in HR.

2. Literature review 2.1 Principles of supply chain management applied to talent management Talent management based on the supply chain perspective consists of four main principles: 1 Build, buy, or borrow decision is based on internal development of talent, hire from outside, or contractual employment, which is considered just-in-time (JIT). 2 Adapt to uncertainty in demand of talent where investment in development is rationalized or create a bench strength that can be utilized when need arises 3 Improve return on investment by employees taking up stretch assignments voluntarily or make use of rehires 4 To preserve investment in talent development, employees can be involved in talent progression decisions, by offering internal hiring mechanisms that will also take care of their career advancement opportunities (Cappelli, 2008a, 2008b). Investment in talent is prone to higher risk based on deep bench inventory. Hiring decision is paying a premium for risk aversion, while borrowing come with even higher premium. However, long-term planning for workforce may not be feasible, given the uncertainty of the situation. Talent demand may change unexpectedly or what was planned may go wrong. So, the question of reliability and responsiveness to unexpected demand can be mitigated by having workforce inventory and building internal capacity while contingency plans can be through JIT contractual backup of workforce or outsourcing (Cappelli, 2008a, 2008b). Thus, strategic talent sourcing involves six major steps. The first step is to apply quantitative techniques to analyze the cost involved in sourcing diverse types of talent and the cost involved in sourcing from multiple sources. The profile of internal talent need has to be mapped against the external supplier base. A sourcing strategy has to be developed based on the type of resource and the supply market availability. It is important to create

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and validate selection criteria for talent suppliers and evaluate the suppliers based on the best fit. The last step is to negotiate and implement a formal contract with the suppliers (Makarius and Srinivasan, 2017). Blockchain applications will be useful in sourcing various categories of employees externally and for internal development and internal mobility. Similarly, blockchain applications find credence in the sourcing strategy of the talent supply chain, in terms of validating the supplier base and implementing a formal contract with suppliers. Therefore, it is imperative to address the characteristics of blockchain technology in detail and map the characteristics of blockchain and how it applies to various challenges and problem areas in sourcing strategy and talent management. 2.2 Blockchain technology A blockchain may be defined as a “distributed database incorporating information or a book that marks all the events and transactions executed and shared among concerned parties. The transactions are verified, and information entered can never be erased. Every transaction made, has a verifiable record.” Cryptography and distributed systems form the basis of blockchain technology. While cryptography provides the necessary encryption and data security, distributed systems help in updating records. Any changes made to the records are added to the blockchain as a new block and provide a link to the original block, so that all transactions are visible and validated (Priyadarshini, 2019). The collection of transactions is termed as ledgers, where the ownership of the ledger is distributed by design in a blockchain network (Yaga et al., 2018). The transactions once submitted to the nodes within the blockchain will be in queue to be published as a block by the publishing node (Yaga et al., 2018). Permissionless blockchains are decentralized and readable by anyone who can access the block, whereas permissioned blockchains have writers and readers who are authorized. Permissionless blockchain is based on opensource software accessible to anyone and so may be susceptible to malicious user attacks. Hence, they must be subject to multi-party consensus mechanism like “proof of work” (PoW) and “proof of stake” (PoS) (Yaga et al., 2018). With PoW, the blockchain users termed as miners, compete to add the subsequent transactions to the block by solving a cryptographic puzzle that is complex, thereby validating prior transactions in the network. They are also paid transaction fees in the form of cryptocurrency for solving the puzzle. In PoS, blockchain users termed as validators invest cryptocurrency in the blockchain network, thereby claiming a stake in the blockchain. The

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validator’s chance of verifying the block is proportional to the ratio of their stake to the overall stake in the blockchain network (Rennock et al., 2018). This reduces the hazzle of validators solving complex cryptographic puzzles. In permissionless blockchain networks, users must store the private keys securely through software termed as wallet. The wallet can store public and private keys and their addresses (Yaga et al., 2018). They are also called as Public Blockchains (Priyadarshini, 2019). Permissioned blockchains require a central authority, authorizing users to publish a block. Thus, readewrite access and mining rights will be restricted to authorized users. They are used by a single organization who need tight control. They also help in bringing together organizations who wish to work together as business partners. The transactions happen in a shared distributed ledger and restricted access can be accorded to business partners based on trust provided by consensus mechanisms, user identity, and credentials (Yaga et al., 2018). Permissioned blockchains are also called as Private Blockchains (Priyadarshini, 2019). Consortium or Federated Blockchains consists of a group of companies or individuals, having more than one in-charge for decision-making. The network is semi-permissioned where members can read, write, auditing, and mining data. The transactions are faster and effectively address multiple failure points (Priyadarshini, 2019). Examples of consortium blockchains are EWF (Energy Web Foundation) and DeHR (Decentralized HR solutions provider for recruitment). Smart contracts conceptualized by Nick Szabo in 1994 is “a computerized transaction protocol that executes the terms of a contract. The general objectives of smart contract design are to satisfy common contractual conditions (such as payment terms, liens, confidentiality, and even enforcement), minimize exceptions both malicious and accidental, and minimize the need for trusted intermediaries.” It is a collection of data and code which consists of transactions signed cryptographically within the blockchain network and executed by nodes. Smart contracts using permissionless blockchain networks like Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric’s chain code require users to pay for the execution of smart contract codes (Yaga et al., 2018). 2.2.1 Blockchain technology characteristics Based on the blockchain technology, there are several characteristics of blockchain that can be mapped to various HR applications. The blockchain characteristics though inclusive but not exhaustive are

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ReliabilitydBlockchain systems are reliable where they can be uninterrupted without fearing shut down. TransparencydAll transactions are visible to every member of the blockchain, through open distributed ledgers. However, the amount of information may be restricted depending on user privileges. ImmutabilitydBlockchain systems are tamper-resistant, and changes cannot be made without detection. Hash algorithms and cryptographic digital signatures avoid manipulation of data and blocks. IrrevocabilitydAll transactions are final and binding. DecentralizationdCentralized transaction systems to validate transactions are not needed. The technology relies on cryptography and algorithms to maintain decentralized data. PersistencedValidating transactions is quick in blockchain. Invalid transactions can be dropped off, but they can neither be deleted nor rolled back. TraceabilitydTransaction history will not be lost, and records will be retained by major nodes. AnonymitydThe identity of the users is masked by assigning system generated addresses. AuditabilitydPrevious transactions marked unspent will be changed to spent when current transactions are added to the blockchain. This ensures transactions are tracked and verified. The use of private and public keys helps to avoid third parties in the validation process. PrivacydWith specific protocols, blockchains can allow certain level of privacy to safeguard sensitive information. IntegritydPublic verifiability protects modification that are unauthorized, thereby leading to data integrity. RedundancydData duplication happens across all writers since blockchain relies on a decentralized architecture. Trust AnchordIt is the entity responsible for providing read and write access and grant and revoke rights in blockchain technology. Real-time updatesdThe transactions can be updated in real time which is useful when multiple organizations are there in the network. ConsensusdValidation of transactions are independent using consensus algorithms (Chillakuri & Attili, 2021; Priyadarshini, 2019). Thus, based on the blockchain technology, components, types, and its characteristics, it is interesting to note, how each of its features and characteristics find application in Talent Supply Chain Management.

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2.3 Blockchain technology application in talent supply chain management 2.3.1 Problems identified in talent supply chain management Talent sourcing is a slow, expensive, and a labor-intensive process (The Blockchain Academy, 2021). In talent sourcing, data security is a matter of concern in more than one way. While data obtained from various sources like applicants or employees are subject to cyber security threats (Priyadarshini, 2019), fraudulent practices in providing the data are also a matter of concern. Resume fraud pertains to presenting oneself favorably to recruiters through information in the resume that is fraudulent. Embellishment is about exaggerating the role of the individual; omitting is about withholding information and fabrication is about inventing information about themselves (Ingold and Langer, 2021). Fraud in providing falsified data in resumes like fake course certificates, awards, client feedback, etc. effectively hides the original capabilities of the applicant. This leads to productivity loss, poor morale among employees, and detrimentally affects firm performance (Onik et al., 2018). HR Information management that are at risk of affecting the operational efficiency of the firm include, demographic data of employees such as age, experience, marital status, educational qualification, various training experiences, technical title and grade, information related to assessment, pay for performance, increment, promotion, and various certificates and rewards information. Such information leads to employment risk of employees providing false data input and moral degeneration of workers who resort to idle workplace practices. Such information asymmetry can be mitigated using smart contracts for effective authentication and maintenance of employee information (Wang et al., 2017). The presence of intermediaries in the supply chain like hiring agencies also adds to cyber security threats like lack of confidentiality of personal data (Chillakuri & Attili, 2021) and faking applicant information. Temporary employment in talent sourcing is often characterized by lack of job security, low wages, limited growth prospects, and nonstandard terms of contract. It is important to respect the rights of all actors involved in the contractual process so that the process is risk-free, fair, and legal (Pinna and Ibba, 2018). Similarly, skill-gap between industry requirement and employee competencies leads to performance inefficiencies in products and services. Thus, skill-mapping is important for judging quality of hires, internal performance assessment, and identifying learning and development needs. This helps in

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conducting in-house programs or having a tie-up with training centers to match industry requirements (Fachrunnisa & Hussain, 2020). Internally, in talent management, the quality of hires, skill-mapping, post-training performance, performance management, and payroll processes affects loyalty and enthusiasm of employees (Li et al., 2021). Thus, by talent supply chain, we mean the entry to exit of talent which leads to the viscous cycle of sourcing, hiring, contracting, background verification, employee database management, skill-mapping at various stages of the supply chain like external hiring, internal hiring or internal mobility, and payroll processing. 2.3.2 Mitigating challenges identified in the talent supply chain, using blockchain technologies Both cybersecurity threats and fraudulent practices can be mitigated by using blockchain technology. Similarly, blockchain helps in providing a direct link to suppliers along with supplier validation and entering contracts. This does away with the presence of intermediaries like recruiting agencies and head-hunters in sourcing (Chillakuri & Attili, 2021). Some of the important employee data related to resume data like education background, internship information and other data like position, date of joining, achievements, tasks completed or performance data, etc. are eligible to be stored, verified, and accessed using blockchain technology (Li et al., 2021). Some of the popular names in the blockchain service providing space are Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, CISCO, Microsoft, Visa, Coinbase, Circle and ConsenSys (The Blockchain Academy, 2021). Service providers in the Blockchain HR space like IBM, Decentralized HR or DeHR and Applied Blockchain and APPII are coming up. Similarly, suppliers of talent like educational institutes are also piloting with blockchain technology like the usage of Indiachain by IIT-Bombay and Delhi University for issuing digital qualification certificates (Chillakuri & Attili, 2021). Indiachain is a government of India blockchain initiative that is also engaged in integrating the unique identity data of the Aadhar Card into its blockchain (BI India Bureau, 2018). A review of literature of the various HR applications in blockchain yielded not only appropriate use cases but was also backed by the usage of blockchain algorithms and architecture, thus giving a techno-commercial view to the blockchain technology interface in HRM. Xie et al. (2021) discussed the use of blockchain technology for secure employee database management that cannot be subject to tampering or leakage.

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The HR data security management system utilizes the blockchain for encrypted, tamper-proof and traceable records, where user roles and privileges are predefined. This ensures safe storage which involves a consensus mechanism for updating data and transaction security. The data security management system model consists of user rights management model giving user permissions. Data storage, verification, and propagation happen through the nodes in the blockchain storage model. Data storage in the data layer uses hash algorithms and data verification happens using a peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. Data integrity is verified using public key or private encryption and public or private key decryption depending on the type of data, termed as asymmetric encryption. Consensus mechanisms are also used for data verification in the nodes (Xie et al., 2021). Similarly, Kim et al. (2020), propose a distributed global platform, where multiple organizations can take part simultaneously. They must possess a wallet with IDs and cryptographic keys for storing and accessing data. An Organization Trust Score (OTS) is provided by the employer for each employee out of 10 that can be utilized by other organizations. Data privacy levels are defined as unclassified for email ids; demographic details and OTS scores as classified; salary and tax details as secret and contact details and sexual orientation as top secret by the block owner. The details are encrypted, and they need authentication by the requester to gain access (Kim et al., 2020). Background verification is another critical area of concern, where blockchain applications help in the removal of intermediaries like verification agencies and manual verification by HR. Han et al. (2018) discuss a blockchain model where individuals can be owners of their education records and other credentials like online courses and digital badges. Smart contracts are used to store the students’ learning records and employers will be able to verify the authenticity of the credentials and check if the credentials match the requirements of the job. Validation occurs through a consensus mechanism. Users have complete control over their data and organizations do not need third-party verification. Blockchain resumes provided by users are also credible can be verified by partners and changes are retraceable (Ingold and Langer, 2021). Similarly, a blockchain-based Recruitment Management System (BcRMS) was proposed by Onik et al. (2018). When the applicant data is received, the applicant details are validated for previous affiliations and the system provides a rank list of applicants that is matched with the company requirements. If in the validation, fake certificates or other issues are highlighted, the applicant is discarded. Hired candidate among the verified candidates enter a contract

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with the organization through smart contracts. The blockchain architecture consists of distributed database, consensus algorithms and Application Programming Interface (API) for web-based and mobile applications. The storage is tamper-proof and helps in time and cost-savings (Onik et al., 2018). Sun et al. (2018) propose a blockchain-based application for authenticating and storing education records that are conducted online, due to the absence of a unified certification system. Students’ data including learning time, test results, and course content are recorded in a chronological order with time stamps. The detailed recording helps in providing credibility to the online course content as against recording only the certificate information. External or internal online learning portals can also be linked to reward mechanisms like offering cryptocurrencies for a certain level reached in the certification. Smart contract technology is used which improves security of the transaction through decentralized smart automation (Sun et al., 2018). Again, Serranito et al. (2020) provide a solution for higher education certificates with a decentralized blockchain technology and smart contracts. The solution allows the higher educational institutes (HEIs) to register the qualification certificates in the blockchain and organizations can directly check the authenticity of the certificates. The prototype was developed using the Ethereum blockchain which is a permissionless blockchain and the HEIs are registered as part of a consortium. The blockchain execution happens through apps and smart contracts between the HEI (Higher education institutions) consortium and recruiters for accessing and verifying certificates (Serranito et al., 2020). While smart contracts are useful for multiple applications as discussed earlier, they predominantly drive the gig economy where the contract between the employers and workers (contractual employees and freelancers) provides a legal and fair process. The blockchain technology ensures reliability, security, and transparency when the work contracts are registered in the blockchain system. The technology helps comply with the legal process and ensures that they protect the rights of both the worker and employer. The smart contracts ensure that a relationship is established between the worker and employer through application for the job, hiring and payment that is transferred in the form of cryptocurrency to the worker (payroll processing). This model termed as the D-ES (Decentralized Employment System) (Decentralized Employment System) was proposed as a prototype by Pinna and Ibba (2018).

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With respect to skills mapping, Fachrunnisa and Hussain (2020) provide a blockchain-based HRM framework to match skills needed by organizations in an industry with the employee competencies. They do so, using the corporate training center who develop a curriculum based on the rank list of competencies provided by the blockchain consortium of industry bodies. The consortium follows a consensus mechanism to arrive at a list of competencies which is then utilized to develop the curriculum based on the top-ranked skills immediately required by the industry. The application of blockchain technology for the HR functions in general has also been discussed in a few studies. To improve hiring, the studies suggest that the credibility of the applicant can be verified, background verification on hiring is possible and the applicant can also develop smart CVs and store it in the blockchain that can be accessed by the employer. Similarly, the components that needs verification like educational certificates, certificates through online education, employment experience certificates can all be stored, authenticated, and retrieved from blockchain registers. Smart contracts for suppliers of talent and gig workers, payroll processing, payment in cryptocurrencies, skill-mapping, validation, and secure storage of employee personal information and performancerelated information have all been discussed in total (Dolzhenko, 2021; Lai, 2020; Koncheva et al.,2019; Mishra and Venkatesan, 2021; Chillakuri & Attili, 2021). Thus, it is important to discuss the characteristics of blockchain technology that can be mapped to providing solutions to talent supply chain problems. Table 9.1 below provides the list of blockchain characteristics that is mapped to talent supply chain applications. Table 9.1 Mapping blockchain characteristics to talent supply chain applications. Blockchain technology characteristics

Blockchain applications in HR based on blockchain characteristics

Reliability Transparency

Uninterrupted employee data storage and access Data security with visibility based on user privileges at various levels like CEO, HR, immediate manager and employees Useful to prevent fraud in data manipulation by employees and data tampering by employees or employers

Immutability

Continued

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Table 9.1 Mapping blockchain characteristics to talent supply chain applications.dcont'd Blockchain technology characteristics

Blockchain applications in HR based on blockchain characteristics

Irrevocability Decentralization

Prevents data fraud Decentralized employee or competitor data access helps in avoiding third party vendors Validated transactions and transaction history help in fraud detection and fraud prevention. Smart contracts can be easily validated, digitally signed, and brought into force Anonymity helps in removing personal bias and ensures data security Validated transactions help in fraud prevention and avoid third party involvement Ensures employee data security Public verifiability of decentralized data help in fraud prevention Data duplicated but not erased helps tracking transaction and fraud prevention Ensures employee data security and privileged rights to only certain users Real-time updates find use in employee data updation, verification, and communication of smart contracts. Consensus mechanisms help to prevent fraudulent activities

Persistence

Anonymity Auditability Privacy Integrity Redundancy Trust anchor Real-time updates

Consensus

Again, Fig. 9.1 below provides the workflow in terms of interaction of the talent supply chain with external vendors and gig workers and internally within the organization. It depicts how blockchain technology with its decentralized database, tokens for services from validators and individuals, smart contracts with gig workers and payment in cryptocurrencies are carried out.

3. Discussion Thus, from the above review of literature, it is evident that the blockchain technology is here to disrupt the HR process space. It is evident that the

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Figure 9.1 Workflow of blockchain technology in HRM.

problem areas identified like resume fraud, authentication of certificates in background verification, the problems of intermediaries like agencies and banks, employee personal data storage, and data security are similar concerns of any industry or organization. Especially, renowned organizations who are the employers of choice, large organizations where talent acquisition and mobility are in large numbers, organizations in both the technology and nontechnology space whose products and services are in huge demand, the need for industry-ready talent and up and coming start-ups who are comfortable with gig workers than hiring full-time employees face such relatable issues, that require blockchain technology. A comparison chart that depicts the current scenario and if blockchain is implemented gives a clear disintegration of present state versus the positives of using blockchain technology. Table 9.2 below shows the comparison chart of before and after blockchain implementation. However, blockchain technology is not without its set of limitations and faces several barriers to its effective implementation in HR.

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Table 9.2 Before blockchain vs after blockchain implementation. Current ways of HR functioning

Blockchain if implemented

Centralized recruitment involving job posting, head-hunters and recruitment agencies. Organizations are subject to resume fraud and unverified credentials.

Decentralized recruitment platform that removes intermediaries, offers verified data from job seekers and validators

The employee database management system is on enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which has a centralized ownership, but with varying levels of access and approval mechanisms. Any database management system may be subject to cyber-attacks. Higher education institutions (HEIs) offer courses and certificates physically Online education certificates given by Edutech companies, where authenticity and actual value is unverified Contractual agreement between the employer and suppliers that include contractual labor, agencies and freelancers are on paper and scanned copies are sent to the concerned parties if required, with digital signature. Skills mapping is an exercise done by the organization, by obtaining competitor data for benchmarking and usually lack verified industry inputs from competent authorities

Payroll processing is done internally using software or outsourced and transfer of money is through banks

Candidates have ownership of their personal data and resume using smart CVs Blockchain is a distributed database management system and holds encrypted, tamper-proof and traceable records of data. It offers safe storage of data and transaction security.

HEI consortium in the blockchain hold digital certificates that can be verified and accessed by recruiters Course content, learning timeframe and test results are recorded chronologically and timestamped in the blockchain, depicting credibility and value of the certification The smart contracts ensure that a relationship is established between the worker and employer by providing reliability, security, and transparency when the work contracts with digital signatures are registered in the blockchain system. Organizations can develop a curriculum based on the rank list of competencies provided by the blockchain consortium of industry bodies, especially for the top-ranked competencies immediately required by the industry Human error in processing is reduced, data is tamper-proof, linked to time-tracking and attendance, payment can be through cryptocurrency, reducing the presence of intermediaries like banks

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3.1 Limitations of blockchain technology ImmutabilitydThough most publications suggest that blockchain is immutable, the chain of blocks can be modified, especially the tail blocks. But the changes will be stored. Thus, longer chain blocks are considered as the truth among the competing blocks. Blockchain governancedThe control of blockchain is vested with multiple ownership like the software developers, publishing nodes, and users. For example, when developers create updates for the blockchain, it may be subject to forking, where a competing blockchain created. This creates a dilemma whether the previous version blockchain should be followed or the updated version should be followed. Similarly, users may choose to not install the updated software and may follow the publishing node, thereby shifting control to the publishing nodes. Real world interfacedWhen blockchain inputs from humans or sensors are recorded, the human input could be wrong, or the sensor could be malfunctioning. But the blockchain may not be aware of this, as it is comfortable to interact within its digital world and there is no way to check if the input reflects real world data. Blockchain DeathdWhen blockchains become defunct, they may not become completely shut down, there may be some lingering nodes, that may be subject to malicious user attacks. Cyber AttacksdThough blockchains are tamper-resistant, only transactions of a published node cannot be changed. Transactions that are not yet part of the published node a subject to malicious cyber-attacks, where attackers exploit the vulnerabilities of the system. Malicious UsersdWhile permissionless blockchains reward fair behavior with cryptocurrency, some may choose to act maliciously to get greater rewards. When malicious users collude and get enough power, they ignore transactions from specific users, create an alternative chain in secret and publish, which is longer than the original chain so that it will be accepted. They also disrupt information distribution, by not transmitting blocks to other nodes. Trust IssuesdComplete trust in cryptographic algorithms, smart contracts, software developers, and network users may turn harmful, with flaws, bugs, user collusion gaining more power to subvert a permissionless blockchain and the nodes may not accept and process the transactions fully.

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Resource UsagedUsage of electricity for “proof of work” consensus model that utilizes energy for solving cryptographic puzzles is huge (equivalent to that of an entire country). When a full node is created, it must obtain all the blockchain data resulting in usage of extensive network bandwidth. Inadequate rewardsdWhen the market prices are highly volatile, the value of cryptocurrencies are not constant. This causes delay in awarding to publish nodes, which further delays in publishing blocks. This could again further reduce the market value of cryptocurrencies. Public keys and identity issuesdPublic keys and blockchain addresses do not have a one-to-one relationship as multiple addresses may be associated with a single public key. Digital signatures are used to provide identity to the owner of private keys, but there is no mechanism within the blockchain to associate real-world identity with these owners (Yaga et al., 2018). 3.2 Barriers to blockchain adoption ScalabilitydAbility of the blockchain to migrate to a wide range of capabilities as against a prototype model, within a reasonable amount of time is difficult to accomplish. For example, Visa Inc., can process 4000 transactions per second, whereas the Ethereum blockchain can only process 20 transactions per second and bitcoin can process only seven transactions per second. While they are both public blockchains, Corda a permissioned blockchain is quicker in transaction speed with up to 6300 transactions per second. However, studies by Deloitte note that business are avoiding blockchain technology due to its slow transaction and processing speed. System IntegrationdOrganizations contemplating blockchain implementation do so for a specific reason and do so by integrating with their existing systems. Integrating requires analyzing bottlenecks and it may be time consuming and expensive, resulting in the existing system to be shut down for a period. API gateways must be created to integrate legacy systems with blockchain technology. Sometimes legacy systems may be incompatible with blockchain technology adding to the replacement cost. Lack of standardizationdDue to the decentralized nature of the blockchain, coders and developers are free to develop their own coding languages, consensus mechanisms and privacy protocols. This lack of standardization reduces the interoperability between blockchains resulting in a fragmented ecosystem, weaker consensus mechanisms, privacy concerns, and digital identity management.

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Complexity of blockchain applicationsdThe complexities involved are a summary of the disadvantages discussed so far. Integrating with legacy systems, complex programming, addressing scalability issues, maintaining security, understanding the intricacies of the consensus mechanisms, addressing governance issues, and lack of talent in blockchain all lead to complexities and involve huge start-up costs. Blockchain as a service (BaaS) which are cloud-based services provided by Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM etc., help to ease the skill-shortage and complexities in the blockchain. Legal and Regulatory issuesdCryptographic signatures and smart contracts need vetting based on legal definition and jurisdiction of different geographies. Thus, this needs a regulatory and auditing framework in guiding blockchain solutions like smart contracts, so that they can overcome hurdles in blockchain adoption. Lack of skilled talent in BlockchaindTalent with knowledge of blockchain technology and sufficient skill sets in developing codes, algorithms, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts are in high demand and need to be compensated handsomely (Prewett et al., 2019)

4. Conclusion Though there are several limitations of blockchain as a technology and barriers to implementation in business, there are several advantages that cannot be ruled out. But many executives are of the opinion that blockchain is all about bitcoins as an alternative currency and find extensive application only in the financial services industry (Prewett et al., 2019). They fail to recognize its application in many other industries and in HR. But a recent report by The Blockchain Academy suggests that many organizations will be integrating blockchain with their legacy platforms and few organizations like Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP have already started integration. The adoption rate is slow but steady since the regulatory framework is still unsettling as they even differ by states in many countries. China recently banned the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum leading to the fall in the value of the cryptocurrencies and a volatile crypto market. This also led to a lot of confusion among Chinese investors in the crypto market leading to sell off cryptocurrencies (SimpleSwap, 2021). Still, the need for blockchain developers and the need for blockchain skill sets are in huge demand, with 40% of jobs being nontechnical. Many companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Visa are interested

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in paying anywhere for $68K to $140K for blockchain experts (The Blockchain Academy, 2021). Specifically, in HR though organizations in India have not adopted blockchain technologies, many employees are receptive of the idea of implementing blockchain in essential applications (Mishra and Venkatesan, 2021). Thus, it can be reiterated that adopting blockchain for HR applications is not far behind for many organizations in India and in other countries.

References Biswas, S. (July 11, 2018). 4 steps to building a talent supply chain [review of 4 steps to building a talent supply chain]. https://www.hrtechnologist.com/;HRTechnologist. https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/workforce-scheduling/4-steps-to-buildinga-talent-supply-chain/. Cappelli, P. (2008a). Talent on demand: Managing talent in an uncertain age. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Cappelli, P. (2008b). Talent management for the twenty-first century. Harvard Business Review, 86(3), 74. Chillakuri, B., & Attili, V. S. P. (2021). Role of blockchain in HR’s response to newnormal. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoa08-2020-2363. ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). DeHR - Decentralized Human Relationship. (2021). Preview.pagedemo.me. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://dehr.network/index1.html. Dolzhenko, R. (2021). Blockchain as an imperative of labour relations digitalizing. In, Vol 93. SHS web of conferences. EDP Sciences. Fachrunnisa, O., & Hussain, F. K. (2020). Blockchain-based human resource management practices for mitigating skills and competencies gap in workforce. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 12, 1e12. Han, M., Li, Z., He, J., Selena), Wu, D., Xie, Y., & Baba, A. (2018). A novel blockchainbased education records verification solution. Proceedings of the 19th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education. https://doi.org/10.1145/3241815. 3241870 Hill, D. (March 15, 2021). Decentralized human resource technology e use case: COVID19 vaccine verification. International Association for Human Resources Information Management. https://ihrim.org/2021/03/decentralized-human-resource-technologyuse-case-covid-19-vaccine-verification-by-dennis-hill-ph-d-and-john-macy/. BI India Bureau. (June 21, 2018). What is IndiaChain: A blockchain system that could soon be the heart of governance in India? Business insider. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider. in/what-is-indiachain-a-blockchain-system-that-could-soon-be-the-heart-ofgovernance-in-india/articleshow/64676670.cms. Ingold, P. V., & Langer, M. (2021). Resume¼ resume? The effects of blockchain, social media, and classical resumes on resume fraud and applicant reactions to resumes. Computers in Human Behaviour, 114, 106573. Kim, T.-H., Kumar, G., Saha, R., Rai, M. K., Buchanan, W. J., Thomas, R., & Alazab, M. (2020). A privacy preserving distributed ledger framework for global human resource record management: The blockchain aspect. IEEE Access, 8, 96455e96467. https:// doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2995481 Koncheva, V. A., Odintsov, S. V., & Khmelnitski, L. (2019). Blockchain in HR. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 105, 787e790.

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Lai, J. (2020). The application prospects of blockchain technology in human resource management. Modern Management Forum, 4(4), 167e171. https://doi.org/10.18686/ mmf.v4i4.2782 Li, L., Zhang, H., & Dong, Y. (2021). Mechanism construction of human resource management based on blockchain technology. Journal of Systems Science and Information, 9(3), 310e320. https://doi.org/10.21078/jssi-2021-310-11 Makarius, E. E., & Srinivasan, M. (2017). Addressing skills mismatch: Utilizing talent supply chain management to enhance collaboration between companies and talent suppliers. Business Horizons, 60(4), 495e505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.03.007 Mishra, H., & Venkatesan, M. (2021). Blockchain in human resource management of organizations: An empirical assessment to gauge HR and non-HR perspective. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 34(2), 525e542. https://doi.org/10.1108/jocm-082020-0261 Onik, M. M. H., Miraz, M. H., & Kim, C. S. (April 2018). A recruitment and human resource management technique using blockchain technology for industry 4.0. In Smart cities symposium 2018 (pp. 1e6). IET. Pinna, A., & Ibba, S. (July 2018). A blockchain-based decentralized system for proper handling of temporary employment contracts. In Science and information conference (pp. 1231e1243). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Prewett, K. W., Prescott, G. L., & Phillips, K. (2019). Blockchain adoption is inevitableBarriers and risks remain. Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 1e8. https:// doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22415 Priyadarshini, I. (2019). Introduction to blockchain technology. Cyber security in parallel and distributed computing: Concepts, techniques, applications and case studies (pp. 91e107). Rennock, M. J., Cohn, A., & Butcher, J. R. (2018). Blockchain technology and regulatory investigations. Practical Law Litigation, 35e44. Serranito, D., Vasconcelos, A., Guerreiro, S., & Correia, M. (September 2020). Blockchain ecosystem for verifiable qualifications. In 2020 2nd conference on blockchain research & applications for innovative networks and services (BRAINS) (pp. 192e199). IEEE. Sharma, A. (October 18, 2018). Is HR ready for blockchain? People matters. https://www. peoplemattersglobal.com/article/technology/is-hr-ready-for-blockchain-19589. SimpleSwap. (October 6, 2021). China and cryptocurrency. https://simpleswap.io/blog/chinaand-cryptocurrency. Sun, H., Wang, X., & Wang, X. (2018). Application of blockchain technology in online education. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJET), 13(10), 252. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i10.9455 The Blockchain Academy, LLC. (2021). The global blockchain employment report [review of the global blockchain employment report]. The blockchain academy. Wang, X., Feng, L., Zhang, H., Lyu, C., Wang, L., & You, Y. (April 2017). Human resource information management model based on blockchain technology. In 2017 IEEE symposium on service-oriented system engineering (SOSE) (pp. 168e173). IEEE. Xie, W., Lin, S., Dong, C., Kou, W., & He, M. (February 2021). Security management for human resource data based on blockchain technology. In 2021 4th international conference on data storage and data engineering (pp. 12e16). Yaga, D., Mell, P., Roby, N., & Scarfone, K. (2018). Blockchain technology overview. National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/nist.ir.8202 Zielinski, D. (February 27, 2020). Industrywide initiative brings blockchain to HR. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/industrywideinitiative-brings-blockchain-hr.aspx.

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CHAPTER 10

Background verification using blockchain: case of Ajay, a star performer B. Aiswarya1, G. Ramasundaram2 and Ameeta Fernando1 2 1

Loyola Institute of Business Administration Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; PSG Institute of Management Studies, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

1. Introduction The world of business is undergoing tectonic shifts, triggered by the competitiveness of the market space. It is becoming very difficult to secure a job in leading organizations especially during times of the pandemic. Jobseekers are desperate to find jobs that can sustain themselves in a world where the ends and means are so wide apart. An applicant’s interest is to find a job that will fetch him a decent salary, and a career. The recruiter’s interest is to identify a candidate with the essential skill set and qualification. However, in organizations that work without technical innovations for verification, there is no guarantee that the information furnished by the candidate is true. Frauds in employee resume is a widespread problem for employers in almost every industry irrespective of the size. The method adopted to get the right candidates is to screen them through an elaborate preemployment background verification process. Job applicants may sometimes want to conceal true yet unpleasant information about their credentials and present fraudulent evidence to better their chances of recruitment in the process. There have been cases where applicants submit overstated resumes supplemented with fake training details, graduation and diploma certificates, references, and promotions. The reasons are manifold: the desire to obtain a good position, long term unemployment, stiff competition, so on and so forth. Whatever be these reasons, the organization spends a considerable amount of money and time to verify these pieces of information, which in turn poses a tremendous challenge to the HR domain. Personal information, like, bankruptcy, criminal records, worker compensation claims, litigation history, marriage records, and court case judgments are all to be scrutinized for various reasons before the appointment letter is handed over. Private information Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00013-7

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like online usage, credit card history, pharmacy records, telephone records, medical bills etc, can also be made available. Thus, today the hiring process is becoming both pivotal though laborious in the wake of fabricated and false information furnished by applicants in their curriculum vitae. There are numerous incidents that have been brought to light in this regard. One such case is that of Ajay, who started his career by joining an IT company in Bangalore. All was well for about a year: he was happy; wanted to learn more and move higher on the career ladder. He learnt the tricks of the trade in a short span of time and with his professional networks and contacts, he was able to succeed in another interview with a multinational company. His prospects seemed excellent and his package increased considerably over a short duration. Like any other youngster in a highearning profile, the next item in the wish list was a flashy car and an apartment in posh area. His goals seemed to be so reachable at such a young age. The already happy life was even made better with a grand wedding ceremony. All seemed good. However, as life would have it, everything passes e the good times and the bad. The IT meltdown and recession led to cost cutting in several IT companies, including the bog players. Notwithstanding the financial pressure Ajay decided to quit and move on, fully confident about his credentials. And for him, getting a better compensation and a better position was not a tough game either. However, when the new company went in for a background verification for Ajay, the real decoding happened. Ajay, with his high aspirations to climb the ladder of success, had committed the same mistake that several youngsters commit during the painful period of unemployment. They dare to take desperate measures inadvertently, little concerned about the consequences. The proof of work experience on his first company was nonexistent. All searches proved futile. As is always the case, suspicion once created will manifest itself into thorough checks of even the geniuness of resources. The credibility of the person is lost. There was a company existing in the same address, but with a different name. On probing further, the proprietor of the company explained that the previous company had closed 7 years before. These events may seem normal and acceptable, but it turned out that while Ajay had claimed that he had worked in the said company for 5 years, the time of closure coincided with his years of graduation at college, thereby rendering the details a mystery that could not be fathomed! The director of the closed company was traced in another city. On enquiry, it was revealed that he had been helping many such youngsters with

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fabricated experience certificates for a price. These kinds of agencies made easy money from desperate and vulnerable youth who, for lack of better options, became easy prey. Ajay had to be simply terminated from the job because of the false information that had been furnished by him. Though professionally, he was an outstanding performer, the company policies did not permit to hire a candidate who had less than a certain number of years of work experience. The company had paid him a few months of salary and had also invested on his induction and training. The time spent on screening, selection and interview process was nullified. Added to all this, Ajay had access to corporate information for the period he reported to duty. Thus, the firm put itself at risk, lost out on a good performer and also on the time, effort and cost incurred due to him right from his recruitment right up to his exit. Fool-proof background verification is the only means to deter such candidates from entering the system. Ajay is one of the samples of the whole lot of resumes entering into the industry by unethical means. Some agencies operate clandestinely to attract inexperienced candidates who are predisposed to unethical behavior. It has been identified that 45% of workers still do not match their claim in their resumes (Bezos, 2014). Survey reveals 10% of the hiring managers states that they do not have fool proof tool and technology to identify the right candidate. A survey by statistic brain, Nakamoto (2008) states that more than three fourth of the resumes contain fabricated information and misleading data. Career Builder survey say 56% recruiters caught the candidates lying on their resumes 62% try to embellish one’s skills in their resume (White, 2015). UK higher education data check survey stated 33% put false information in the resume.40% even falsify their academic qualification and more percentage made up the degree (Campbell, 2015). In South Africa 16% of those applied lied on their resumes. The unemployment rate is the cause of the situation (Merwe, 2015). In India a survey revealed that 50% of the job applicants forged their previous work experience. In selected sectors the forged qualification of is as high as 71% (Shukla, 2014). Information related to degrees, criminal records, work experience, are subject to be falsified (Buckhoff, 2003). When an applicant applies for a position in an organization, many a time, his/her CV is not verified until he goes through the selection process. It is only after they clear the interview, the submitted copies of their credentials are verified (Bonanni et al., 2011). This cumbersome process happens via email, telephone or even physically going to the mentioned

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organization to verify the authenticity of the documents. It becomes more difficult if the candidate is from a different country or state because it involves more time and money. This process is outsourced by many firms, which again may take time and in turn delay the hiring process and sometimes fail to discover the false information. It is in this context that blockchain will eradicate such issues and deter such candidates who may want to “give it a try” with fake certificates and documentation on qualification and work experience. The blockchain technology is well-thought-out as one of the major catalysts transforming the next generation of industry structure. It provides a cost effective, fair, accurate traceable and secure system. The validation and verification processes for recruitment can be a very cumbersome endeavor, notwithstanding the plethora of checks that must be performed before clearing a potential employee through the recruitment process. This can take place securely on a blockchain platform, with clear applications in qualifying and verifying candidates (Weekes, 2018, p. 15).

2. Why blockchain in recruitments? From the case under discussion, it is evident that as the job market flourishes and is bombarded with jobseekers who are desperate to find new venues, while on the other hand there are job portals, which need to balance the requirement and resources on either end for its profit. It becomes the responsibility of the middlemen to find a suitable option to verify and validate the information as it is shuttled back and forth, in a timely manner, before the recruitment happens. The firms that hire through these multi-step processes depend upon the integrity of the processes that the middlemen offer as service. While in the case of Ajay, delayed identification of incorrect credentials could be detrimental to both parties, there is another growing concern also that supports the debate on the use of blockchain technology in human resource management. Jobseekers are sometimes apprehensive about sharing their information over several portals that may exploit this information by selling them, the intermediaries who control the information flow act as brokers thereby making profit from either end. This is another reason why the blockchain technology fits in and an in fact could work wonders. A company that makes use of this technology can do away with intermediaries, which in turn will enable the jobseekers to exchange data directly with the recruiting company, thereby rendering the process

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completely transparent via the tokenized economy and devoid of misuse of information by unethical middlemen. Also, on the other hand, jobseekers enjoy the authority over their information and can opt for sharing their personal data in public domains. Also, given the fact that jobseekers may be reluctant to give out information pertaining to their look-out for jobs, fearing that this may put their current job at risk, the process of matching resources and requirements in such cases may become a challenge. The credibility that the blockchain technology offers to handle these situations become another factor that goes in favor of opting for its implementation. Certifications can be requested from relevant institutions in one step thereby validating the claims of jobseekers in a quick and simple step (ScoutChain recruitment platform connects jobseekers with jobs using blockchain technology, 2018). Another advantage of blockchains is that, while there is no doubt that the concept is of moderate complexity, the technical nuances are abstracted in a manner such that the recruiters do not need to comprehend the technicalities involved. A basic understanding of the implementation and the opportunities that it may offer to their industry will help their processes a great deal (Weekes, 2018, p. 15).

3. How does blockchain work? The information is distributed and globally connected with computers called nodes. The nodes are connected as a layer of communication. All nodes have access to the data, no one can enter the system and corrupt the information without the knowledge of others (Glaser et al., 2014). The pieces of information are stored in “blocks” of data, which are linked cryptographically to other blocks. Each of these blocks has a timestamp and a cryptographic hash that is unique. When a stakeholder (an agency or a jobseeker) adds information to a block, the hash is modified, and a new block is created with the new hash, and it joins the chain. However, the block also contains the previous hash. Therefore, if someone tries to modify the data in the old block, the hash will be out of sync with the existing chain and thus will be rejected. Also, when a new block is appended to the chain, since the data must be validated by the others in the network and a consensus has to be reached, this technology implements a robust and inbuilt mechanism that further adds to the overall security of the system, thereby making it a very viable and safe system to be implemented in domains where information veracity is mandatory (Weekes, 2018, p. 15).

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Since the transaction is bundled into blocks for a temporal sequence of transactions (Narayana et al., 2016), access to data is shared among permissioned group of companies. A consortium of block is created where educational institutions, doctors, police, certifying authorities have the right to write on the blocks. Details like name, program, courses taken, grades obtained, by the candidate. etc., which is normally found in the certificate will be submitted by the University. Companies submit years of experience area of work, year of joining, year of leaving, performance rating and skill set about their employees in the blockchain. Doctors submit results of the tests, prescription, of the applicant etc, Police will include the criminal record if any. All this is verified and saved in the blockchain. The next in the process design is to go with the consortium of various organizations, connecting the nodes that are distributed (Shkoor, 2019). Each node consists of the transactions and submit the document for the administrator to verify and approve. As mentioned earlier, the hash value is generated for the transaction to be updated. Once the transactions are hoarded into the blocks, the blocks are distributed in the networks. Thus, when an applicant approaches the organization for a position, his documents are requested by the recruiter. Then the recruiter will be able to verify the credentials over a web-based blockchain. The identification is submitted along with the record on the web and a message is received if the document is authentic. This system resembles a centralized database system, sans the risk of internal and external hacking. The immutability of the data makes it easier and faster in terms of access to data by the hiring manager thereby rendering blockchain as the best tool for employer’s data and background verification. This application could also be upscaled to have nodes across several geographic locations. When it is difficult to verify details across different countries, this technology would serve as an error-free alternative. Once the candidate graduates, his details will be entered and stored in the chain. This is verified by the employees at various sources. This works out be a low-cost and time-saving process. During the hiring process itself the data submitted could be verified. The manipulation of data is simply impossible because of the features of the hash value system (Narayana et al., 2016), which cannot be tampered. Hence the high privacy of the information is also reassured. If academia and organizations can agree to implement the blockchain solution and enter their data through this secure platform, anyone in need of the information can retrieve the required information as discussed above.

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Thus apart from the provision of a comprehensive and trustworthy blockchain-based record of educational background, skillset, experience and workplace performance, blockchain technology can also provide an individual’s potential employers with the access to this “value passport”, whereby individuals could convert their professional assets, training and experience into tangible value in the employment market space (Olivia Fachrunnisa, 2020). The application of blockchain technology has varied uses in the Human resources domain in all functions starting from recruitment, training, performance appraisal, until retirement process is proof enough of its versatile nature.

4. Conclusion This case illustrates the usage of blockchain approach to address the challenges in employee background verification for organizations. The proposed technology verifies and stores the fed information offering less cost, less time and removing all sorts of middlemen in the chain of processes. This technology could perform better than the manual system in terms of quality, security, cost, fairness, and accuracy. This solution is easily scalable to other locations and other domains including land records. While the use of blockchain in the Human Resource Management function will greatly enhance the recruitment process, as mentioned earlier, it is by no means limited to just recruitment. Blockchain can help in the collaboration and the arrival of consensus between parties in updating skill and knowledge of employees post recruitment. Organizations can develop a framework/function that will also provide updates about what the industry needs and what their trainers have to focus on, in order to meet industry requirements. Information that results from the blockchain process can also be subject to analysis, the results of which can be used for policy making. Such information can even be made use of by governments to regulate competence standards among the industry players. By applying relevant analytics to data thus derived, organizations can match resources to roles more accurately and efficiently. Further research can explore the impact of this technology in different domains like education, service and manufacturing as well. It is just a matter of time that this wonder tool percolates within various industries and the departments of different domains and finds immense use as a problemsolver for a variety of currently prevalent problems.

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References Bezos, J. (2014). Retrieved March 08, 2018, from: www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/ 1018724/000119312514137753/d702518dex991.html. Bonanni, C., Drysdale, D., Hughes, A., & Doyle, P. (2011). Employee background verification: The CrossReferencing effect. International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 5(11), 1e8. https://doi.org/10.19030/iber.v5i11.3519 Buckhoff, T. (2003). Preventing fraud by conducting background checks. The CPA Journal, 73(11), 52. Campbell, R. (2015). Lying on your CV: The facts. Retrieved from: www.topuniversities. com/blog/lying-your-cv-facts. Glaser, F., Zimmermann, K., Haferkorn, M., Weber, M. C., & Siering, M. (2014). Bitcoin asset or currency? Revealing users’ hidden intentions. In Proceedings of twenty second European conference on information systems (pp. 1e14). Merwe, I. (2015). Why you should never lie on your CV. Retrieved from: https://citypress. news24.com/Personal-Finance/why-you-should-never-lie-on-your-cv-2015111. Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Narayanan, A., Bonneau, J., Felten, E., Miller, A., & Goldfeder, S. (2016). Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies: A comprehensive introduction. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Olivia Fachrunnisa, F. K. (2020). Blockchain-based human resource management practices for mitigating skills and competencies gap in workforce. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 1e11. Scout chain recruitment platform connects jobseekers with jobs using blockchain technology. (September 20, 2018). PR Newswire US. Shkoor, M. A. (2019). n. Everything you need to know about public, private, and consortium blockchai. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/swlh/everything-you-need-to-knowabout-public-private-andconsortium-blockchain-54821c159c7a. Shukla, A. (2014). Watch out for fake degrees. Retrieved from: http://www.thehindu.com/ features/education/watch-out-for-fake-degrees/article5743087.ec. Weekes, S. (August 2018). The arrival of blockchain: The disruptive technology comes to recruitment. Recruiter. White, M. (2015). You won’t believe how many people lie on their resumes. Retrieved from: https://money.com/how-many-people-lie-resumes/.

CHAPTER 11

Use cases of blockchain technology for sustainable global HR operations in industry 4.0 Alpana Agarwal

Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

1. Introduction Rapidly increasing technology and innovation have resulted in a paradigm shift to a technocentric marketplace. Technology today is about speedy access to accurate current information, and the ability to access this information via multiple systems, which give organizations a strategic edge. Thus, technology then as a “core competency” is now becoming an essential need for the sustenance in today’s marketplace. Although historically, business was described as the organized effort of individuals to deliver and achieve customer delight. Today, the goal remains the same, but with greater utilization of technology to defend oneself against competitors. Any company that is not adopting or developing new technology will likely to be out of business in few years. Therefore, companies now are more open and embracing technology to speed-up the business processes. With technology affecting each and every tasks in the business environment, has significantly impacted human resource management functions as well. In such environment, human resource function, which has apparently taken strategic position in most business organizations, shall be digitalized. This emerging need of a high impact digital HR is pushing the businesses to invest in HR Technologies (Cohen & Amorós, 2014). HR leaders are anticipating that a technocentric approach would be able to provide modernized workforce solutions to achieve enriched employee experience and improved sustainable performance. Moreover, advance HR technology will not only simplify routine activities, but can also provide strategic support in organizational growth and business development. After technical advancements like Data Analytics, IoT, cloud computations, HR is ready to head toward another revolution. Among all technical advancements, blockchain is expected to be more advance (Morkunas et al., 2019). Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00009-5

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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According to Deloitte, HR technologies have experienced a reasonable extent of change in past 10 years (Genc, 2018). HR solutions have shifted to cloud platforms for their simple HR processes and portable approach (Michailidis, 2018). It is foreseen that more than 50% of big companies would follow blockchain-enabled technologies (Laha, 2019). The applications of Blockchain starts from data ownership to providing a protected gateway for information exchange (Swan, 2015). Applications of blockchain technology are multifield. Big companies across the world are trying to utilize blockchain capabilities. For instance, Apple aims to use it for timestamping the data, The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for document verification, Toyota is trying to apply the technology for selfdriving cars. However, unlike other advancements, the adoption of blockchain has been slow. Blockchain technology is presently facilitating HR processes like talent acquisition, building smart contracts, getting reliable employee information and background check, and many more World Economic Forum (2017). Application of blockchain is transforming the HR functions to go without any middleman (Tapscott and Tapscott, 2016b). The removal of agents will simplify the movement of information and the cost involved. To further explore the present applications and future scope of blockchain technology, this study is to present exemplars of Blockchain application in human resource management. It is expected that this comprehensive collection of blockchain information will help the businesses in understanding the concept and its applications for improving their HR processes.

2. Understanding blockchain technology and theorization of blockchain-induced HRM Blockchain is a public ledger wherein all transactions are stored as series of blocks (Bahga & Madisetti, 2017). Each block contains a block header and block body. The block body is consists of a transaction counter and the transactions. New blocks are added in every 10 min with the latest transactions. The blockchain arrangement confirms that each block appended to the blockchain is justifiable and match-up to the rule of blockchain. Additionally, every block appended carries a cryptographic hash number of the preceding block. This confirms that the newly added blocks are consistent with the previous blocks and guarantees the integrity of the blockchain. Size of the block and transactions are deterimental of the

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permissible number of transactions. Fig. 11.1 shows a typical blockchain architecture. This chain keep expanding when new blocks are added to save data (Iansiti & Lakhani, 2017). Cryptographical method and diffused algorithms are followed for protecting information and communications (Kaal, 2017; Romano & Schmid, 2017). A pair of private and public codes are assigned to each user. The user restricts the private key personal while transmit the public key all over the transactions. The private keys are meant to be used for signing and verifying the transactions. Information and communications saved and fetched using blockchain are decentralized, persistence, anonymous and auditable (Liang et al., 2017, pp. 468e477). Such characteristics make blockchain a resource efficient technology (Deloitte, 2016). The process of addition of blocks and transaction validation is completely diffused to avoid single point control (Nakamoto, 2008; Raval, 2016). This characteristic of blockchain is called decentralization (Treiblmaier, 2018), which also keep it away from one-point collapse situations. Long and distributed chain of blocks are more secure because of difficulty involved in modifying the preceding blocks (Narayanan et al., 2016). Also, it is difficult to interfere the trasactions once it is packed into the blockchain (Morabito, 2017). This feature is called the “immutability” (Neisse et al., 2017). In the era of Industry 4.0, an intuitive employment of manpower and their management is needed (Onik et al., 2018). According to Tapscott and Tapscott (2016a), the present HR tools faces the issues of “trust and capability”. The blockchain based HRM takes care of such problems. Moreover, the companies relying on internal Human Resources Information System (HRIS), which relies on information provided by the employees, are not that precise and authentic. Increasing incidents of fake credentials, fake resume validates such gaps. For instance, in Hong Kong, an employee used fake credentials to get HK$88,000 a month. A CEO was summoned for providing fake resume (Yi et al., 2020). Another incident of

Figure 11.1 Basic architecture of blockchain showing series of continuous blocks.

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fake certificates happened in Mumbai, India for 11,000 government jobs (Outlook, 2018). Therefore, HR Professionals are generally worried about data authenticity. The basic architecture of blockchain avoids the gaps, which may lead to such fraudulent activities. The companies, which require large manpower shall transform their systems to blockchain technology. Switching to blockchain technology will remarkably turn down the hassle of data collection and third-party verification. The entrenched property of blockchain allows employers to assess potential candidate by examining his/ her credentials. The blockchain ledger of a prospective employee will reveal their real talent. Research has been done to explore benefits of blockchain technology in HR. Onik et al. (2018) analyzed current status of usage of information technology in HR. It also analyzes application of blockchain to achieve a smart, cost-effective, secure management system. Furthermore, a blockchain based Recruitment Management System (BcRMS) as well as Human Resource Management System (BcHRMS) algorithm is suggested. Article by Aishwarya (2018), emphases on HR functions of blockchain in different fields (Olivas-Lujan, 2019). Wang et al. (2017), proposed a blockchain based HR model that used the blockchain for recording HRM information, certification of HRM documentation and payment of employees’ salaries. Numerous research papers are based on applications of blockchain in different domains including voting systems, property and real-estate management, healthcare (Eyal & Sirer, 2014; Johnson et al., 2001), higher education (Eyal & Sirer, 2014), e-government and smart government, personal reputation management, freedom of speech, and anticorruption (Biryukov et al., 2014), manufacturing and service operations (Babich & Hilary, 2020), supply chain (Kamble et al., 2019). A review based paper on blockchain technology shows that over 80% of blockchain research papers focus on the bitcoin system and less than 20% discuss other blockchain applications (Tschorsch & Scheuermann, 2016). Besides, there is inadecuacy of academic papers emphasizing on blockchain utilization in the HRM domain. Literature reviews in the field of blockchain applications show the need for researchers to follow research on blockchain applications in HR. Therefore, this article attempts to show an exploratory empirical research on blockchain applications in HR (Fig. 11.2).

3. Use cases for blockchain HR The requirements of Industry 4.0 is leading to a 360 degree turn in the employment practices followed currently. According to a report by Existek (2020), countries like India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia needs to defeat

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Figure 11.2 Block structure.

hurdles of language and unerring information by credentials authentication and background check (Yi et al., 2020). Therefore, organizations need to revamp their processes to be more traceable and verifiable. The inherent architecture of blockchain technology allows systems to be more robust and in accordance with local legalizations (Pinna & Ibba, 2018). Following are the examples of use cases for blockchain HR: 1. Smart Contracts Decentralized nature of blockchain technology eliminates the need of middleman. By using Smart Contracts, the company can skip the need of a lawyer and can directly participate in contactual obligations with employees. Musician Imogen Heap is a good example of smart contract application of blockchain technology. Besides, she has used Bitcoin for receiving her payments. Also, now she can have the contract in full transparency by skipping the intermediaries such as Spotify and Deezer (Hartog, n.d). 2. Background check A survey by CareerBuilder, it was found that approximately 58% candidates seeking jobs shares fake information in some way (Hartog, n.d). Blockchain can also support in building more effective recruitment system by developing a “candidate verification system”. For instance, Blockchain supported candidate background check and resume verification is offered by APPII (Read, 2019). With blockchain hiring managers can also know reasons of an individual’s departure from the past organization. Japan is using blockchain technology to develop a prototype of resume authentication databank for hiring managers to reduce frauds and enhance transparency (How will blockchain impact HR, n.d.) (Fig. 11.3). 3. Reliable Employee Information Blockchain technology provides a mean to store accurate employee personal and professional information, eventually building a databank

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Figure 11.3 A central repository of authenticated, genuine data source to ensure quicker and easier background checks.

full of “digital profiles” of the employees. According to Zielinski (2017) the blockchain can make a “self-sovereign identity” for employees, which will reduce the third-party intervention of providing inaccurate information about a candidate. Besides, it would be an easier and inexpensive way to publish the certificates online. Nevertheless, issuing agencies like government can be involved for checking the authenticity of the certificates or other such documents. And the HR can access the documents with the help of private key supplied by the candidate. 4. Talent Acquisition Present systems like Linkedin collects data in a centralized way. But, blockchain technology lead to creation of large decentralized social network. Under such system data is under control of individual users. The users can give direct access to their professional record and personal information like education work history, performance etc., thereby building vast database or HR ledger. Such database forgoes need for resume, application blanks during recruitment. Steem, is an early adopter of such technology (Hartog, n.d). In fact if a company seeking to hire, finds a particular candidate unfit for a present open position, they can track candidates progress and match him for a future job role (Fig. 11.4). 5. Cryptocurrencies and Payroll An international blockchain network can affirm safe financial transactions with the employees across the globe without any intermediary. According to Ashik Ahmed, CEO of Deputy: “Blockchain is cheaper and effective method for financial transactions”. In fact, in future, companies may use blockchain-based coins as their brand currency for overseas trades. Start-ups like Bitwage, Etch, Bream are using blockchain to

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Figure 11.4 Diagram showing network of various blockchains and flow of information.

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simplify international payments to recruiters and employees (Kadia, 2019). Also, Bitwage has combined blockchain technology with mobile and cloud technology to simplify cross-border disbursements. By using Bitcoin, employees receive money in their native currency. Similarly, Chronobank is also helping companies in paying their employees, without involving any financial institution (Hartog, n.d) (Fig. 11.5). 6. Resume building Blockchain technology has capacity to build classic resume, and can make career-networking sites like Linkedin redundant. Headhunters can directly fetch a public blockchain to know more about prospective candidature. For example, HIRE, a private cryptocurrency of HireMatch; Jobeum, “LinkedIn-like recruitment tool” and Ouna, a webbased assessment tool-are used to connect jobseekers and job finders (Read, 2019). Similarly, APII, a career verification platform is supporting a jobsite named TechnoJobs in offering blockchain verified resumes to employers (Hartog, n.d). 7. Secure Reporting and Auditing Blockchain technology also supports maintaining databank of sensitive personal data safely. The chain of blocks containing documents, details of transactions can only be changed if all chains give the permission. Blockchain technology makes the reporting easier. The process involves the HR staff to fetch required data from the databank. Thereafter this can be used directly for reporting without any verification. Furthermore, this databank-because of its accuracy and security can also be used to fulfill legal requirements. 8. Attendance Keeping Blockchain technology also allows to stock the employee specifics like biometric information such as iris scan or fingerprint. This stock can be consumed to trail staff attendance and overheads demanded.

Figure 11.5 Working of blockchain for financial transactions.

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This process would reduce fraudulent activities and mistakes caused by HR and payroll departments.

4. Future of blockchain in HR The HR based blockchain technology is at a very early stage associated with several challenges (Queiroz & Wamba, 2019). The primary hurdle in its adoption is because of peoples’ discomfort with the technology (Tönnissen & Teuteberg, 2020). However, it is expected that it will gain trust when people will become comfortable with technology and share their experience with others. In merely 5 years, there have been enormous growth in human resource technology. In 2015, companies like Oracle, Workday and SAP with their cloud based solutions, differently defined users affair with human resource technology. Thereafter in year 2018, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud platform launched cloud HR 2.0. Furthermore in 2020, there will be relationship database to link candidates with contractors. Nevertheless, it is expected that 2021 will be the era of blockchain (CH, 2020). Such rapid evolution of HR from analytics to cloud raises the hope of further disruption in technology to blockchain. According to Verlinden (2019), execution of blockchain based packages will be step-by-step. Further it classifies blockchain implementation in three stages. The first stage of blockchain based HR would be for candidate verification and immediate payment to staff. The second stage could be systematic exploration and management of talent pool. The third stage could be managing quick availability of manpower rather than permanent work contracts. This would be in sync with the project based hiring trend of the gig economy. Moreover, solutions based on Ethereum blockchain, is freely available for contract workers. This saves the general brokerage of 20% charged by intermediaries. So it is a matter of time when HR professionals will completely adopt blockchain technology (Bandyopadhyay, 2018) (Fig. 11.6). However, like any other innovation, experts have conflicting opinions about blockchain. Jamie Dimon, Head of JPMorgan Chase & Co., called Bitcoin “a fraud”; while Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer, James Gorman, called Cryptocurrencies “something more than just a fad” (Bandyopadhyay, 2018). In a latest survey in UK by KPMG, only 8% participants are going to fund in blockchain (Randstad, n.d). Common resistance in blockchain implementation is lack of understanding its basics and execution procedures. The major challenges associated with blockchain

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Figure 11.6 Three waves of blockchain work solutions.

implementation involves-privacy regulations, fear of data distortion, fear of baring employee data and skill inventory on blockchain to competitors, etc (Chakladar & Kannepalli, 2018). Also, there is a misconception that it is linked to bitcoin and the digital currency market (Randstad, n.d).

5. Conclusions Blockchain is the next big disruption in HR technology. This paper attempts to compile the use cases of blockchain technology in HR. It reduces the risk of human error. In addition blockchain offers a cost effective and secure way to carry-out almost all human resource functions. It will substantially reduce cost of finding, interviewing and hiring new employees. We are in the beginner phase of blockchain implementation, so the possibility to fail exists in certain areas. The companies willing to adopt blockchain at this stage need to fine-tune the blockchain system to their requirements. It should have a culture of system and process driven organization. HR department shall prepare their company for blockchain. The very first of which is making top management of the company familiar with blockchain technology and successful used cases. If blockchain’s capabilities are deployed to the fullest, it could entirely renovate the organizations for the Industry 4.0. It is expected that by 2024, global blockchain market will be approximately US$16 billion (£12.1 billion). Early adopters in the field will definitely succeed in a blockchain driven future.

References Aishwarya, N. (2018). Potential impact of blockchain on HR and people management. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 5(9), 127e130.

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Babich, V., & Hilary, G. (2020). Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies in operations. Foundations Trends Tech. Inform. Oper. Management, 12(2-3), 152e172. Bahga, A., & Madisetti, V. K. (2017). Blockchain applications: A hands-on approach. Berlin: VPT. Bandyopadhyay, I. (2018). How will blockchain transform HR? Aon empower results. Available at: https://www.asia.aonhumancapital.com/home/insights-at-work/blockchain-and-hr (Accessed 21 May 2020). Biryukov, A., Khovratovich, D., & Pustogarov, I. (2014). Deanonymisation of clients in bitcoin p2p network. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM SIGSAC conference on computer and communications security, New York, NY, USA (pp. 15e29). CH, P. (2020). Blockchain: The next big disruption in HR technology. Human engineers. Available at: https://humanengineers.com/blockchain-the-next-big-disruptor-in-hrtechnology/ (Accessed 20 May 2020). Chakladar, P., & Kannepalli, R. R. (2018). Here’s how blockchain is going to impact human resources. Available at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/hr-technology/heres-howblockchain-is-going-to-impact-human-resources-18464. Cohen, B., & Amorós, J. E. (2014). Municipal demand-side policy tools and the strategic management of technology life cycles. Technovation, 34(12), 797e806. Deloitte. (2016). Blockchain: Enigma. Paradox. Opportunity. United Kingdom: Deloitte LLP. Eyal, I., & Sirer, E. G. (2014). Majority is not enough: Bitcoin mining is vulnerable. In Proceedings of international conference on financial cryptography and data security, Berlin, Heidelberg (pp. 436e454). Existek. (2020). Global Software Development Rates. Available at: https://existek.com/ Report_Global_Software_development_Rates_2020.pdf (20 December 2020). Genc, H. (2018). How blockchain technologies can impact human resources. Digitalist. Available at: https://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-work/2018/05/02/how-blockchaintechnologies-impact-human-resources-06143011 (Accessed 20 May 2020). Hartog, K. (n.d). How blockchain could transform the core of HR, Future of Work. Available at: https://recruiters.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/how-blockchain-couldtransform-the-core-of-hr/. (Accessed 21 May 2020). (n.d). How will blockchain impact HR: Unleash. World available at: https://www. unleashgroup.io/news/will-blockchain-impact-hr/. (Accessed 20 May, 2020). Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. R. (2017). The truth about Blockchain. Harvard Business Review, 95(1), 118e127. Johnson, D., Menezes, A., & Vanstone, S. (2001). The elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA). International Journal of Information Security, 1(1), 36e63. Kaal, W. A. (2017). Blockchain solutions for agency problems in corporate governance. In 1st Annual Toronto FinTech Conference, 20e21 October, Toronto. Kadia, P. (2019). Human resource innovation with blockchain. Business blockchain headquarters. Available at: https://businessblockchainhq.com/business-blockchain-news/humanresources-innovation-blockchain/ (Accessed 21 May 2020). Kamble, S., Gunasekaran, A., & Arha, H. (2019). Understanding the Blockchain technology adoption in supply chains-Indian context. International Journal of Production Research, 57(7), 2009e2033. Laha, A. K. (2019). Blockchain in HR: A disruptor. Entrepreneur India. Available at: https:// www.entrepreneur.com/article/333139 (Accessed 20 May, 2020). Liang, X., Shetty, S., Tosh, D., Kamhoua, C., Kwiat, K., & Njilla, L. (2017). Provchain: A blockchain-based data provenance architecture in cloud environment with enhanced privacy and availability. In Proceedings of the 17th IEEE/ACM international symposium on cluster, cloud and grid computing, Madrid, Spain. Michailidis, M. P. (2018). Hie challenges of AI and blockchain on HR recruiting practices. Cyprus Review, 30(2), 169e180.

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Morabito, V. (2017). Business innovation through blockchain: The B3 perspective. Cham: Springer. Morkunas, V. J., Paschen, J., & Boon, E. (2019). How blockchain technologies impact your business model. Business Horizons, 62(3), 295e306. Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Available at: https:// bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper (Accessed 12 August 2017). Narayanan, A., Bonneau, J., Felten, E., Miller, A., & Goldfeder, S. (2016). Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies: A comprehensive introduction. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Neisse, R., Steri, G., & Nai-Fovino, I. (2017). A Blockchain- based approach for data accountability and provenance tracking. In Proceedings of the 12th international conference on availability, Reliability and Security, Reggio Calabria, Italy (pp. 1e9). Article No. 14. Olivas-Lujan, M. R. (2019). Blockchains 2019 in e-HRM: Hit or hype?. In , Advanced series in management: Vol. 23. HRM 4.0 for human-centered organizations (pp. 117e139). no. 1. Onik, M. H., Miraz, M. H., & Kim, C. S. (2018). A recruitment and human resource management technique using blockchain technology for industry 4.0. In Proceeding of smart cities symposium (SCS-2018), Manama, Bahrain, 2018 (pp. 11e16). IET. Outlook. (2018). Over 11,000 ’SC/ST’ Govt employees in Maharashtra face sacking for Allegedly forging caste certificates. Available at: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/over11000-scst-govt-employees-in-maharashtra-face-sacking-for-forging-caste-cer/307810 (12 May 2020). Pinna, A., & Ibba, S. (2018). A blockchain-based decentralized system for proper handling of temporary employment contracts. SA 2018. Intelligent Computing, 1231e1243. Queiroz, M. M., & Wamba, S. F. (2019). Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA. International Journal of Information Management, 46(1), 70e82. Raval, S. (2016). Decentralized applications: Harnessing Bitcoin’s blockchain technology. Beijing, Boston, Farnham, Sebastopol, Tokyo: O’Reilly. Randstad. (n.d). Will blockchain prove to be one of the key HR trends this year?. Available at: https://www.randstad.com/workforce-insights/hr-tech/will-blockchain-prove-to-beone-of-the-key-hr-trends-this-year/. (Accessed 20 May 2020). Read, S. (2019). The three-minute read on everything you need to know about how blockchain could be used in HR. Sage People. Available at: https://www.sagepeople.com/about-us/newshub/blockchain-hr-everything-need-to-know/ (Accessed 20 May 2020). Romano, D., & Schmid, G. (2017). Beyond bitcoin: A critical look at blockchain-based systems. Cryptography, 1(2). Available at: www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/1/2/15/htm (Accessed 26 September 2017). Swan, M. (2015). Blockchain: Blueprint for a new economy. O’Reilly Media, Inc. Tapscott, D., & Tapscott, A. (2016a). Blockchain revolution: How the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business, and the world. Penguin. Tapscott, D., & Tapscott, A. (2016b). The impact of the blockchain goes beyond financial services. Harvard Business Review. Tönnissen, S., & Teuteberg, F. (2020). Analysing the impact of blockchain-technology for operations and supply chain management: An explanatory model drawn from multiple case studies. International Journal of Information Management, 52(3), 101953. Treiblmaier, Horst (2018). The impact of the blockchain on the supply chain: A theorybased research framework and a call for action. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 23(6), 545e559. Tschorsch, F., & Scheuermann, B. (2016). Bitcoin and beyond: A technical survey on decentralized digital currencies. IEEE Communications Surveys Tutorials, 18(3), 2084e2123.

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CHAPTER 12

Application of blockchain for handling volatility in supply chainsda finance perspective MP Pandikumar1 and VM Manickavasagam2 1

Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; 2Dean - Faculty of Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India

1. Introduction The Post world war commanded each member country to be self-reliant through Industrial revolution with effective practices of Supply Chain to outreach the expectations of buyers not only within domestic economy but also across the borders of nation. The self-reliance in Industry production is regularly hurdled by Supply chain disruptions, which clearly evidenced from the companies of Japan in Thailand 2011 (Anbumozhi, 2020). To overcome supply chain disruptions due to geo political risks, Japanese Firms are constantly moving out from china to reduce the foot print of China. The Success of any enterprise is indicated by its performance indicators especially by Value of its own assets and constant value maximization to meet the return expectations of investors. The Success or Failure of any business is mainly scaled by the success of its supply chain to outreach its customers. Reaching the customers to fulfill the expectations especially in time with Supply chain to achieve value maximizations is the major task committed with the investors. Finally the company facing mismatch between Supply and Demand severely poised not only the top line but also bottom line, which badly inflict upon Financial performance. This Chapter deals with the following viz 1. Introduction 2. Supply Chain Volatility 3. Dimensions of Supply Chain Volatility 4. Problems of Supply Chain Volatility 5. Role of BlockChain in Supply Chain Volatility 6. Benefits of BlockChain in Supply Chain Volatility 7. Benefits of BlockChain TechnologydFinancial Perspective Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00007-1

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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8. Global Landscape of Blockchain Applications trouble shooting the Supply chain Volatility with respect to Value Creation 9. BCT Applications in India with Banking Industry

2. Supply chain volatility The Supply chain volatility is defined as “unplanned upstream or downstream of material flows resulting in mismatch of supply and demand at the focal firm”. The problem of matching between supply and demand would lead to register two major problems viz Over production and Producing goods less than demand, which may be even due to over capitalization and undercapitalization. The SCV is explained in Volatility of Material flows through initially Forester effect, which later “Bull whip effect”. The Bull whip effect is defined as “the demand distortion upstream in supply chain from retailer to Wholesaler and manufacturer due to variance of orders which may be larger than Sales”. This Bull whip effect is subject to three major waves register the Volatility in material flows in Supply chain. The Bull whip effect is explained in the Cool Drinks manufacturing industry. Bullwhip effect in cool/soft drink manufacturing industry. The cool drinks retailer sells 40 bottles regularly per day. Due to the Heat wave, he anticipates to sell 20 more bottles. In this regard, he forecasts demand for cool drinks 60 and placed his order of 60 bottles to wholesaler; which is known as first wave in Supply chain. The wholesaler, having studied the demand, he placed 80 bottle units of Cool drinks with manufacturer due to the exaggerated order placed by Retailer. This increase in demand forecast at the Wholesaler level results an increase in incremental order placement with Manufacturer. The manufacturer of Cool/ Soft Drinks increase is also feeling an increase in demand especially among wholesalers, would finally react to the increase by increasing in the Demand forecast of Manufacturer is known as third wave in Supply chain. The changes in the climatic condition normally resorts drop in the consumption of Cool/Soft drinks among consumers reckoned excessive inventory i.e. over stock especially due to heat wave sales and increased demand.

3. Dimensions of supply chain volatility The various dimension of Supply chain volatility (Nitsche and Durach 2018) are the following

Application of blockchain for handling volatility in supply chainsda finance perspective

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Organizational Volatility Vertical Volatility Behavioral Volatility Market related Volatility Institutional Volatility and Environmental Volatility Organizational volatility

1.

165

It is encouraged by the firm/company

Lamb Weston Potato Processor Company closed its two manufacturing units due to the significant impact on demand for fries and they realized that they won’t need all four plants to manufacture the current demand.

The Organizational volatility (Nitsche, 2018), is mainly caused by Intraorganization misalignment and inaccurate forecasting. The Sales and Operations Planning (S & OP) Maturity Model emphasized (Wagner et al.,2014) for alignment among organizations and they further outlined the following six major characteristics for measuring the Organizational misalignment through benchmarking instrument. • Level of planning process formality • Level of promotions planning integration • Efficiency of Information availability and exchange • Level of Planning and Efficiency • Level of assignment of roles and responsibilities • Level of integration of planning systems of different business functions In addition to the above, to measure Organizational Volatility score, the forecasting demand is yet another variable gauged through Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) to assess the accuracy of Demand Forecasting. The benchmarking instrument has considered One, Three and Six month ahead of Product variant and Family levels to register the Forecasting inaccuracies.

Vertical volatility 2.

Volatility originating from partners either from suppliers or customers

The supply chain of Disinfectants and cleaning products industry leans upon Just-in-time Approach posed major difficulty to move into output meter led to stocked out

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The Vertical Volatility is impacted by Long lead time. The length of lead time is evaluated (Nitsche, 2018; Nitsche & Durach, 2018) with its variability with respect to Supply Chain Volatility. It apparently registered during the pandemic times more evidently in the Disinfectants manufacturing industry. The long lead time is not a source to SCV when it is accurate but in a real world practice, the inaccuracies due to the planning process, addressed through On time Delivery Rate (OTDR) (Chan & Qi, 2003). The Vertical Volatility Score is determined by benchmarking instrument including the following two major covenants viz 1. Long lead times 2. Variable lead times The Behavioral Volatility takes place due to two major influences viz erratic behavior of Customers and erratic behavior of decision makers in (Nitsche and Durach, 2018) supply chain. Why the Erratic behavior arises among customers? The erratic behavior (Childerhouse et al., 2008; Johnson, 2001; So & Zheng, 2003; van der Vorst et al., 1998) arises due to unpredictable demand from customers results demand and supply mismatch in the organization (Table 12.1).

Behavioral volatility 3.

Volatility originating due to erratic behavior of customers and erratic behavior of decision-makers in supply chain

Stage: I The Erratic Behavior evidenced among consumers when schools and nonessential offices closed. Stage: II The Erratic Behavior found among the schools and colleges in building the inventory with an anticipation of opening for physical class rooms.

Patrick PenField, Professor, Supply Chain Practice, Syracuse University “We have never seen the magnitude of orders and demand placed on cleaning product companies”

The Surge in demand especially in Disinfectant manufacturing industry badly hit on the supply of most essential products and Table 12.2 illustrates Essential Raw materials and other allied products and problems especially out of erratic consumption behavior of Consumers.

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Price of N-95 masks soars by 200% as demand outstrips supply in Belgavi due to coronavirus care Mar. 6, 2020, N-95 mask was sold at the price of Rs. 240 and 250, which were purchased from the manufacturers at Rs. 80 per unit. The five branches of Apollo pharmacy sold the stock of 50,000 N-95 masks in 2 days and the employees in stores reported about the demand more than one lakh. Though doctors clarified, the common people shuttling between pharmacies and aiming for building the stock of accessory. Shreyas, Mar. 6,2020, Times of India The above scenario clearly indicates about the erratic behavior of consumers toward stocking the accessory; which finally registered mismatch between supply and demand. This further cascaded on the mask inflation not only Balgavi but also in other places of entire length and breadth of India. Table 12.1 High demand products for combating COVID-19. Chemical product

Application

Chloramine-T Cocamide diethanolamine Dodecylbenzylsulfonic acid Ethanol Isopropyl alcohol 99.8% Ortho-benzyl-para-chlorophenol Ortho-phenylphenol Sodium dichloroisocyanurate

Disinfectants Soap Soap Hand sanitizer Hand sanitizer Disinfectants Disinfectants Disinfectants

Source: Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates.

The second inevitable factor of influence is “Erratic behavior of decision makers in Supply chain”, which are considered to be irrational decisions (Nitsche, 2018) The overreactions led to specific demand levels indicate the forward buying, procurement of inventory than needed and reducing the safety inventory levels (Lee, 2002; Lee et al., 1997; Nienhaus et al., 2006; Pujawan, 2004; Wong & Hvolby, 2007). The second factor of behavioral volatility was apparently registered from the Decision makers of Schools and Colleges who undergone for procurement than needed and attempted with forward buying in anticipation of future requirement to comply the standards. This erratic behavior of decision-makers in Supply chain apparently evidenced in the case of Home Depot, US, which opened three additional

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Table 12.2 Essential raw materials and other allied products and problems. Sl. no

Products

Problem due to behavioral volatility

2

Quaternary ammonium compound (QUAT) Ethyl alcohol

3

Wipes

4

Plastic containers e packing materials

Short supply and the manufacturers were not able meet the demand Not only short supply but also under allocation registered finally “six to eight times price increase” Polyester spunlace is one of the most short supply raw materials not only faced by wipes manufacturing industry in US but also other players in the disinfectant industry. To overcome the above scenario, Clorox US inducted 10 more suppliers to enable them to expand capacity, raw material access with uninterrupted flow of production. Plastic container manufacturers were not able to meet demand due to heavy need for pipes, molds/dies and lids

1

warehouses in Atlanta, USA, to meet the expected demand from consumers during the pandemic without any short supply and store closures. The Market related Volatility arises due to the High level competition and it is fragmented into two major viz High number of variants offered by the focal organization or high number of substitutes offered Competing Entities (Randall & Ulrich, 2001; Taylor & Fearne, 2009).

Market related volatility

High level of competition among the organizations is only the source of MRV.

4.

High level competition has taken place in manufacturing the masks during prepandemic Covid-19. The hosiery and even textile companies registered their assertive presence in the manufacture of masks in different variants in their brands to attract the consumers. The substitutes were introduced by many hosiery and textile manufacturing units in different colors, sizes and models to cater the expectations of common consumers. Ramaraj, VanHeusain, etc., are the well-known brands brought in their own branded masks with various additives literally posed major threat surgical wear manufacturing companies.

5.

Institutional volatility

Volatility due to change in regulations

Tamil Nadu State Government passed strict ordinance on June 5, 2019 against the use of nonbiodegradable and single use of plastic and had recommended the natural/environment friendly products.

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This change in regulations by the Govt. of Tamil Nadu with respect to protect the environment caused the short supply of packing materials, bags, etc.; which badly impacted the traders, manufacturing companies greater extent and finally forced them to spot alternate source to instill uninterrupted flow of supply to reach ultimate end consumer. The restricted supply of nonbiodegradable and single use of plastic forced the customers and consumers to rely upon natural and environmental friendly products. This mooted surge in the demand of natural and environmental friendly products. Table 12.3 explores list of Banned and Recommended products of use by House Select Committee in protecting the environment. Environmental volatility 6.

Changes in the environment and catastrophes

Tamil Nadu State Government passed strict ordinance on June 5, 2019 against the use of nonbiodegradable and single use of plastic and had recommended the natural/environment friendly products. The Rain Harvesting movement launched in the year 2001 by Late Former Chief Minister of TN Govt Selvi J Jayalalitha with an objective to enhance the ground water level to eradicate water scarcity due to summer season

Table 12.3 Banned Plastic items and recommended natural/environmental friendly product. Banned plastic items

Plastic sheet Plastic thermocol plate/plastic coated plate Plastic coated cups Plastic carry bags of all sizes and thickness Plastic flags Plastic coated carry bags Nonwoven bags

Recommended natural/environment friendly product

Plantain leaves and areca nut plates Aluminum foil plates Paper rolls Lotus leaves Glass/steel tumblers Bamboo and wooden products Paper straws Cloth/paper bags Paper/cloth flags Ceramic wares Edible cutleries Earthen pots

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The Environmental Volatility resulted in two major occasions, which badly inflicted the two major industries viz Natural and Environmental friendly products manufacturing industry and Building materials and Plastic pipe manufacturing industries. Due to the new policy implementation, which drastically hit two major industries, Supply Chain Volatility Score Determination: The Supply Chain Volatility score is determined mainly by considering the following viz Organizational, Vertical, Behavioral, and Market Related Volatility. The Institutional and Environmental volatilities were not considered in determining the Supply Chain Volatility. The following adapted framework of dimensions and sources of SCV (Benjamin Nitsche, 2018) explore the detailed process of computation of SCV Fig. 12.1 and 12.2.

4. Problems of supply chain volatility The following are major problems arise out of supply chain volatility 1. Supply distortion of materials and products 2. Price fluctuations particularly price increase

Figure 12.1 Adapted framework of dimensions and sources of SCV (Benjamin Nitsche, 2018).

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Figure 12.2 Proposed model of blockchain technology application research model.

Increase in lead time of supply Excessive inventory with an anticipation of future demand Increase in storage cost and maintenance cost of inventory Impact on current assets and ROI Impact on cash flows due to excessive inventory Impact on earnings and dividend per share Impact on market price per share Supply Chain Volatility Problems: The Supply Chain Volatility is considerably influenced by Manufacturer (Organizational Volatility) (Benjamin Nitsche, 2018) ,which is known in other words as Self-induced volatility, which can be manageable rather than other sources of Supply chain volatility emanated from Supply chain partners. The Organizational Volatility is influenced by two major factor influences viz • Intraorganizational misalignment: The Intraorganization misalignment is taking place only due to lack of coordination and gap between Sales and Logistics. This requires alignment of departmental goals with an objective to achieve coordination among teams by sharing the data of departure and arrival dates with utmost transparency. • Forecasting of demand: The forecasting of demand is emphasized as one of the most inevitable influences of Inventory management problems, which could be minimized by eliminating the departmental level forecasts rather forecasts at the organizational level to meet the ever changing circumstances. The organizational level forecast can be achieved by effective data sharing incentives for the customers to enable them to participate actively in the process of accurate demand forecasting • Long Lead times: The deviation in lead time is necessarily important from the supplier and encouraged through incentives to update then 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

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and there to overcome uncertainties. The clearly chalking out of emergency plans are inevitable with clear definition of responsibilities for initiating the follow up actions. The value stream from suppliers needs careful analysis and optimization before anything passed on to customers through corporates. To bring down the long lead times, the Supply chain of a corporate needs to undergo for redesign by adopting either localization, dual sourcing or increased postponement. • Erratic behavior of decision-makers: This specific type of Behavioral volatility could be effectively handled by introducing the change in Organizational culture by allowing SC Partners to participate in the process through open communication with an objective to limit errors with the help of lessons learned. • Erratic behavior of customers: This is yet another type of Behavioral volatility could effectively addressed by promoting the Joint communication and discussion with Customers by explaining the customers’ demand and the consequences due to erratic behavior in order placement. • High level competition: This can be overcome by manufacturer only with competitive advantage and strategic partnership with competitors in sharing profitability. Supply Chain Volatility Management Strategies: The Supply Chain Volatility Management Strategies (Benjamin Nitsche, 2018) are presented with respect to three major classifications viz Short, Medium, and Long term Supply Chain and Inventory Management: The Success of Supply Chain of any business corporate is influenced by Inventory management and its practices. To overcome the Supply chain volatility, the Manufacturer needs to adopt effective inventory management practices to meet ever changing demand expectations of customers. The advent of new technologies and advancements are driving the dire need for new management techniques and finally results change in Organizational structures s (Öberg, 2019; Pinheiro et al., 2020). The ultimate purpose of Supply chain involves integration and increasing level of integration may pave way for enhancing operational performance by reducing (Lotfi et al., 2013; Ricciardi et al., 2018; Tracey et al., 2005) 1. Demand uncertainty 2. Inefficient performance of suppliers 3. Delays in changeovers and finally 4. Overall uncertainty of business.

Intraoorganization misalignment

Inaccurate demand forecasting

Organization volatility

Short term

Medium term

Long term

1. Proactive communication of problems 2. Weekly S & OP meetings 3. Create transparency. 4. Spreading the responsibilities across all departments

1. Spotting the sources of orgnizational mis alignment at regular intervals 2. Goals at the department level should be aligned with organization level 3. Agreed contractual flexibilities into the material process 1. Forecasting models related with production and distribution process should be aligned but at the same time it should accommodate the criticism of process owners/process center heads 2. Constant forecasting should be regularly adjusted at the organizational level and SC

1. Company wide data base contractual agreements

1. Increasing forecasting transparency in assumptions, which should be comprehensive and documented 2. Exception management has to seriously study the deep deviations in demand forecasted and actual demand and identify the sources of those outliners for mitigation

1. Statistically sound forecasts to be attempted 2. Better understanding of products and customers’ needs are required

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Volatility type

Continued

173

Short term

Medium term

In addition, the assumptions should be altered on regular basis

1. Value stream optimization should be considered while instrumenting CPM to evolve networks. 2. Lead time transparency should consider the sub components in logistics planning and it should ensure simultaneous arrival 1. Robust processes 2. Goal alignment

Long lead times

Vertical volatility

1. Emergency plans are needed to define 2. The suppliers are needed to encourage through incentives to inform about the lead time changes

Erratic behavior of decision-makers

Behavioral volatility

1. Work load reduction

1. Localization/ regionalisation 2. Dual/multi sourcing 3. Rolling manufacturing site

1. Organizational learning as continuous improvement process

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3. Incentives to customers for data sharing regarding the inventory data for accurate forecasting 4. Clear definition of responsibilities in demand forecasting to reduce the influences of stakeholders

Long term

174

Volatility type

1. Incentive system to customers to proactively to communicate the demand changes 2. Buffer stock contracts are reached to increase delivery reliability among customers

1. Support of customer in forecasting using their larger data to register the patterns 2. Joint communication and discussion of customer demand behavior with the customer 3. Frozen zones when the customers are not allowed to change their demand

1. Two suppliers for important components in meeting their flexibility to meet customer demands

1. Big data market research approaches 2. strategic partnership with competitors 3. Increase innovation capabilities

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Erratic behavior of customers

175

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How Blockchain is considered to be an effective tool than Web based sharing and Web platform for Confidential and Financial information ? The web based platform of information sharing was not successful and handling of the confidential and financial information is too risky, which were attempted in many studies. But the Blockchain emergence supports the best possible cyber security in the periods of technological advancements. The Blockchain as a Decentralized technological setup. which constantly provides secured and real time sharing of information attracted by many corporates as accepted tool to enhance the level of Organizations’ performance e (Behnke and Janssen, 2020; Demestichas et al., 2020; Hald & Kinra, 2019; Kim & Shin, 2019). The success of Blockchain is very well known from the outreach of Bitcoin especially due to its inherent decentralized record of digital transactions. The chain of Block constantly communicates the record of all transactions within its network. The success story of Blockchain on nowadays passed on to many sectors viz Banking, Finance, commerce, judiciary and education. The major hurdles faced by many inventory management practices among the manufacturer, supplier, and customer are the following viz 1. Transparency of Inventory Data in sharing among all three participants is one of the major problems. This is a pertinent problem constantly highlighted in all Inventory management practices, which are very difficult to overcome by them. 2. Flexibility: The ever changing and challenging business environment with respect to changes in the demand of customers need for flexibility in supply chain. The presence of unclear demand in the market/industry need to adapt flexible supply chain with quick sharing of information among Manufacturer, Suppliers and Customers. To handle these circumstances without their intervention, the manufacturers outsource the process of integration, which usually reckon not only the loss of control the purpose of integration but also the visibility of various logistics operations 3. Trust in Sharing information: The Modern days of Business and Industry are expected to work in an environment through network, which they do not know the other organization. The trust among the firms is inevitable not only for supply chain success but also for sharing the optimum information. The supply partners (Ghode et al., 2020) expects powers to avoid uncertainty risk in sharing information by handling the ethical noncompliance, lack of communication and infidelity.

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These three real time problems of Supply chain volatility (MeiduteKavaliauskene et al., 2021) illustrated in the proposed model published in Logistics, MDPI.

5. Role of blockchain in supply chain volatility The Research conducted among 84 companies out of 88 from the first list of 1000 exporting firms declared 2019 by Turkey Exporters Assembly, registered their practice in the use of Blockchain technology application during the first round of discussion. The study mainly addressed three major enlisted issues viz Transparency, Flexibility and Trust in Supplier. Transparency: The Blockchain technology increases the transparency (Leva Meidute-Kavaliauskene et al., 2021) and it coincides with the following researches. The Blockchain promotes (Zhu et al., 2018) proactive communication and cooperation among supply chain partners (Modi and Zhao, 2020), which mainly furnishes the flow visibility of a product to customers. The Stakeholders’ feedback (Morgan et al., 2018) is included in the supply chain with the help of Blockchain technology enhances the transparency. The effective and more Open Innovation Activities (MeiduteKavaliauskiene, 2021) are brought in by companies with the help of Blockchain technology due to increasing and active involvement of Stakeholders in the supply chain process of an organization, which reckons the transparency among the Supply chain partners. The implementation and practice of Blockchain technology promotes transparency (Goswami et al., 2021) by contributing the customer involvement in product design process, which further facilitates the companies to achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage. Flexibility: It is found that the supply chain flexibility increased (Jangga, R et al., 2015) due to the application of Blockchain technology and it better addresses the demands of customers. The Blockchain technology effectively handles and tackles the demand during the volatile and uncertain circumstances. This is most important finding enables the company to face the erratic behavior among the Decision-makers and Customers. During the turbulent times viz Pandemic circumstance, the blockchain technology effectively integrates the Supply chain process.The Blockchain technology enabled (Lohmer, J et al., 2020) real time data sharing in the supply chain process. The Blockchain technology fosters efficient decision process

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particularly through Demand Forecasting, Inventory Management and enables the company to spot key indicators for sustainability. The next important factor component is “Trust” and how it is effectively administered by Blockchain volatility. Trust is effectively built by the Blockchain technology, which enables the companies to establish the Inter firm trust (Ghode, et al., 2020) which is very much crucial and it is lagging in many cases for effective collaboration among them. It improves the performance of companies (Goswami et al., 2021) and increases the sustainability of their business through high level of information sharing among them. BlockChain effectively fulfills the above three in handling the volatility i.e. Supply chain volatility, which is finally impacting on Inventory Management. In this regard, it is imperative to know in detail about Blockchain and its functioning with Inventory Management. The well-known definition of Blockchain is “a time stamped series of immutable records of data managed by cluster of computers not owned by single entity”. In blockchain, each block of data is secured and bound to work with others with respect to cryptographic principles that evolves a chin. In Blockchain, no one is central authority but it is effectively administered with shared ledger. In the blockchain, the information shared can be seen by anyone but every one in the blockchain network is responsible for their actions.

6. Benefits of blockchain technology 6.1 How blockchain fundamentally deals with information? Blockchain is simple, automated and safe way to float the information from one person to another or from one entity to another. In this regard, when the information is furnished in the Blockchain network, the shared information is verified or examined by thousands of thousands participating through scattered across internet. Once verified this block of information, then it is added to chain, which stored across the network and the stored information has its identity with its history, which is decentralized and distributed through shared ledger. How this Blockchain is secured ? Can the information be assured with security from Hackers? The Hackers cannot alter the data, which is totally secured in the Blockchain Network, even if they try for data falsification, they need to alter the data available in all computers connected in the network at a time together. In simple words, Blockchain technology addresses (ASA) at always by maximizing the following viz

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A-Accessibility to all at a time together through computers connected with Blockchain Technology. S-Security of Block of Data as part of chain is ensured with the all participants at every moment from the Hackers against Falsification of Data. A-Accountability from the role of participants is ensured at all levels responsible for their actions. Blockchain Technology versus Inventory Management: The Blockchain technology admits all Manufacturers, Product centers and Distribution centers, suppliers, Customers, Warehouses, Retail Partners to connect each other through permanent record of transaction, which are stored and accessible to the Network. The Blockchain facilitates the Manufacturers to see the demand from the consumers, which enable them to forecast the demand accurately, which is one of the issues reported constantly by many organizations under the Organizational Supply Chain Volatility. In addition, the business organization is able to achieve Intraorganizational cooperation between Production, Sales and Logistics to meet the consumers demand. This Blockchain technology in Inventory management replaces the errors and setbacks associated with traditional Reactive inventory management. The Reactive Inventory management triggers the replenishment only when the inventory is found depleted. In this connect, the Reactive model has to travel across each participant who are connected in the supply chain are dealing with different technologies in handling the supply chain. This not only results inefficiency among the supply chain partners but results Financial implications; what are they ? 6.2 Reactive inventory management and financial implications Under the Reactive Inventory Management, each party in the supply chain adopts their own methods, which results undue delay in meeting the market needs, which reckons the following Financial Losses Over Stocking and Understocking. The Financial Losses normally result due to loss of an opportunities due to lack of rational as well as accurate forecasting method to determine the customer demand. Over Stocking is a circumstance when an excessive inventory is built more than the requirement of a company poses dampening effect on the Operating Income and finally Return on Assets. Over stocking may facilitate the organization to meet the sudden increase in demand either due

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to erratic behavior of Customers or Decision-makers or both, but it has its own serious financial implications on the performance of a company. Understocking is a circumstance when less inventory is maintained than the regular market demand literally explores inability of the company in forecasting the accurate and adequate demand in meeting customer needs. The delay in meeting customer demands due to understocking would lead to loss of market opportunity and would also increase the risk of a firm. The above problems are common and perennial across various inventory management methods due to its reactive method of handling inventory in meeting the demands of customer. How Blockchain coupled Inventory management supersedes the Reactive Inventory Management? Blockchain helps each party connected in the network provided it enhances the relationship (Aslam et al., 2021) with the supplier, customer, outsourcing and Just in time procurement. This Blockchain enables the hassle free not only the work flow but also data flow in real time. The Data once floated means recorded can not be changed or altered without the permission of relevant parties, which ensures utmost transparency and it instils the traceability among the participants. The companies using Block chain in inventory management able to predict the demand accurately and able to handle the circumstances proactively with restocking but not by stocking out Transforming Inventory management (Naveen Joshi, Allerin.com, 2019) with the help of Blockchain and other advanced technologies could automatically result a change in the approach of a company from reactive to Proactive.

(Source: Naveen Joshi, 2019, Allerin.com).

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To overcome the Inventory management problems especially with Blockchain technology, the next question is the introduction of technology in supply chain network in enabling the participants to overcome the supply chain volatility. The introduction of Blockchain technology in supply chain costlier (Dutta et al., 2020), so that it is suggested for complex supply chain network and suited to fit Oil industry (Aslam et al., 2021) to overcome the supply chain volatility. Deloitte registered its perspectives about the benefits attached with usage of Blockchain, which drives supply chain transparency. The following are two major set of potential list of Benefits and majority of them discussed with perspective of Financial implications. Primary potential benefits

Secondary potential benefits

• Increase traceability of supply chain and it ensures the corporate standards whether they are met • Lower losses out counterfeit/Gray market. • Improve visibility and compliance over the outsourced contract manufacturing • Reduce paper work and administrative cost

• Strengthen corporate reputation through furnishing transparency about the materials used in products • Improves credibility and public trust of shared data in the block • Reduce public relations risk from supply chain malpractice • Engage stakeholders

From the above, it is apparently understood that the Blockchain overcomes the following financial implications. • Benefits of Blockchain Technology -Financial Perspective Reduction of Financial Losses: The Crypto technology of Decentralized Ledger System provides constant and continuous tracking of goods movement in the supply chain from one party to another paves way for the Manufacturer to reduce the financial losses due to counterfeit products and Gray market.

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The efficiency of Blockchain with respect to traceability discussed from the perspective of Emmerson. The overstocking or out of stock was one of the major problems reported by President of Emerson due to the presence of many suppliers, which pose major threat of longer lead supply due to even small distortion in the supply of components by suppliers. To overcome this, The blockchain drives all the parties to keep the data by trusting each other finally reach centralized decisions to overcome supply chain volatility. This finally was accepted by President Emerson Due to the implementation of US Drug supply chain security Act 2013, all drug companies are now following the Blockchain technology for tracing the drug inventory from one to another through product codes in order to protect the consumers from counterfeit, stolen or harmful products.

Effective implementation of Lean Process: Due to the stiff competition, each competing player undergoes lean management process by creating the value to the customer through outsourced manufacturing contracts in order to reduce the cost of operations. In recent days all OEMs are undergoing for Lean Management Process but at the same time those are brought in the lights of visibility and compliance of specified standards. This not only reveals the information of value addition to the customers but also the cost of defectives through the Blockchain administration of Outsourced manufacturing contracts. Fixed Cost Reduction in Blockchain: The Reactive method of inventory management regularly warrants the regular inventory audit due to the presence of two or more suppliers in the manufacturing process to limit the supply chain volatility. The Inventory management audit literally required qualified personnel not only to maintain the inventory to fulfill the requirement of manufacturing process but also monitor the inventory of materials and goods in storage yard against the fraudulent practices of employees. This normally results in the reactive method of inventory management to incur huge fixed cost of inventory maintenance even though it inevitable but not as a source of value addition to the customer. This is effectively administered by Blockchain in inventory management by eliminating the employee frauds in material handling process through decentralized ledger with individual point of designated accountability.

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Reduction in Operating Leverage and Operating Risk: The companies adopt BCT in inventory management are proactive, which reduces drastically the qualified people to administer the inventory management practices due to decentralized ledger. The administration of inventory with the help of BCT lessens the requirement staff personnel, which led to have reduction or drop in fixed cost of operations. The reduction in the cost of operations leads to reduction in Operating leverage as well as reducing operating risk. In this regard, BTC not only reduces operating leverage but also it increases the EBIT due to better decisionmaking process through decentralized ledger process with utmost security in the supply chain process of a company. This paves way for the company to achieve Positive EBIT. Reduction in Administrative i.e. Paper Cost: The paper cost involved in documentation while recording the flow movement of inventory of materials and goods from one point to another is totally reduced due to the implementation of Blockchain in inventory management. Every process between each point has been recorded and available as record, which is totally free from alteration and manipulation due to the availability of data in all computers connected in the Supply chain network connectivity. Influences on Inventory Turnover: Due to effective inventory forecasting the transparent supply chain process driving the company to achieve higher inventory turnover in times. The effective administration of inventory leads to achieve high operating revenue. The reduction in the inventory leads to achieve shorter Operating Cycle. The shorter Operating cycle leads to higher Return on Capital employed. Why Shorter Operating cycle is aimed for ? The shorter operating cycle is effectively administered by effective policies of inventory management; pave way for the organization to achieve higher inventory turnover with lesser holding periods of inventory. The optimum holding of inventory especially through BCT facilitates the companies to achieve higher Operating margin. The falling Cash conversion cycle (Samir Baradwaj, 2019) of 24 companies studied with an increasing average rate of return in the previous years viz 15.1%, 51.7% and 55.8%. The following pictorial representation highlights status of India among other countries in the case of Cash to Cash Cycle

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(Source: Mint, Published 2 Feb., 2015).

From the highlight, the status of Cash to Cash Conversion position of India has been explained with other Countries and Continents. India was the only country reported not only with highest Cash to Cash conversion cycle in days but also Days Inventory outstanding. This is the major problem reported in the research 2014 conducted EY team and it was published in the Mint Daily. The country like India has the dire need of BCT to effectively administer the inventory management in order to achieve the optimum level of inventory in line with the lead time required to supply the customers. 6.3 Blockchain is the light house for high D/E companies? Yes. due to stiff competition, many corporate houses heavily borrow in order to administer the day to day operations with an objective to overcome liquidity risk. To overcome the liquidity risk, many companies undergo for heavy borrowing by considering the cheaper cost of debt, which resulted them to face huge Financial Risk. Is this connected with Operating Cycle? The Shorter operating cycle is especially with the help of effective inventory forecasting, which fairly possible in the case of BCT adoption but not by the Reactive inventory management. This leads to achieve constant cash flows, which never demand the companies to rely on debt finance. This leads to reduce D/E ratio and even facilitate the companies to achieve Zero Debt in their capital structure. In this regard, BCT through effective

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decentralized and shared register, the companies are able to fairly reduce the Financial Break Even points and finally pave way themselves to achieve lesser Financial Risk. 6.4 Why this inventory management has to be taken care by blockchain technology (BCT)? Supply chain volatility mainly influenced by inventory, which should be maintained in line with the market forces viz Demand and Supply. The success of any business enterprise is mainly depending upon the effective inventory forecasting with respect to demand from customers, but it is pretty difficult to determine in line with market forces. The success of any company is mainly dictated by supply chain, which should be free from the volatility i.e. SCV. The supply chain success or failure are only rests upon the decisions of any business organization, which determine the following two viz Revenue and ExpensesdOperating Expenses (Costs) and these two are most important factors of influence of Profitability. The supply chain of any organization is vested with classification of two major set of assets viz NonCurrent Assets and Net working capital. The NonCurrent Assets are normally known as assets responsible for Revenue generation through supply chain viz Land, Building, Plant, Machinery, Fixtures. Tools, Equipment’s etc. The long term success of any supply chain mainly driven by the short term assets management represented by Net working capital viz Current Assets minus Current Liabilities. The Organizations’ supply chain consists of the following current assets viz Inventory, Receivables and Cash and the current liabilities are viz Payables to suppliers, BOD, Dividend proposed, and Tax outstanding. In simple sense, Supply chain impacts on the Revenue and operating expenses, which finally impact the overall financial performance of the business organization. The success of any organization (Mentzers John T., et al., 2001) in the long run mainly by systematic, strategic coordination of supply chain methods, tactics and principles within the business and across business entities. The effective instrumentation of supply chain not only leads to achieve the long term success but also paves way for the organization to achieve shareholder value. The link between shareholder value and supply chain was explained (Rappaport, 1998) only in terms of Economic Profit, which necessarily should be greater than cost of funds. The

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supply chain success would register Economic profits, which should satisfy the return expectations of investors through greater Net operating profit after taxes than cost of funds committed in the capital structure. The generation of cash flow only create shareholder (Rappaportm 1998) value, which is achieved through the liberation of cash flow or increase in cash flow by Supply chain decisions of business organization. In this regard, supply chain is a source for generation of cash flow as well as for shareholder value, which should not have volatility especially due to Inventory management. In this regard, the inventory should not be excessive rather it should be optimum in line with lead time to supply the customers without any delay in supply chain process. The inventory management decision of any organization should not reckon volatility in supply chain, which finally would deter the cash flow generation ability not only in the present but also in future. In this regard necessary focus needed on the administration of inventory is required to reduce the supply chain volatility, which is effectively administered by BCT through its Proactive method with the help of decentralized ledger system connected through Blockchain network connectivity among the parties involved in supply process of an organization. The optimum level of inventory maintained through the BCT registers the reduction of excessive inventory, which is unnecessary and the following are benefits achieved by the organization. • The cost of holding inventory i.e. warehousing charges, insurance charges will reduce • Reduction in the level of inventory will impact in the Profit and Loss A/c and also • It frees up the cash locked up in the inventory • It paves finally way for improving the cash of the organization (Lambert and Lalonde, 1976; Waters, 1992; Trent, 2004; and Christopher, 2011). The following five areas the major factors where Supply chain management has the positive impact on shareholders’ value • Profitable Growth • Cost minimization • Working capital efficiency • Fixed capital efficiency • Tax minimization

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7. Global landscape in the applications of BCT in supply chain technology

(Source: 101 Block chains.com).

To study the companies practicing BCT at the Global level were presented and their business operations enable them to finally achieve value addition to share holders. The is attempted with the selection of 33 companies out of 50 following BCT and they were enlisted in Table 12.4. From the above list of companies, 28 out of 33 companies using BCT were identified with value creation to the shareholders, which apparently registered in the Mar., 2021 Quarterly results. It shows that the company, which adopts BCT in their supply chain are found to be successful not only administering the supply chain volatility effectively but also they are constantly administering the risk efficiently and adding value to shareholders, Table 12.4 illustrates the performance of the companies across the sectors.

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Table 12.4 Mar., 2021 quarterly stock return of 33 companies. Sl. No.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Sector

Company

Banking and finance

HSBC BBVA BARCLAYS VISA INTESM SNNDOLO Walmart DB Ford Unilever Pfizer Change healthcare FDA CDC DHL AEGON Prudential Metlife AIA AIG Siemens ADNOC CNE WESTFIELD JLL BROOKEFIELD LINK ANZ BANK OF CHINA SEB SCOTIABANK MIZUHO SINGAPORE AIRLINES DELTA

Health care

Insurance

Energy

Real estate

Trade

AIRLINES

• Source: Refinitiv reuters

31 Mar, 2021 (Quarterly return)

þ12.73% þ5.479% þ27.91% 3.07% þ16.1670% 5.64% þ10.24% þ39.56% 7.38% 1.44% þ18.66% þ83.0062% þ15.97% þ10.9299% þ20.376% þ15.4% þ29.66% þ0.6610% þ22.22% þ14.558% þ19.899% 18.0% þ1.76022% þ20.84% þ7.98% þ3.5753% þ22.729% þ5.0660% þ21.91% þ16.00% þ14.2% þ27.563% þ20.24%

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8. BCT Applications in Indian banking industry In India, the application of BCT is introduced at rapid speed among both Private Sector as well as Public Sector Banking companies with an objective to achieve the following • Transparency in the transaction in order to have proper follow up of an action • To have greater speed in transaction with utmost accuracy of information sharing to all more specifically in loan approval and sanction, the BCT is preferred by Banking companies. To have effective scrutiny of loan application by all banking companies. • To reduce the cost of operations, BCT is widely applied all banking companies. Fifteen Banking companies agreed to join hands for processing inland LCs by evolving a separate entity viz “Indian Banking Blockchain Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. (IBBIC), which is one of the remarkable developments taken place in the Indian Banking history. The ultimate purpose of introducing new private limited company to verify GST invoices and e-way bills to quicken the process as well as to eliminate the fraudulent practices especially with the help of LCs. To overcome this problem among the bankers in order to curtail fraudulent practices as well as to reduce the NPAs of Banking companies, the paradigm shift in banking has taken place among the leading both public and private banking companies. The launch of above private company ltd is expected to achieve the elimination of paper work and to reduce the processing/transaction time to facilitate the customers. This new initiative supported Infosys Financial connect to extend the required service among the shareholding banking companies in IBBIC Pvt Ltd. In addition to the above, Federal Bank, a Private sector banking company had also introduced blockchain solutions for NRI Remittance.

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9. Proposed model of further research From the above early discussions, the following is proposed research model, which aims to address Blockchain Benefits in Supply chain process but also it aims to cover the value addition through Blockchain Technology to shareholders. There many researches attempted on the following viz • Supply chain and its benefits • Blockchain and its benefits • Blockchain benefits in Supply chain process • Supply chain management and its positive impact on Financials But the research studies, using BCT for successful Supply chain process to study the effect on Financial performance is one of the most thrust areas to focus among Supply Chain, BCT, and Financial Performance, which would enable the companies to design the future practices of Supply Chain management with a view of maximizing the wealth creation for shareholders Supply chain Transparency

Revenue Growth Cost minimization

Supply Chain

Blockchain Utilization

Supply chain Flexibility

Trust with Supplier

Leverage cum Risk Reduction

Value Addition /Creation to Shareholders

Working capital efficiency Tax minimization

10. Conclusion This book chapter, started the discussion initially with Supply Chain, Volatility, Risk, and Financial Perspective but it helped to portray the intertwined relationship among all the above and finally facilitated to conclude on the impact of Value creations, which is final objective of every company in fulfilling the return expectations of investors. In this book chapter, Author has brought forth a glimpse of underlying relationship from previous researches, Corporate practices, and Developments in Banking industry. The Success of any Business corporate is only to meet the

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expectations of stakeholders, which very well achieved by BCT through Supply chain process in maximizing the wealth of investors.

References Anbumozhi, L. (2020). Unlocking the Potentials of Private Financing for Low-carbon Energy Transition. Indonesia: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN & East Asia. Retrieved from https://policycommons.net/artifacts/1581963/unlocking-the-potentials-of-priv ate-financing-for-low-carbon-energy-transition/2271732/. on 04 Nov 2022. CID: 20.500.12592/9whn7g. Aslam, J., Saleem, A., Khan, N. T., & Kim, Y. B. (2021). Factors influencing blockchain adoption in supply chain management practices: A study based on the oil industry. Journal of Innovation and Knowledge. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2021.01.002 Behnke, K., & Janssen, M. F. W. H. A. (2020). Boundary conditions for traceability in food supply chains using blockchain technology. International Journal of Information Management, 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.025 Chan, F. T., & Qi, H. J. (2003). An innovative performance measurement method for supply chain management. Supply chain management. An international Journal. Childerhouse, P., Disney, S. M., & Towill, D. R. (2008). On the impact of order volatility in the European automotive sector. International Journal of Production Economics, 114(1), 2e13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2007.09.008. » 10.1016/j.ijpe.2007.09.008. Christopher, M. (2011). Logistics and supply chain management, Creating value -Adding networks (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education. Demestichas, K., Peppes, N., Alexakis, T., & Adamopoulou, E. (2020). Blockchain in agriculture traceability systems: A review. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 10(12), 1e22. https://doi.org/10.3390/APP10124113 Dutta, P., Choi, T. M., Somani, S., & Butala, R. (2020). Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities. In Transportation research part e: Logistics and transportation review (p. 142). https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.tre.2020.102067 Ghode, D., Yadav, V., Jain, R., & Soni, G. (2020). Adoption of blockchain in supply chain: An analysis of influencing factors. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 33, 437e456. Goswami, M., Daultani, Y., & De, A. (2021). Decision modeling and analysis in new product development considering supply chain uncertainties: A multi-functional expert based approach. Expert Systems With Applications, 166, 114016. Hald, K. S., & Kinra, A. (2019). How the blockchain enables and constrains supply chain performance. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 49(4), 376e397. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-02-2019-0063 Jangga, R., Ali, N. M., Ismail, M., & Sahari, N. (2015). Effect of environmental uncertainty and supply chain flexibility towards supply chain innovation: An exploratory study. Procedia Economics and Finance, 31, 262e268. Johnson, M. E. (2001). Learning from toys: Lessons in managing supply chain risk from the toy industry. California Management Review, 43(3), 106e124. https://doi.org/10.2307/ 41166091. » 10.2307/41166091. Kim, J. S., & Shin, N. (2019). The impact of blockchain technology application on supply chain partnership and performance. Sustainability, 11(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/ su11216181 Lambert and Lalonde. (1976). Inventory costing. Management Accounting, 58(2), p31.

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Lee, H. L. (2002). Aligning supply chain strategies with product uncertainties. California management review, 44(3), 105e119. Lee, H. L., Padmanabhan, V., & Whang, S. (1997). Information distortion in a supply chain: The bullwhip effect. Management science, 43(4), 546e558. Lohmer, J., Bugert, N., & Lasch, R. (2020). Analysis of resilience strategies and ripple effect in blockchain-coordinated supply chains: An agent-based simulation study. International Journal of Production Economics, 228, 107882. Lotfi, Z., Sahran, S., Mukhtar, M., & Zadeh, A. T. (2013). The relationships between supply chain integration and product quality. Procedia Technology, 11, 471e478. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2013.12.217 Meidute-Kavaliauskiene, I., Çigdem, S., Vasiliauskas, A. V., & Yıldız, B. (2021). Green innovation in environmental complexity: The implication of open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7, 107. Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics,VL -, 22(2). SN - 0735-3766. Modi, D., & Zhao, L. (2020). Social media analysis of consumer opinion on apparel supply chain transparency. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/JFMM-09-2019-0220 Morgan, T. R., Richey, R. G., Jr., & Ellinger, A. E. (2018). Supplier transparency: Scale development and validation. International Journal of Logistics Management, 29, 959e984. Naveen Joshi, Allerin (2019). How manufacturers use block chain for inventory management. https://www.allerin.com/. Nienhaus, J., Ziegenbein, A., & Schönsleben, P. (2006). How human behaviour amplifies the bullwhip effect. A study based on the beer distribution game online. Production Planning & Control, 17(6), 547e557. Nitsche, Benjamin (2018). Unravelling the complexity of supply chain volatility management. MDPI Journal of Logistics, 2(14), 2e26. Nitsche, B., & Durach, C. F. (June 2018). Much discussed, little conceptualized: Supply chain volatility. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 48(8), 866e886. Asia watch: Japan’s experience in reducing its supply chain insecurity - Asia Power Watch. Öberg, C. (2019). The role of business networks for innovation. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), 124e128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2017.10.001 Pinheiro, P. O., Almahairi, A., Benmalek, R., Golemo, F., & Courville, A. C. (2020). Unsupervised learning of dense visual representations. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 33, 4489e4500. Pujawan, I. N. (2004). Assessing supply chain flexibility: a conceptual framework and case study. International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 1(1), 79e97. Randall, T., & Ulrich, K. (2001). Product variety, supply chain structure, and firm performance: Analysis of the U.S. Bicycle industry. Management Science, 47(12), 1588e1604. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.47.12.1588.10237. » 10.1287/mnsc.47.12.1588.10237. Rappaport. (1998). Creating Share holder value L A guide for managers and investors. New York: The Free Press. The Economic Times, Aug 19, 2019. Ricciardi, F., Zardini, A., & Rossignoli, C. (2018). Organizational integration of the IT function: A key enabler of firm capabilities and performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 93e107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2017.02.003 So, K. C., & Zheng, X. (2003). Impact of supplier’s lead time and forecast demand updating on retailer’s order quantity variability in a two-level supply chain. International Journal of Production Economics, 86(2), 169e179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(03)00050-1

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Taylor, D. H., & Fearne, A. (2009). Demand management in fresh food value chains: A framework for analysis and improvement. Supply Chain Management, 14(5), 379e392. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598540910980297 Tracey, M., Lim, J. S., & Vonderembse, M. A. (2005). The impact of supply-chain management capabilities on business performance. Supply Chain Management, 10(3), 179e191. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598540510606232 Trent, R. J. (2004). What every one wants to know about SCM. Supply Management Review, 8(2), 52e59. van der Vorst, J. G., Beulens, A. J., De Wit, W., & van Beek, P. (1998). Supply chain management in food chains: Improving performance by reducing uncertainty. International Transactions in Operational Research, 5(6), 487e499. Wagner, S. M., Ullrich, K. K. R., & Transchel, S. (2014). The game plan for aligning the organization. Business Horizons, 57(2), 189e201. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.bushor.2013.11.002. » 10.1016/j.bushor.2013.11.002. Waters, D. (1992). Inventory control and management. Wiley. Wong, C. Y., & Hvolby, H. H. (2007). Coordinated responsiveness for volatile toy supply chains. Production Planning & Control, 18(5), 407e419. Zhu, S., Song, J., Hazen, B. T., Lee, K., & Cegielski, C. (2018). How supply chain analytics enables operational supply chain transparency. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 48, 47e68.

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CHAPTER 13

Blockades of blockchain in supply chain management Esha Jain1 and Jonika Lamba22 1

IILM University, Gurugram, Haryana, India; School of Management & Liberal Studies, The NorthCap University, Gurugram, Haryana, India

1. Introduction The importance of blockchain has been seen in every industry, this emerging technology offers a wide range of benefits to businesses. The blockchain is a set of distributed ledgers that helps in the coordination of work. This know-how has widespread submissions in both the economic and noneconomic domains. It is facilitating the growth of cryptocurrency in India and it also helps in the process of digitalization in numerous sectors. Only the permitted officials in the domain have access to confidential data. The technology is famous because of its distinguishing characteristics of anonymity. The high processing speed also makes it desirable for every business operator. The future scenario requires the adoption of emergent technologies to keep the businesses abreast of the competition in the market. This technology has opened the space for a digital open economy. From a centralized economy, we are now on the path of a more participative and decentralized economy. The revolution phase started by the application of distributed technology has just in progress it needs to be explored more in the light of future uncertainty. The tremendous scope is there in the SCM for the espousal of blockchain technology. There are numerous opportunities in the blockchain domain, which corporations are required to exploit with time, it too suffers from some intricacies, which also need to be resolved by more research work in technology solutions. The working of this advanced technology can be well evaluated with the aid of the ensuing illustration. Suppose Mr. A want to send the money to Mr. B, then this online transaction will be represented in the form of a “block”. This block is visible to every permitted official in the system. The participants in the system accept the deal in case it is a valid contract. This block can be further added to the hawser, which ensures transparency in the recording of transactions. In the last funds are transferred from Mr. A to Mr. Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00005-8

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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B. It facilitates exchange and dealings in the database that can be shared across authorized operators. It is peer-to-peer disseminated ledger knowhow. It consists of majorly three components, which are namely distributed network, shared record, and digital transaction. Blockchain technology ensures that no one can change any information or record and that can be done with the permission of all authorized operators in the system. Blockchain is the most used technology to assemble scattered data and at the critical time, it serves its purpose at best. There are various issues with the adoption of this emerging technology such as data security, data scalability, high power computation, and data storage. The privacy issue is there with the public blockchain where every node can access the system. Without any permission, the nodes can access the system, which causes serious data loss. On the other hand, the private blockchain ensures privacy issues as it allows only the permitted officials to access the data. Various technocrats are coming up with data protection techniques such as data encryption and membership administration. In the case of a public blockchain, there is the provision of saving confidential data in off-chain to maintain the secrecy of the data. There is a problem with processing time, in a public blockchain the transaction needs to take permission from several nodes leading to excessive time in executing the transaction. The mining carried out by the Proof-of-Work agreement instrument entails a lot of computational power, which leads to a lot of energy wastage. This will lead to a promising industrial revolution. There is a huge risk involves in the adoption of blockchain technology such as change of behavior, scaling, bootstrapping, government intervention by imposing regulations, fraudulent activities, and Quantum Computation. Also, the high sustainability expenses and deprived pecuniary behavior are the most crucial barriers in the implementation of fruitful blockchain technology. The divers for the deliberation included the transparency and visibility and also reduction of cost and improvement of processes (Fig. 13.1).

2. Pillars of blockchain technology •

Distributed Ledger Technology: Blockchain is a ledger of all dealings in a peer-to-peer system. It is a distributed ledger technology that ensures that everyone in the network has access to the information without any delay.

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Figure 13.1 Showing working of blockchain technology with the help of an example. (Source: Collated by authors.)

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Encryption of Information: The use of blockchain ensures that information is encrypted and leads to secure transfer of information. In short, it maintains the integrity and security of the data. No requirement for Third Party: All the authorized users in the system can directly share information amongst themselves that reduces the need for any third-party organization to authenticate the dealings. Smart Contracts: It permitted the agreement on additional business logic and automatic enforcement of the expected behavior of dealings or assets embodied in blockchain technology.

2.1 Blockchain structures for supply chain • •

Auditability: It ensures the full audit trail of the information during the supply chain with the influence of BC in the system. Activity and events are properly monitored to trace the movement of logistics in the system. Immutability: This feature of blockchain helps in compliance management in the supply of goods from one destination to another, leading to proper compliance of regulations in a supply chain.

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Smart Contract: This feature offers real-time rule-based verification related to different parties in the system leading to cost-effective operations in the supply chain network. Distributed: It focuses on peer-to-peer interactions in the system that ensures better supply chain communication leading to minimization of risk and building of trust among the various participants in the supply chain process.

3. The objective of the study The aim of the study is as follows: • To study the usage of Blockchain in Supply Chain Management (BSCM). • To study the barricades in the implementation of Blockchain in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) process.

4. Materials and methods This study aims to thoroughly review the present literature published in peer-reviewed journals related to the application of Blockchain (BC) in supply chain management and the most influential barriers in the employment of this emerging technology. The information gathered in this study has been taken from authentic sources of secondary data collection including past studies. The study is a descriptive analysis of the barriers in embracing blockchain in the supply chain management process.

5. Significance of blockchain technology Data is the new blood in the economy. Data management is required in every field whether it is healthcare, manufacturing, retail, food, transport, service, operational and agriculture, etc. and demand for professionals in big data is also snowballing day by day. It played a crucial role in identifying the needs of consumers and supplying requisite goods at the best price to remain ahead of their competitors. Developing know-hows such as the Machine Learning Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data all together has brought a drastic change in data compilation and management. This will lead to a promising industrial revolution. The study focused on the implementation of evolving technology in healthcare and any other domains it answered many questions

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linked to the submission of technology in the fast-changing era of digitalization. Data is the basis of evolving artificial intelligence and helps in the growth of every sector of the economy (Rabah, 2018). The worth of BSCM falls in four zones: protracted distinguishability and traceability, digitalization of the SC and better-quality data safety, disintermediation, and shrewd agreements (Wang et al., 2019). It was analyzed by Wong et al. (2020) that Technology Readiness (TR), Facilitating Condition (FC), and the Technology Affinity (TA) had shown the encouraging stimulus on the thinking to apply BC in the SCM and supervisory sustenance moderates the impact of Facilitating Condition (FC). Singh and Singh (2020) studied the integration of blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the agriculture and healthcare sector predominantly. With emerging advancements and innovations these technologies will transform the food and healthcare industry. The study went through the present literature related to blockchain drafted the research problems and complied the contribution of blockchain in the healthcare sector in the light of the dominant role of IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The study discovered that 20% of studies are accessible in agriculture and 14% obtainable in the healthcare sector that integrated blockchain with AI and IoT. It will help in managing healthcare and nutrition SCM. Tripathi et al. (2020) found in their research work that blockchain helped to overcome the failure of privacy and security-related issues. The study explored the technical and communal hurdles while adopting Smart Healthcare Systems (SRS) by exploring the views of experts and operators.

6. Competitive factors for implementation of blockchain technology (BC) •

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Security: In BC technology security of transactions is one of the primary reasons for the adoption of this technology in emerging sectors of the economy. It uses cryptographic algorithms for making transactions secure. The use of private and public keys by the sender and receiver for accessing the information stored in a file makes it all the more effective in maintaining anonymity in the transactions. The adoption of this technology also provides facilities such as denial of access to the unauthentic digital signatures, which makes the system more secure to work on. Transparency: Nowadays it is believed that blockchain can be denoted as standards for transparency. It has served the purpose of participating

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parties in the financial systems. Its demand is also going to rise in near future because of its distinguishing useful characteristics. Fraud resistance: This technology makes sure that transaction once stored in the system it can’t be modified anyhow. It provides safety from banking frauds and also increases the confidence level of the customers in BC. The information once stored in a block can’t be altered at any condition. It facilitates the direct payment between the merchant and customer thus leading to the removal of intermediaries in the system. Anonymity: Anonymity is one of the crucial features of this emerging technology. The process of hiding the identity of the person can be executed with the help of public and private keys. The person executing the transaction needs not to share any information related to his/her identity with anyone in the system. Decentralized: There is no concept of any central entity in the BC. They follow the decentralized mechanism for the dissemination of information in comparison to traditional tools of information sharing. Due to the absence of a central entity, they can face any security attack. Trust: The usage of BC helps in the development of the trust factor in executing the transactions without any failure due to secured infrastructure employed. Resilient to cyber-attacks: Due to the employment of peer-to-peer system, BC is less prone to cyber-attacks and the system will continue to work even when some nodes are not working online. Multiple Copies: The BC allows the facility of storing multiple copies and the end-users can restraint from placing crucial data in one single place. Digitally Stamped: The new technology provides the users the facility to access the history of deals executed in the past as they are digitally signed.

7. Application of blockchain in supply chain management The customer is more responsive in today’s scenario they look for complete transparency in the operations of the logistics and supply change management process. The influence of blockchain in the SCM system will be fruitful in the long run as it offers the customer the needed transparency as it is decentralized and only authorized officials can access the information.

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The customer needs to know the all-minute details in the transfer of goods from one place to another and the adoption of this latest technology facilitate the same requirement. They need to know from where raw materials have been purchased, who all are the intermediaries in the SC, the legitimacy of material used in the manufacturing, and many more. The supply change managers are feeling the need to devote their resources to customer service. The adoption of this technology will help in bringing transparency in the process of SCM. This technology will be beneficial in tracing the movement of goods from the place of beginning to the place of ultimate destination. The adoption of BC in the supply chain ensures that information is readily available to the end customers and firms. Every company follows a set of protocols for their supply managers only relevant information is available to the people in the system to boost the trust factor in the network. Various models are comping up to understand the customer purchase behaviors and what implications it has on the SCM process. As the complexity is increasing in logistics management due to increased players in the industry so blockchain should be implemented for proper monitoring and efficient movement of goods from one place to another. There is a need for the execution of smart agreements in the SCM process.

8. Barricades in implementation of blockchain in supply chain management After reviewing the present literature on blockades in blockchain adoption, the fences encountered in the literature can be divided into three categories mainly, first is technological barriers, second is organizational barriers, and third is environmental barriers in the context of SCM and in context of external view. 8.1 Technological barriers •

Security Challenge: The most common barrier in the usage of BC is security concerns such as hacking, information leakage, access to sensitive data, etc. The security of transactions needs to be maintained at a priority level in the system. The leakage of sensitive information outside the organization causes trust issues in the emergent know-how (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Casino et al., 2019; Hou, 2017; Tripathi et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019; Yli Hummo et al., 2016).

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Access to technology: India is a developing nation where everyone is not comfortable in using the advancement in technology and even technology is not easily accessible by all. The adoption of BC requires the proper infrastructure of IT but not all companies can afford to have such advanced infrastructure (Abeyratne & Monfared, 2016; Morabito, 2017). Negative perception toward Technology: The know-how suffers from the latency and throughput matters. In the minds of people, BC is usually associated with cryptocurrencies, which portray activities that are malevolently leading to the negative image of general BC technology (Swan, 2015). Difficulty in changing previous errors of BC Technology: Immutability is one of the characteristics of this advanced tool. But this aspect of BC is becoming a hurdle as there is no provision to change the previous errors and it became difficult to work with such loopholes (Kamble et al., 2019; Biswas & Gupta, 2019). The naivety of Technology: The BC technology needs to grow further and there is scope for better advancement and research in this challenging domain. The technology is immature in the current scenario and it needs to be exploited in a better manner (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Hackius & Petersen, 2017; Hawlitschek et al., 2018; Lindman et al., 2017; Mendling et al., 2018; Swan, 2015; Wang et al., 2016).

8.2 Organization barriers •

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Monetary Restraints: Implementation of BC leads to huge costs, which make it less lucrative for small firms. The process of transmission of information in SCM is expensive and puts more financial burden on the firms (Angraal et al., 2017; Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Marsal-Llacuna 2018; Öztürk & Yildizbasi, 2020; Patel et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019). Lack of support from Key Managerial Personnel (KMP): The BC adoption has not received a positive response from the personnel in top management so, it becomes difficult for firms to apply this model in their businesses successfully (Crosby et al., 2016; Guo & Liang, 2016; Wang et al., 2016). Absence of proper Know-how: The BC technology is not well established in the Indian market and there is the absence of proper skills to operate this advanced technology in the current environment. This technology is in the emerging stage and proper knowledge needs to be built with the due passage of time (Angelis & da silva, 2019; Kamble et al., 2019; Lacity, 2018; Saberi et al., 2019).

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Difficulty in convergence with organization’s culture: To succeed in the application of BC in current business it should be well merged with the cultural needs of the people, which it failed to do so in the present environment despite continuous efforts (Mendling et al., 2018). Proper policies not in place for BC adoption: The successful adoption of this tool requires a proper framework and set of policies that need to be communicated throughout the system and lack of proper policies and procedures leads to hindrance in the implementation of BC. There should be proper guidelines for the application of this technology in business operations (Farooque et al., 2020; Mendling et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019).

8.3 Environmental barriers (in context of SCM) •

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Lack of customer awareness about BC: The customers in the SCM do not possess the required knowledge about BC acceptance and it causes serious loopholes in the effective application of BC in the companies. The expertise is in the immature stage and customers across the industry are not well versed with the application of this know-how (Drescher et al., 2017; Hughes et al., 2019; Kshetri et al., 2017; Levine, 2017). Difficulty in collaboration and coordination in SC: There is the absence of good communication and harmonization between the SC allies in SCM leading to conflicts and wastage of time and resources as well. The principles of proper management have been seen lacking in the SCM process leading to unnecessary cost and wastage of resources (Caro et al., 2018; Kamble et al., 2019; Mathivathanan et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2019). Difficulty in sharing Information among SC partners: Firms adopting the BC technology in SCM are encountering problems in the division of confidential info among the SC officials in the system due to trust issues (Hughes et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019). Cultural differences of SC partners: Culture is central to the success of any new technology adoption. The firms in the market face cultural problems among the partners in the SCM process. The usage of this expertise should be converged with the culture of SC officials (Caro et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019)

8.4 Environmental barriers (in context of external view) •

Governmental Regulations: The government is not showing a positive response toward sustainable SC and with the acceptance of BC know-how there comes the fear of government intervention. The implementation of blockchains requires monitoring and regulation of

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transactions, which is facilitated by the government authorities. The monitoring by the government often acts as a barrier to the successful implementation of the distributed ledger technology. (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Hughes et al., 2019; Lohmer & Lasch, 2020; Queiroz et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019; Yadav et al., 2020) • Market competition and Uncertainty: The presence of uncertainty about the demand for sustainable products in the market causes uneasiness and risk of declining sales. The process of BC in SCM is a time-consuming process that affects the competition level in the industry. Due to the introduction of the latest expertise in the market, the competition is increasing at an alarming rate and causing uncertainty regarding the future of businesses soon (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Wang et al., 2019). • Absence of ethical practices: The absence of industry leadership causes ethical issues in the adoption of this advanced technology. Every expertise causes some sort of immoral activities as this BC expertise was associated with cryptocurrencies that depicted a bad image in the market (Hughes et al., 2019). • Lack of rewards and incentives: As per the current scenario there is the absence of proper rewards and incentives to apply BC in the business’ operations by the professional and government organizations. The government is required to promote this new invention in the field of technology by providing incentives and rewards (Wang et al., 2019). There are four blockchain technology implementation barricades according to Saberi et al. (2019), which include the following, interorganizational, methodological, intraorganizational, and exterior fences. An empirical study was conducted by van Hoek (2020) where a workshop was organized with the coordination of managers and the participants. It was found that there are many barriers such as deficiency of knowledge concerning cost and usage of BC in the SC process. The drivers for the deliberation included transparency and visibility and also reduction of cost and improvement of processes. The numerous issues obstruct the implementation of blockchain technologies, including technological blockades, restrictions entrenched in administrations and the atmosphere, and systemrelated legislative barricades. Many aspects are serious causes of confrontation to blockchain in the industrial, administrative, and ecological magnitudes (Choi et al., 2020). Scalability and Market-based hazards are the most crucial barricades in the implementation of distributed technology. On the other side, high sustainability expenses and deprived pecuniary behavior are the most crucial blockades in the implementation of fruitful distributed

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technology (Biswas & Gupta, 2019). The vital blockages in the implementation of blockchain are naivety of technology and mechanical trials for assembling supply chain data in actual time. The protuberant barricades contain the nonexistence of novel administrative strategies using technology, and the absence of administration policy/directive guidance and care, amongst others (Farooque et al., 2020). It was professed by Hackius and Petersen (2020) that the chief barricades to such explanations are the nonexistence of high-tech usability and long-standing qualms. Lohmer and Lasch (2020) discussed that present fences include legal uncertainties, mislaid organization and standardization, work problems, and undecided power constructions. Refining smart contract safety and interoperability of private and public conventions will permit further distribution of the know-how. Ozdemir et al. (2021) recommended that interorganizational barricades are the utmost appropriate ones, the influences of which BC may ease. This learning further recommended that faith twisted out to be the greatest noteworthy advantage measure for the examination. Öztürk and Yildizbasi (2020) found ensuing barricades: (i) the SCs, which are less complex, will be able to organize quicker than the BC know-how does; (ii) combination is more solid for the health and logistic segments; (iii) High speculation costs, data safety, and usefulness are important. Queiroz et al. (2021) examined possible hurdles in the blockchain technology adoption in the Brazilian OSCM framework. It was found that trust, social stimulus, facilitating circumstances, and effort expectancy are the key elements that affect the adoption of blockchain. Further, it was found in the study that performance expectancy seems to be indecisive in the course of forecasting the adoption of BC technology. Caldarelli et al. (2021) intended to inspect and overwhelmed the barricades to the extensive acceptance of BC technology and reinforced the impression that the BC explanation could be an appreciated add-on in maintainable supply chains. Barriers such as intranet heaviness, companion willingness, apparent practicality, and seeming comfort of use as the most persuading aspects for blockchain acceptance (Kamble et al., 2021). The absence of commercial consciousness and acquaintance with distributed technology on what it can transport for upcoming supply chains, are the greatest powerful barricades that obstruct blockchain espousal. These barricades delay and influence trades’ choice to create a BC-enabled SC and that other barricades turn as a subordinate and related variable star in the implementation procedure (Mathivathanan et al., 2021).

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8.5 Absence of organization vision and social alterations The barricades to the implementation of emerging skill in green supply chain organization (GSCM) were recognized and exposed as the absence of organization vision and social alterations among supply chain associates are the furthermost manipulating barricades, whereas; partnership contests and reluctance and labor force undesirability are the powerful blockades in the embracing of BC in GSCM (Bag et al., 2020). 8.6 Barricades in humanitarian supply chain The blockades in HSC such as information confidentiality, possession, and safekeeping matters; money issues and outlay intricacy; and technical intricacies, are comparatively more persuasive. The absence of cognizance and thoughtfulness among stakeholders; and interoperability, teamwork, and cross-pollination among humanitarian organizations were recognized as the least powerful barricades to BCT implementation in HSC (Patil et al., 2021). 8.7 Lack of government regulations and trust issues The major hurdles in the embracing of the emerging BC know-how in the Indian agricultural supply chain are loophole from the government side as there is a lack of proper regulation by the government, which leads to deficiency of trust among agro-stakeholder to practice blockchain technology, which turns out to be major barriers in the application of BC technology (Yadav et al., 2020). Also facilitating conditions, trust, social influence, and effort expectancy are the most critical constructs that directly affect BCT adoption (Queiroz et al., 2020). 8.8 Distributed ledger expertise Barricades in the direction of the implementation of the blockchain (BC) technology in an Indian hospital and health-care business and recommended that low-slung consciousness linked to permissible subjects and little provision from the upper level of organization have supreme pouring control (Sharma & Joshi, 2021). The requirement of blockchain technology in the healthcare segment after encountering the problems with private and public enterprises for retrieving data related to patients was undertaken under this study (Pilkington, 2017). Espousal of the distributed ledger expertise may raise the problems of the health care sector instead of solving them and there is a requirement of using more cases to understand the sharing of information with the health care domain (El-Gazzar & Stendal, 2020).

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8.9 Lack of awareness and trust The absence of commercial consciousness and acquaintance with distributed technology on what it can transport for upcoming supply chains are the greatest powerful barricades that obstruct blockchain espousal. These barricades delay and influence trades’ choice to create a BC-enabled SC and that other barricades turn as subordinate and related variable stars in the implementation procedure (Mathivathanan et al., 2021). Numerous firms are silently trying to analyze the excitement from the true competencies and innovation of the expertise makes it a perilous scheme expressly assumed the deficiency of knowledge and thoughtfulness (Saberi et al., 2019). 8.10 Potential security threats The privacy issue is there with the public blockchain where every node can access the system. Without any permission, the nodes can access the system, which causes serious data loss. On the other hand, the private blockchain ensures privacy issues as it allows only the permitted officials to access the data. Various technocrats are coming up with data protection techniques such as data encryption and membership administration. In the case of a public blockchain, there is the provision of saving confidential data in offchain to maintain the privacy of the data (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Tripathi et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019). 8.11 Scalability There is a problem with processing time, in a public blockchain the transaction needs to take permission from several nodes leading to excessive time in executing the transaction. Blockchain technology needs to overcome the scalability issues to remain in demand in the future. Currently, blockchain takes more time in recording the information in comparison to VISA or other gateway mechanisms. To combat ill effects heterogeneous solutions and various side chains have been developed to keep blockchain abreast of the latest innovative techniques (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Casino et al., 2019; Hou, 2017; Tripathi et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019; Yli Hummo et al., 2016). 8.12 Data storage Due to increasing demand in the industry, there is the issue of storage of big data. A large volume of data needs to be stored, which further lowers the processing, storing, and retrieving power of the system. To reduce the

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pressure only important data is stored on on-chain and other information is stored on off-chain in the system. This way some of the storage problems are resolved, but the scope of further improvement is still there. 8.13 High computation power The mining carried out by the Proof-of-Work agreement instrument entails a lot of computational power, which leads to a lot of energy wastage. Numerous other agreement instruments such as Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Delegated PoS are announced that fewer necessitate computation power compared to PoW agreement (Holub & Johnson, 2018). 8.14 Change in behavior The only thing that is common in this world is change, the changing scenario requires the adoption of the change in light of an uncertain future. People in India are resistant to change and that calls for the implementation of the latest technologies in the system. There is a need for removal of the third party and direct contact between merchants and customer, blockchain helps in ensuring this in the working of a tangible system. The intermediaries in today’s scenario need to bring the change by adopting blockchain in their operating procedures (Drescher et al., 2017; Hughes et al., 2019; Kshetri et al., 2017; Levine, 2017). 8.15 Bootstrapping In today’s environment, there is a need for changing the mindset of people to migrate from traditional contract structure to new blockchain-based contracts. It involves lots of time and cost for example in the case of real estate business there is a need for lien documents need to be kept in the escrow account that again needs the usage of blockchain, which adds on the outlay for the corporation. 8.16 Inadequate funding The negative impact of blockchain is that the benefits it offers can be channelized for caring for wrongdoers such activities as money trafficking. Proper laws are required to monitor and prosecute the wrongdoers in the market. 8.17 Regulatory issues With the adoption of technology there comes the fear of government intervention. The implementation of blockchains requires monitoring and

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regulation of transactions, which is facilitated by the government authorities. The monitoring by the government often acts as a barrier to the successful implementation of the distributed ledger technology. Various government authorities such as the Securities Exchange Commission, regulate the application of blockchain in the securities market. The government regulations often enlarge the trust in the technology implementation as seen the foreign countries such as the USA and China (Biswas & Gupta, 2019; Hughes et al., 2019; Lohmer & Lasch, 2020; Queiroz et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019; Yadav et al., 2020). 8.18 Quantum computing It was based on the premise that it is mathematically not possible for a single individual to misuse the technology as he doesn’t possess the computational capability. In the future there will be a requirement of quantum computers again they require stringent keys to break the security system. So, it may act as a hindrance in the path of embracing BC technology in the system. 8.19 Challenges in forming a consortium The firms in the system maybe not keen to part their material across the supply chain officials. So, it acts as a barricade to segment information in the network of SC (Caro et al., 2018; Kamble et al., 2019; Mathivathanan et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2019). 8.20 Standardization of blockchain networks With the due course of time, the need for standardization will also be felt in the system of blockchain. Changes are evolving at a rapid pace, which will make standardization a difficult task. The process of standardization will limit the realization of benefits in the long run. 8.21 Flexibility limitations The resistance to change (immutability) is the only feature of this expertise that ensures the integrity of the dealings in the system but it can act as a hurdle when changes are required to be made in the dealings. These barriers have been found after a robust study of the present literature, these fences may obstruct the growth of BC know-how commercially. The integration of BC with the latest techniques such as IoT can provide excellent results in the wake of challenges posed by BC implementation. A survey was conducted by Deloitte company to know

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Figure 13.2 Showing blockchain barriers’ relative proportion. (Source: Deloitte’s (2019) Global Blockchain Survey. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/se/Documents/ risk/DI_2019-global-blockchain-survey.pdf.)

the barriers of BC and a total of 1386 global enterprises responded the figure below shows the percentage of each barrier accorded by the Deloitte company (Fig. 13.2). 8.22 Major disadvantages of implementation of blockchain • •

• •

In blockchain technology is very costly due to the replication of tasks by every node in the system to reach harmony. Blockchain doesn’t provide the mechanism to reverse the transactions in the system even when both the officials in the system are ready to do so. The transactions are verified with the help of authentication certificates, cryptocurrencies, etc., but no way is there to come back to the previous position. The operation of BC technology surges the time duration of task completion as it is a slow process due to authentication done at every node in the system. Continuous increase in the size of this technology because every node in the system is supposed to retrieve all the historical data to remain in the system.

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8.23 Findings of the study • • •

• • •

•

• • • •

•

It was found in the learning that BC is a budding technology that has widespread applications involving financial and nonfinancial sectors. There are four important pillars of blockchain i.e., distributed ledger technology, smart contracts, encryption of information, and no need for intermediaries or third parties in a transaction. The customer is more responsive in today’s scenario they look for complete transparency in the operations of the logistics and supply change management process. They need to know from where raw materials have been purchased, who all are the intermediaries in the SC, the legitimacy of material used in the manufacturing, and many more. Every company follows a set of protocols for their supply managers only relevant information is available to the people in the system to boost the trust factor in the network. Blockchain focuses on peer-to-peer interactions in the system that ensures better supply chain communication leading to minimization of risk and building of trust among the various participants in the SCM process. There is a problem with processing time, in a public blockchain the transaction needs to take permission from several nodes leading to excessive time in executing the transaction. Blockchain technology needs to overcome the scalability issues to remain in demand in the future. One thing that is common in this world is change, the changing scenario requires the adoption of the change in light of an uncertain future. People in India are resistant to change and that calls for the implementation of the latest technologies in the system. In the case of a public blockchain, there is the provision of saving the confidential data off-chain to preserve the secrecy of the data. With the due course of time, the need for standardization will also be felt in the system of blockchain. Changes are evolving at a rapid pace, which will make standardization a difficult task. In today’s environment, there is a need for changing the mindset of people to migrate from traditional contract structure to new blockchain-based contracts. It was based on the premise that it is mathematically dreadful for a sole individual to misuse the technology as he doesn’t possess the computational capability. In the future there will be requirements of quantum computers again they require stringent keys to break the security system. The negative impact of blockchain is that the benefits it offers can be channelized for caring for wrongdoers such activities as money

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trafficking. Proper laws are required to monitor and prosecute the wrongdoers in the market. The revolution phase started by the application of blockchain technology has just started it needs to be explored more in the light of future uncertainty.

9. Conclusion The process of reception of the emerging technology “Blockchain” in supply chain management has its pros and cons. The process requires transparency at the apiece stage of the SCM from procurement of raw substantial, work in progress, and end product creation. The customer throughout the industry wants traceability function to operate at every node in the network. In a recent study, BC fences have been divided into three categories mainly, first is technological barriers, second is organizational barriers, and third is environmental barriers in the context of SCM, and in the context of external views. There are various hurdles in the adoption of this technology such as collaboration changes, sharing of information with supply chain partners, standardization, Quantum computing, bootstrapping, fraudulent practices, data privacy, change in behavior, data storage, and scalability, flexibility limitations, cultural issues, governance issues, lack of knowledge, market competition, and uncertainty, etc. The risk involved in the implementation needs to be overcome with the help of further research in the domain of technology solutions such as smart contracts, and suitability, etc. As the complexity is increasing in logistics management due to increased players in the industry so blockchain should be implemented for proper monitoring and efficient drive of things from one dwelling to another. The influence of the BSCM system will be fruitful in the long run as it offers the customer the needed transparency as it is decentralized and only authorized officials can access the information. The study intended to inspect and overwhelmed the barricades to the extensive acceptance of blockchain technology and reinforced the impression that the BC explanation could be an appreciated add-on in maintainable supply chains.

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CHAPTER 14

Key success factors for blockchain implementation in supply chain management Fariba Goodarzian1, 2, Ajith Abraham1 and Peiman Ghasemi3 1

Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR Labs), Scientific Network for Innovation and Research Excellence, Auburn, Washington, United States; 2Engineering Group, School of Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, Seville, Spain; 3Department of Logistics, Tourism & Service Management, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat, Oman

1. Introduction In today’s global competition, various products should be available based on the customer’s demand. Customer demand for high quality and fast service has increased pressures that did not exist before, so companies can no longer do everything on their own (Saberi et al., 2019). In the existing competitive market, economic and manufacturing firms seek to gain a competitive advantage in order to gain more market share. Therefore, activities such as supply and demand planning, procurement of materials, production and product planning, product holding service, inventory control, distribution, delivery and customer service, all of which were previously carried out at the company level, now at the SC level have been transferred (Francisco & Swanson, 2018). The key issue in an SC is the coordinated management and control of all these activities. Nowadays, SC management is one of the cornerstones of e-business implementation infrastructure in the world. E-supply chain management is a phenomenon that emerged in the ’90s and does so in a way that customers can receive reliable and fast service with quality products at the lowest cost (Kouhizadeh et al., 2021). Suitable implementation of SC management can have benefits such as increasing sales and revenue, reducing fraud, overhead costs, and increasing quality. In addition, it will accelerate distribution and production. While all of this may seem easy, keeping a supply chain is practically a tedious task even for small businesses. Integrated connection of various elements in the SC gradually becomes more unprofitable as a business grows. Thus, to solve this inefficiency and save the company money, various technologies such as Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00003-4

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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artificial intelligence, etc. are applied to supply chain management. Among these, blockchain is a new way to change the whole game (Bai & Sarkis, 2020). In order to apply different technologies in supply chain management, it is necessary to have sufficient knowledge of the problems of this chain. Some of the major problems are illustrated in Fig. 14.1. Blockchain can be used to meet many of the challenges of the SC industry as a growing and better alternative to centralized databases such as the holding and tracking of complex products. Blockchain can provide many benefits to the SC and some of the most important factors are indicated in Fig. 14.2. The main core of blockchain is according to a distributed consensus general ledger in which the general ledger is located and maintained on a distributed network of computers. Using this general ledger, the entire

The major problems in SC management

The regulation of the distribution network

Information circulation n

Distribution sterategy

Inventory managementt

Liquidity flow

Figure 14.1 The framework of the available problems in the SC management.

Improve inventory management

Reduce shipping costs

Reduce delays due to paperwork

Decrease or remove fraud and errors

Identify issues faster

Increase consumer and partner trust

Figure 14.2 The important advantages of the blockchain.

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network can conduct transactions in partnership and keep a history of these transactions. Blockchain is the first Internet-based platform for value exchange. Until the introduction of cryptocurrencies, no one could transfer value along a route without the permission and support of an intermediary. In fact, blockchain has made it possible to transfer value instantly (Dutta et al., 2020). The great feature of Blockchain Technology (BT), which is actually decentralization, makes it possible to create businesses and operations more flexibly and securely. Confidence in blockchain will increase if different companies succeed in using this technology in providing their services and products. Demands for this technology are growing and evolving. It can be said that blockchain potentials are in fact borderless, and it fills and improves the gaps in the SC (Batwa & Norrman, 2020). In summary, the SC faces problems such as complex network connection, inventory management, distribution network regulation, distribution strategy, information flow, and financial transactions. Also, blockchain benefits examine in several categories such as reducing or eliminating fraud and errors, improving inventory management, reducing transportation costs, reducing paperwork delays, identifying issues faster, increasing consumer and partner trust, reducing transaction costs, capability decentralization and raising security and flexibility of business operations. Moreover, identifying the key factors for success in implementing blockchain in SC management can be a key step in utilizing BT in the SC of commodities and services. The rest of this Chapter is organized follow as. In Section 2, the importance and necessity of the blockchain in SC management are explained. BT and SC concepts and the linking between blockchain and SC are illustrated in Sections 3 and 4 respectively. Section 5 depicts the application of the blockchain on SC management. Finally, Section 6 illustrates the conclusions.

2. Importance and necessity of the blockchain in the SC management An SC is a network of individuals and companies that focuses on production and distribution of a particular product or service from the main producers to customers and consumers (Choi, 2020). A traditional SC often includes food or raw material suppliers, manufacturers, transportation companies, and ultimately the final retailer. Currently, SC management is

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not effective and there is no transparency. Most supply and distribution networks have problems managing all of these components together (Banerjee, 2018). Ideally, products and materials, like information and money, should be transported seamlessly and simultaneously through the various stages of the chain. In the current market model, creating a continuous SC and its effective management is very difficult, which affects not only the profits of companies and manufacturers but also the final price of the product (Gurtu & Jestin, 2019). To assess the value of BT to the SC world, we explored three areas that could be of added value: • Replacement of slow and manual processes. Although SCs can now handle complex data sets, many of their processes, especially at low supply levels are slow and completely paper-based, as is still the case in the transportation industry. • Strengthening the traceability, increasing regulatory demand, and consumer for information related to the source makes a difference. In addition, improving traceability by reducing the high costs of quality problems, including recall, damage to reputation, or loss of revenue from black or gray market products, is itself a form of added value. Simplifying a complex supply base provides more value creation opportunities. • Reducing supply chain IT transaction costs. At this stage, this benefit is more theoretical than real. Bitcoin gives people credit to approve any block or transaction, and people who offer a new block are required to include a fee in their offer. Such costs are likely to be expensive in SCs because their scale can be staggering. Blockchain can enable end-to-end tracking in the SC. Organizations can digitize physical assets and create an immutable, decentralized track record of all transactions, making it possible to track assets from production to delivery or use by the end-user (Tijan et al., 2019). This increase in supply chain transparency provides more visibility for both businesses and consumers (Sheel & Nath, 2019). Blockchain can increase SC transparency to help decrease fraud in highvalue commodities such as diamonds and pharmaceuticals (Nandi et al., 2020). Blockchain can support companies understand how raw materials and finished commodities are shipped through each subcontractor, decreasing the loss of profit from counterfeit trade and the gray market, as well as reducing or eliminating the impact of products. Counterfeiting increases the confidence of end-users in the market (Dujak & Sajter, 2019).

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Blockchain can increase SC transparency as well as reduce costs and risk at the whole SC. In particular, blockchain SC innovations can bring the benefits that show in Fig. 14.3. Blockchain is not a replacement for the old SC software and uses new facts such as the expansion of data flow through the Internet of Things (IOT) (Casino et al., 2019). Blockchain is a sophisticated algorithm for using cryptocurrency. This technology manages a distributed data structure that is responsible for managing electronic cash flows. This feature replaces the executive role of the central bank or the government in banking (Akram et al., 2020). Finally, blockchain can simplify administrative processes and reduce costs by effectively controlling SC data. Hand-checking processes for compliance or credit purposes, which may take weeks now, can be expedited through a distributed office of all relevant information. As a result, blockchain provides a very secure and reliable structure for transmitting the information. In the early days of blockchain, this technology was only used to track digital currency transactions; but blockchain can be extremely useful for protecting all kinds of digital information, and there are many benefits to using it in the supply chain. Therefore, the need to use the blockchain in the SC is divided into several categories including reducing costs, producing interactive information, recording information transparently and unchanging, digital agreements and document sharing, and replacing electronic information exchange.

Initial potential beneits

Secondary potential beneits

Increasing the SC tracking capability to ensure compliance with company standards

Improving the company's reputation by providing transparency of materials used in products

Fewer losses than counterfeit/gray trade

Reducing the potential PR risk of SC failure

Improve visibility and compliance with the production of outsourced contracts

Improving the public credibility and trust of shared data

Reducing paperwork and ofice costs

Involving stakeholders

Figure 14.3 The potential benefits of using blockchain in SC.

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The need for greater transparency in monitoring the SC of commodities and services in the recent situation in the countries, reducing or eliminating fraud and errors in the chain, improving inventory management, reducing transportation costs, reducing delays, faster identification of issues, and increasing consumer and partner trust blockchain is one of the things that can affect the SC of commodities and services. Also, the research gap in the field of application of blockchain in SC management in countries and the necessity of SC management of commodities and services of countries using up-to-date knowledge are among the necessities of this chapter.

3. Blockchain technology BT is a distributed database of records or shared public/private offices of all digital events that are run and shared among the participants in the blockchain (Alazab et al., 2021). Considering the four key characteristics of decentralization, security, auditability, and the intelligent implementation of BT, it differs from most existing information systems designs (see Fig. 14.4). In blockchain, an agent creates a new transaction to be added to the blockchain. This new transaction is transmitted to the network for validation and auditing (Longo et al., 2019). When most nodes approve the transaction according to prespecified rules in the chain, the new transaction

Figure 14.4 The available steps in information and blockchain transactions.

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is added to the chain as a new block. A record of that transaction is stored in multiple nodes distributed for security. In the meantime, smart contract, as a key feature of BT, enables reliable transactions without the involvement of third parties. Decentralization is an important feature of BT and the detection of any information fraud, which increases the credibility of information (Treiblmaier, 2019). Deleting integrated records is impractical, and verified records of each transaction are accessible to participants through public and private general ledgers. Since there is no need to assess the trust of intermediaries or other participants in the network, and information is easily viewed and compared, trust is the main result of decentralization. BT was initially introduced as a platform for managing Bitcoin, which is an encrypted currency (Pal, 2020).

4. Supply chain management SC management is used to empower companies to obtain the needed materials to create a product or service and deliver it to the customer. SC management is the process and activity of supplying raw materials or organizational components that a company needs to create a product or service and provide that product or service to customers. The aim of SC management is to improve SC performance. In other words, timely and accurate SC information allows manufacturers to produce and ship only the marketable product. Effective SC systems help manufacturers and retailers reduce overtime. This reduces the cost of production, transportation, insurance, and storage commodities that cannot be sold. The main components of this management are divided into six categories including planning, find the right resources, production, distribution of commodities, support, and final evaluation (Wamba & Queiroz, 2020, p. 102064). In general, the SC is the chain that includes all activities related to the flow of commodities and the conversion of materials, from the stage of preparation of the raw material to the stage of delivery of the final product to the consumer. In relation to the flow of commodities, there are two other flows, one is the flow of information and the other is the flow of financial resources and credits. Then, SC management has three main processes including data management, logistics management, and relationship management (van Hoek, 2019). The level of SC management performance is divided into five categories. These are as follows:

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•

• •

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Composition of SC partners: SC is based on the efficiency of strategic factors and according to customer needs. SC is planned to cover the range of existing products, new product services or customer segment based on knowledge of final products in the SC. Profit-based SC design: SC management requires the effective participation of factors outside the company, but the relationship of each company with companies outside it is very problematic. In the case of partners, it is essential to pay attention to things like the center of competition, the motivation of the partners, and their composition. SC management information: The role of information systems in the SC term is of particular importance. This section shows the role of technology in the SC term. Establishing partnerships: This category refers to the types of partnerships and necessary interactions of the company. This function extends SC relationships to partnerships with agents outside the company. Any change in the SC must be notified to the partners in order to be implemented throughout the chain. Reduce SC costs: The main purpose of establishing an SC supply chain is to reduce costs. These efforts are made for strategies and policies to increase efficiency. The main reasons for costing are the lack of clarity of the SC process, changes in internal and external procedures of the company, weakness in production design, incomplete information for decision making, weakness of chain links in the relationship between SC partners.

5. The application of the blockchain on SC management BT allows us to see all transactions more securely and transparently, now imagine that this is possible across the SC. Every time a product is handed over, that is, transferred from person to person, the transaction is done. The information of this transaction can be fully documented, through BT, a permanent history of a product, from its production to its sale. It is recorded in full audio. This can significantly reduce time delays, overhead costs, and human error that weaken today’s trading (Wamba & Queiroz, 2020, p. 102064). Regardless of the overall blockchain plan, this technology has advantages in the SC such as the following: • Enhance security: A shared, persistent tab with coded rules can potentially eliminate audits required by internal systems and processes.

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•

Increase transparency: Documenting product travel across the SC shows the true origin of the product, which increases trust and removes ambiguities in the SC. • Increase scalability: Almost everyone in the SC can access all the information from anywhere. Logistics companies and smart distributors are looking for ways to leverage this technology to achieve greater profitability and stronger connectivity across the SC. Fig. 14.5 shows a graphical representation of the transformation of a traditional SC into a blockchain-based SC. SC management is a very complex field that includes several business challenges ranging from fake data to counterfeit goods and smuggling. As entrepreneurs in various industries strive to increase SC transparency, IoT and blockchain technologies can take this to a higher level (van Hoek, 2019). The IoT and blockchain, when used together, can allow companies to track SCs and detect any fraud. The IoTs are moving toward wider implementation and more tangible applications. Additionally, its integration with other technologies such as macro data and artificial intelligence, and Traditional supply chain

Supplier

Production

Distribution

Wholesaler

Retailer

Consumer

Standard Organization

Registrant Supplier

Consumer

Production Intelligence contract

Retailer

Customers' access to product information

Distribution

Wholesaler

Certiied providers

Blockchain-based supply chain

Figure 14.5 The framework of converting traditional SC to blockchain-based SC.

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Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World

blockchain will increase its impact on our lives and work, and eventually, a solution will be extracted from it. The greatest performances and achievements of the Internet of Things will be achieved at the industrial level. Sensors collect a lot of data at this level and are used in areas such as transportation, freight, trucking, and industrial processes (Azzi et al., 2019; Kummer et al., 2020). This is where the Internet of Things and blockchain can play an important role. Blockchain is an immutable recording tool where communications between IoT devices are systematic. This allows the manager to find any type of information at any time (Kawaguchi, 2019). Blockchain uses cryptographic algorithms to prevent data deviation. For secure data exchange, IoT devices can use smart contracts to reach an online agreement between all parties in which code is used instead of letters. Most importantly, companies can achieve independent operation of smart devices without the need for a centralized supervisor or unit manager (Müßigmann et al., 2020). It’s not just companies that are taking advantage of this, consumers are also improving their visibility by updating information faster and more efficiently. In general, blockchain can control and improve the SC steps as follows: • Confirmation of the originality and correctness of the product, • Availability of production, assembly, delivery, and maintenance of commodities and products for the general public. • Track and register orders, purchase orders, change orders, notifications available for transportation • Record values, send and move trailers In general, the use of blockchain in the supply chain can prevent many of today’s obstacles and problems, as well as organize the financial cases and huge costs of the past. This technology uses global standards such as GS1, which has a system for tracking and controlling services and products and can cover the loss of costs, property, and financial assets (Abu-Elezz et al., 2020; Treiblmaier, 2018). Relying on smart contracts, you can operate without intermediaries. In other words, the aim of a smart contract is to reduce the time and cost of contract execution by precisely defining the terms of the contract. This eliminates the need for lawyers, notaries, and other intermediaries, and facilitates the storage and administration of legal documents. This is while traditional methods based on paper processes have slowed down the work. In this case, the blockchain facilitates the problems ahead digitally using computer code.

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6. Conclusion Blockchain, as distributed, immutable, transparent, and reliable databases shared by a community, can also affect sustainable SC networks. Tracking potential environmental and social conditions that may impose environmental, health, and safety concerns is an important practical focus for blockchain. A blockchain-based SC provides better guarantees of human rights and fair labor. BT can support data collection, storage, and management. Openness, transparency, neutrality, reliability, and security for all SC and stakeholder actors can exist in this technological field. Then, the success factors of blockchain implementation in the SC are examined in Fig. 14.6. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce BT and its application in better SC management. Thus, the process of SC management and lower costs, focus on increasing the quality of domestic products and reducing the cost of products to increase purchasing power and thus improve social welfare are examined. New management cannot be without technological tools, and the move to increase efficiency in management processes depends on the use of new technologies such as blockchain, IoT, artificial intelligence, and smart contracts.

The success factors of BT implementation in the SC

Customer service and satisfaction

Develop and increase customer trust, develop increase customer loyalty and reduce customer complaints

Growth and innovation

Development of timely delivery capabilities in the system, reliable suppliers, and ordering systems (reduction of delays, timely delivery, and reduction and elimination of errors)

Financial performance

Provide dedicated resources for the electronic SC, forecast demand at the point of sale, improve inventory management, and reduce transportation costs.

Internal performance of the organization

Senior management support, logistics coordination, use of modern technology, information sharing with SC members, high lexibility in the production system, focus on strengths and long-term vision for survival and growth

Figure 14.6 The framework of the success factors of blockchain implementation in the SC.

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References Abu-Elezz, I., Hassan, A., Nazeemudeen, A., Househ, M., & Abd-Alrazaq, A. (2020). The benefits and threats of blockchain technology in healthcare: A scoping review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 104246. Akram, S. V., Malik, P. K., Singh, R., Anita, G., & Tanwar, S. (2020). Adoption of blockchain technology in various realms: Opportunities and challenges. Security and Privacy, 3(5), e109. Alazab, M., Alhyari, S., Awajan, A., & Bahjat Abdallah, A. (2021). Blockchain technology in supply chain management: An empirical study of the factors affecting user adoption/ acceptance. Cluster Computing, 24(1), 83e101. Azzi, R., Chamoun, R. K., & Sokhn, M. (2019). The power of a blockchain-based supply chain. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 135, 582e592. Bai, C., & Sarkis, J. (2020). A supply chain transparency and sustainability technology appraisal model for blockchain technology. International Journal of Production Research, 58(7), 2142e2162. Banerjee, A. (2018). Blockchain technology: Supply chain insights from ERP. In , Vol 111. Advances in computers (pp. 69e98). Elsevier. Batwa, A., & Norrman, A. (2020). A framework for exploring blockchain technology in supply chain management. Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 13(3), 294e306. Casino, F., Kanakaris, V., Dasaklis, T. K., Moschuris, S., & Rachaniotis, N. P. (2019). Modeling food supply chain traceability based on blockchain technology. IfacPapersonline, 52(13), 2728e2733. Choi, T.-M. (2020). Creating all-win by blockchain technology in supply chains: Impacts of agents’ risk attitudes towards cryptocurrency. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1e16. Dujak, D., & Sajter, D. (2019). Blockchain applications in supply chain. In SMART supply network (pp. 21e46). Cham: Springer. Dutta, P., Choi, T.-M., Somani, S., & Butala, R. (2020). Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities. Transportation Research E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 142, 102067. Francisco, K., & Swanson, D. (2018). The supply chain has no clothes: Technology adoption of blockchain for supply chain transparency. Logistics, 2(1), 2. Gurtu, A., & Jestin, J. (2019). Potential of blockchain technology in supply chain management: A literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 49(9), 881e900. van Hoek, R. (2019). Exploring blockchain implementation in the supply chain: Learning from pioneers and RFID research. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 39(6/7/8), 829e859. Kawaguchi, N. (2019). Application of blockchain to supply chain: Flexible blockchain technology. Procedia Computer Science, 164, 143e148. Kouhizadeh, M., Saberi, S., & Sarkis, J. (2021). Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers. International Journal of Production Economics, 231, 107831. Kummer, S., Herold, D. M., Dobrovnik, M., Mikl, J., & Schäfer, N. (2020). A systematic review of blockchain literature in logistics and supply chain management: Identifying research questions and future directions. Future Internet, 12(3), 60. Longo, F., Nicoletti, L., Padovano, A., d’Atri, G., & Forte, M. (2019). Blockchain-enabled supply chain: An experimental study. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 136, 57e69.

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Müßigmann, B., von der Gracht, H., & Hartmann, E. (2020). Blockchain technology in logistics and supply chain managementda bibliometric literature review from 2016 to January 2020. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 67(4), 988e1007. Nandi, M. L., Nandi, S., Moya, H., & Hale, K. (2020). Blockchain technology-enabled supply chain systems and supply chain performance: A resource-based view. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 25(6), 841e862. Pal, K. (2020). Internet of things and blockchain technology in apparel manufacturing supply chain data management. Procedia Computer Science, 170, 450e457. Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., Sarkis, J., & Shen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 57(7), 2117e2135. Sheel, A., & Nath, V. (2019). Effect of blockchain technology adoption on supply chain adaptability, agility, alignment and performance. Management Research Review, 42(12), 1353e1374. Tijan, E., Aksentijevic, S., Ivanic, K., & Jardas, M. (2019). Blockchain technology implementation in logistics. Sustainability, 11(4), 1185. Treiblmaier, H. (2018). The impact of the blockchain on the supply chain: A theory-based research framework and a call for action. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 23(6), 545e559. Treiblmaier, H. (2019). Combining blockchain technology and the physical internet to achieve triple bottom line sustainability: A comprehensive research agenda for modern logistics and supply chain management. Logistics, 3(1), 10. Wamba, S. F., & Queiroz, M. M. (2020). Blockchain in the operations and supply chain management: Benefits, challenges and future research opportunities.

Further reading Rejeb, A., Keogh, J. G., & Treiblmaier, H. (2019). Leveraging the internet of things and blockchain technology in supply chain management. Future Internet, 11(7), 161.

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CHAPTER 15

An ISM and MICMAC approach for evaluating the barriers hindering the implementation of blockchain technology in supply chains Sasikumar Perumal1, Hamda Alhameli1, Anood Mohammed Alhosani1 and Moaz Nagib Gharib2 1

Department of Industrial Engineering Technology, Abu Dhabi Women’s Campus, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 2Department of Management, College of Commerce and Business Administration, Dhofar University, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman

1. Introduction The increasing demand for information, communication, and the internet of things (IoT) has resulted in huge benefits for a wide range of manufacturing and service sectors, but there are also an increase in distractions in every business models, particularly in logistics and SC (Goldsby & Zinn, 2016). Blockchain is poised to be the next technological breakthrough and is drawing the attention of researchers, practitioners, and regulators across a wide variety of industries. Blockchain technology differs by providing four main characteristics from most current information system designs: nonlocalization (decentralization), confidentiality, auditability, and smart execution. With the growing scale of the businesses, diversifying product portfolio, and some of geographic places to be served, the supply chains have grown to be greater complex to deal with. Blockchain technology is an emerging technology that has the potential to enhance the SC operations and to interrupt the existing inefficient business models. Reliability and accountability of blockchain are intended to promote the transfer of information and materials across the SC more efficiently, and its governance functions are automated. Since businesses are only beginning to grasp the technology and explore potential benefits and obstacles, most blockchain projects are still at an early stage.

Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00002-2

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Blockchain, often referred to as a public ledger, is a distributed database of record that contains all digital transactions and data exchanged between the participants (Werbach, 2018). The most common example that is intrinsically related to blockchain technology is Bitcoin. Even when few of the distributed ledgers look like Bitcoin blockchain, it differs in various significant aspects such as restrictions on access of data, restrictions on validating the transactions by respective parties, and other features (Hileman & Rauchs, 2017). Nevertheless, all blockchains that are established so far feature same data structure and distributed architecture. Blockchain is a digital technology that based on a cloud database, through which people can complete transactions or transfer money using a network of decentralized computers spread around the world. The appearance of this technology has progressed the technology to an extensive range, because of the advantages that it has, such as accessibility, process integrity, traceability, security, decentralization, faster business operation with lower transaction, and IT infrastructure costs. To take the advantage of numerous benefits of blockchain technology, most of the organizations are showing their interest to implement this blockchain technology for improving their operational process and transactions. Blockchain, for instance, can be utilized for data management, transparency, response time improvement, smart contract management, operational efficiency and immutability (Dutta et al., 2020). Blockchain-based supply chains nevertheless need a locked, private, licensed blockchain with numerous players with restricted access, contrary to bitcoin and other financial blockchain applications. When the industries would like to implement the blockchain technology, it is observed that blockchain may create some issues or challenges. These issues are mix of technical and nontechnical issues. Technology issues, such as securing information, integrating processes, and scaling operations, are different from nontechnical issues, such as privacy, professional development, and government laws and regulations. As a result, there are certain conditions that must be met for blockchain to be used in industries (Al-Jaroodi & Mohamed, 2019). In the study proposed by Queiroz et al. (2020), a methodical review approach was followed to analyze and synthesize the existing research works on integration of blockchain and supply chain management (SCM). Since its inception in 2008, blockchain technology has sparked a surge of interest. So, the authors reviewed and analyzed 27 research articles published in scholarly journals from the year 2008 to 2018 and found that blockchaindSCM integrations is still in the early stage of development. As

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the usage of blockchain technology in SC is at the beginning stage, there is no clear evidence that this technology provides support to overcome all these issues and create trust among the SC members in their operations and transactions. So, the organizations that would like to implement the blockchain technology in their SC network have to carry out a detailed study and analysis before implementation. The key objective of this research is to conduct a detailed study and analysis on the integration of blockchain and SCM and identifying the barriers that obstruct the implementation of blockchain technology in SC. Furthermore, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is presented as a method for analyzing the interactions between the barriers.

2. Literature review Blockchain technology can be used to transform and remodel the interactions among all individuals of the logistics and SC. The potential usage of blockchain is to ensure knowledge reliability, traceability, and validity, as well as intelligent contractual relationships for a trustless society, necessitates a major rethinking of SC and SCM. The adoption of blockchain technology in the SC offers numerous benefits like transparency and security (Chen et al., 2021). Usage of blockchain technology ensures that all products get permanent information that can be used to track the products in real time (Ghode et al., 2020). Unlike traditional models where tracing can take days, through blockchain technology, tracing is done in seconds. Additionally, the blockchain technology can be integrated with other technologies to meet the specific needs of an industry. Yli-Huumo et al. (2016) collected 41 research papers related to blockchain technology and conducted a systematic review to provide the challenges and the scope for future directions in blockchain technology from technical viewpoint. The results of the systematic review showed that more than 80% of the research articles are related to Bitcoin and less than 20% of the research dealt with other blockchain applications. The authors also pointed out that most of the research work focused on technical challenges and limitations of blockchain in terms of confidentiality and safety. Wang et al. (2019) examined the review on blockchain technology systematically and investigated the way in which the blockchain technology influences the SC practices. The authors provided useful information on how blockchain technology interrupt existing SC requirements and the challenges to disseminate the technology successfully. Blockchain technology is gaining

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significant momentum in supply chains, and its value lies in four areas, including enhanced data security, making smart contracts, increased visibility and traceability, digitization, and disintermediation of SC. The model developed by Queiroz and Wamba (2019) is based on a modified version of the classical unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology. To augment the literature on IT adoption, SCM, and blockchain, the authors mainly used partial least squares structural equation modeling to estimate the developed model. According to Saberi et al. (2019), blockchain technology and smart contracts have the potential to improve SCM. Interorganizational, intraorganizational, technical, and external barriers were identified as barriers to the adoption of blockchain technology. Zhao et al. (2019) reviewed recent developments in blockchain technology, and its applications in agri-food value chain, as well as the future challenges in blockchain technology. Based on the research findings, the authors suggested that blockchain together with ICT and IoT can be adopted to enhance the agri-food value chain management on four important parts such as traceability, data security, manufacturing and sustainable water management. Further, they proposed the research gaps and potential directions for future research on the challenges and applications of blockchain technology especially in agri-food value chain management. Movahedipour et al. (2017) systematically reviewed 188 research articles published from 2010 to 2017 to identify the barriers hindering the adoption of Sustainable SCM practices. Through the investigation, the authors identified 15 barriers and used ISM methodology for analyzing the interactions among the barriers and concluded that “Inadequate information technology implementation” was the most influential barrier that might force the organizations to implement SSCM practices. Based on the extensive review of literature, it is observed that just a few research studies were conducted on blockchain technology and the research on blockchain-supply chain integration is still at an incipient level. The key focus of this research work is to understand the adoption of blockchain behavior in SC and identify the barriers hindering the blockchain technology’s adoption in SC with the help of expert opinion in the field of SC and literature review. The main purpose of this research work is • To identify important barriers of blockchain technology through review of literature and expert opinion and apply ISM as a tool to analyze the barriers. • To establish a relationship (contextual or influential) between the barriers and construct an ISM model for analyzing the relations between the barriers.

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•

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To carry out MICMAC analysis and categorize the barriers based on driving and dependence power in ISM.

3. Problem statement Blockchain technology had initially gained a negative reputation due to its relationship with anonymous “dark net” purchases made with digital currencies like Bitcoins. In spite of that, in recent years many reputed organizations like IBM, JPMorgan, and Barclays have been investing into blockchain research and development. Because of such enthusiasm from those significant big companies, various benefits such as trust, transparency, reduced cost of transaction, decentralized or distributed structure, data control and increased efficiency, the business people and entrepreneurs are pulled into this new field of information technology. Nevertheless, after years of considering the benefits of blockchain technology, the attention of researchers and practitioners has shifted to numerous challenges and bottlenecks, which are impeding the global acceptance of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology face numerous obstacles in the implementation of blockchain before it is incorporated into society. The more critical ones are the technological challenges such as lack of maturity, insufficiency of scalability, insufficiency of interoperability, unattractive stand-alone projects, challenging alignment with legacy systems, difficulty, and scarcity of expertise with blockchains. In addition to the above, the organizational issues such as poor governance, poor user interfaces and education, lack of knowledge and comprehension, challenges to confidentiality, and poor control are important obstacles to consider. According to experts’ opinion and literature background, 10 different barriers that impedes the implementation of blockchain in the field of SCM are identified. The description of 10 blockchain barriers that hinder the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain are given in Table 15.1.

4. Solution methodology As ISM is well recognized research methodology, this study proposes ISM as a method for analyzing the interactions among the barriers preventing the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain. The main objective of ISM is to analyze a complex system, decompose it into different subsystems or elements and to create a multi-level structural model using the knowledge and practical experience of the experts (Umar et al., 2022).

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Table 15.1 Description of blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Description

B1. Poor reputation

The reputation challenge is the main challenge in implementing the blockchain technology because of negative image in public perception, the blockchain is still very much connected to the word cryptocurrency, which is considered as black trade and illegal transaction activity. There is a shortage of skilled developers due to the complexity, encrypted, and distributed nature of blockchain technology. This led to companies relying on external parties, which result in high investments and data loss. During the adoption phase, companies will encounter a difficulty relating to the network’s technical scalability. The largest networks have the least number of transactions per second among other transaction networks. As there is no universal standard to allow networks within a company to communicate with each other, the blockchain is in a state of chaos. Since cryptocurrencies are pseudonymous, many blockchain applications would require smart contracts and transactions to be linked with known identities. As a result, the stored and accessible data’s privacy and security are questioned. Blockchain transactions can take a long time to process. It can even take days to deal with the entire exchange because as the number of users increase, the time it takes to process one transaction increase. One factor for the absence of regulation is a lack of regulatory clarity about blockchain technology. There are no specific regulations on it right now; thus, there is still no security. It prevents adoption and investment in the industry if the rules do not encompass smart contracts. Blockchain technology uses the same infrastructure as bitcoin and employs POW proof of work. Users can use these protocols to solve difficult mathematical equations. The majority of blockchain on the market consumes a significant amount of energy. Many organizations who wish to enter the blockchain arena have no knowledge on what blockchain is, how it works, and how can they use it. This is due to the technical superiority in the blockchain industry.

B2. Lack of skilled developers

B3. Lack of scalability

B4. Lack of standardization B5. Lack of privacy

B6. Slow performance

B7. Lack of regulation

B8. Massive energy consumption

B9. Lack of awareness

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Table 15.1 Description of blockchain barriers.dcont'd Blockchain barriers

Description

B10. Lack of teamwork

Many organizations have different approach toward the blockchain technology, where they develop their own blockchain and applications according to their own standards. As a result, distributed ledgers lose their purpose, network effects are not tapped, and this approach is least efficient.

The following are the several steps in the ISM approach (Avinash et al., 2018). Step 1: Make a list of barriers which are accounted for the system. Step 2: With the help of expert views and opinions, a contextual relationship is formed between the barriers relative to which pairs of barriers would be investigated. Step 3: Construct a Structural Self-Interaction Matrix (SSIM) for the barriers identified in the system that indicates pair wise interactions between the barriers. Step 4: From SSIM, develop a Reachability Matrix (RM) and verify the possibility of transitivity in the matrix. ISM makes the assumptions that the contextual relation is transitive. It states that if a factor A is connected to B and factor B is connected to C, then A must be connected to factor C. Step 5: The RM attained in the previous step is divided into various levels. Step 6: Draw a directed graph based on the linkages found in the RM and eliminate the transitivity links. Step 7: Replace the nodes of barriers with statements and transform the ensuing digraph into ISM. Step 8: Make essential alterations in the ISM model formed in the previous step by evaluating and checking for conceptual discrepancy. The above steps for constructing the ISM model are shown in Fig. 15.1. 4.1 Structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM) The SSIM is established with the help of experts’ opinion and for analyzing the interactions among the barriers, a contextual relationship is developed when one barrier influence or impact the other barrier. Given the

Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World

List the barriers preventing the implementation of Blockchain technology

Create conceptual relationship (Xij) among the barriers i and j

Construct SSIM

Review of Literature

Discussion with Experts

Establish RM

Perform level partition from the RM

Eliminate transitivity from the diagraph

Depict the diagraph

Necessary modifications

240

Yes Replace the nodes of barriers with association statements

Is there any conceptual inconsistency No Represent association statement into ISM model for the barriers of Blockchain technology

Figure 15.1 Flowchart showing the steps involved in the construction of ISM model.

contextual relationship between each barrier, it is questioned whether a relation exists between any two barriers (i and j) and the direction of their relationship. The following symbols can be used to represent the direction of association between the barriers (i and j): Use symbol “V” when barrier i is having an impact on barrier j; Use symbol “A” when barrier j is having an impact on barrier i; Use symbol “X” when barrier i and j influence each other; and. Use symbol “O” when there is no relation between barrier i and j. The SSIM for the barriers of blockchain is given in Table 15.2. 4.2 Reachabiliy matrix (RM) The initial RM is formed by transforming the SSIM into a matrix with binary numbers. The binary matrix is developed by substituting the four symbols introduced in the SSIM by 1’s or 0’s and the guidelines for the same is given below: • If the symbol V is entered in (i, j) cell in SSIM, then replace V by one in (i, j) cell while 0 in (j, i) cell in the RM.

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241

Table 15.2 Formation of SSIM. B10

B9

B8

B7

B6

B5

B4

B3

B2

B1. Poor reputation

V

A

O

A

O

X

O

O

A

B2.Lack of skilled developers

V

A

V

A

V

V

A

V

B3. Lack of scalability

O

O

A

A

X

O

O

B4. Lack of standardization

V

A

V

A

V

V

B5. Lack of privacy

V

A

O

A

O

B6. Slow performance

V

A

X

A

B7. Lack of regulation

V

O

O

B8. Massive energy consumption

V

O

B9. Lack of awareness

V

Blockchain Barriers

B1

B10. Lack of teamwork

•

If the symbol A is entered in (i, j) cell in SSIM, then replace A by 0 in (i, j) cell while one in (j, i) cell in the RM. • If the symbol X is entered in (i, j) cell in SSIM, then replace X by one in both (i, j) and (j, i) cell in the RM. • If the symbol O is entered in (i, j) cell in SSIM, then replace O by 0 in both (i, j) and (j, i) cell in the RM. By following the above guidelines, the initial RM is constructed as shown in Table 15.3. The final RM for the barriers is attained from the initial RM by incorporating the transitivity as enumerated in Step 4. The final reachability matrix which is shown in Table 15.4 includes the driver and dependence power of each blockchain barrier. The total number of barriers (including itself) that a barrier can help achieve is its driving power. The total amount of barriers that may assist in obtaining it is known as dependence power. The Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) analysis will take these driver and dependence power information into account, allowing the barriers to be classified into four clusters: autonomous barriers, dependent barriers, linkage barriers, and independent barriers (drivers).

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Table 15.3 Formation of initial RM. Blockchain barriers

B1. Poor reputation B2. Lack of skilled developers B3. Lack of scalability B4. Lack of standardization B5. Lack of privacy B6. Slow performance B7. Lack of regulation B8. Massive energy consumption B9. Lack of awareness B10. Lack of teamwork

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

1 1

0 1

0 1

0 0

1 1

0 1

0 0

0 1

0 0

1 1

0 0

0 1

1 0

0 1

0 1

1 1

0 0

0 1

0 0

0 1

1 0 1 0

0 0 1 0

0 1 1 1

0 0 1 0

1 0 1 0

0 1 1 1

0 0 1 0

0 1 0 1

0 0 0 0

1 1 1 1

1 0

1 0

0 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

0 0

0 0

1 0

1 1

4.3 Level partitions Based on the final RM, the reachability and antecedent set is attained for each blockchain barrier. In the reachability set for a selected barrier, there are barriers that may impact it as well as those that can help in achieving it; in contrast, the antecedent set includes barriers that could be helpful in achieving it (Avinash et al., 2018). Finally, the intersection set for all the barriers were derived. In level partitioning, the first level barrier is the one whose intersection set and reachability set are same and is shown in Table 15.5. After finding the top level barrier, that barrier will be removed in the subsequent iteration and further levels are attained as shown in Tables 15.6e15.9, by repeating the process. This level partitions assist to build the diagraph and the ISM model is constructed as shown in Fig. 15.2. 4.4 Constructing ISM model The hierarchical structural model is created from the final RM (Table 15.4). An arrow directing from i to j depicts the connection between the blockchain barriers j and i and the resultant graph is known as diagraph. The digraph is transformed into the ISM model as shown in Fig. 15.2, by eliminating the transitivity. Due to its position at the base of the ISM

Table 15.4 Formation of final RM. Blockchain barriers

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

Driver power

1 1 0 1* 1 0 1 0 1 0 6

0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 4

0 1 1 1* 0 1 1 1 1* 0 7

0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 3

1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 6

0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 7

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

0 1 1* 1 0 1 1* 1 1* 0 7

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

1 1 1* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10

3 7 4 8 3 4 9 4 9 1

* denotes changes in the Final RM due to transitivity check.

An ISM and MICMAC approach

B1. Poor reputation B2.Lack of skilled developers B3. Lack of scalability B4. Lack of standardization B5. Lack of privacy B6. Slow performance B7. Lack of regulation B8. Massive energy consumption B9. Lack of awareness B10. Lack of teamwork Dependence power

B1

243

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Table 15.5 First-level partitions for blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Reachability set

Antecedent set

B1

B1, B5, B10

B1, B5

B2

B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B8, B10 B3, B6, B8, B10

B1, B2, B4, B5, B7, B9 B2, B4, B7, B9 B2, B3, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9 B4, B7, B9

B3,B 6, B8

B1, B7, B2, B7, B7

B1, B5

B3 B4 B5

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B8, B10 B1, B5, B10

B6

B3, B6, B8, B10

B7

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B10 B3, B6, B8, B10

B8 B9

B10

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B8, B9, B10 B10

B2, B4, B5, B9 B3, B4, B6, B8, B9

Intersection set

Level

B2

B4

B3, B6, B8 B7

B2, B3, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9 B9

B3, B6, B8

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B10

B10

B9

I

hierarchy shown in Fig. 15.2, the lack of awareness and lack of regulation are the significant barriers preventing the implementation of blockchain technology in SC. ISM places lack of teamwork at the top of its hierarchy since it depends on other barriers. 4.5 MICMAC analysis The MICMAC approach is based on multiplication properties of matrices and the main purpose of MICMAC approach is for analyzing the barriers’ driver and dependence power. The barriers are grouped into four categories in MICMAC analysis, as illustrated in Fig. 15.3. The blockchain barriers, which is having weak driving and weak dependence power are placed in the first cluster, known as “autonomous barriers” and the barriers grouped in this cluster are relatively isolated from the system and have only few links

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An ISM and MICMAC approach

Table 15.6 Second-level partitions for blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Reachability set

Antecedent set

B1

B1, B5

B2

B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B8 B3, B6, B8

B1, B2, B4, B5, B7, B9 B2, B4, B7, B9

B3 B4 B5

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B8 B1, B5

B6

B3, B6, B8

B7

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8 B3, B6, B8

B8 B9

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B8, B9

B2, B3, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9 B4, B7, B9 B1, B7, B2, B7, B7

B2, B4, B5, B9 B3, B4, B6, B8, B9

B2, B3, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9 B9

Intersection set

Level

B1, B5

II

B2 B3, B6, B8

II

B4 B1, B5

II

B3, B6, B8

II

B7 B3, B6, B8

II

B9

Table 15.7 Third-level partitions for blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Reachability set

B2

B2

B4 B7 B9

B2, B4 B2, B4, B7 B2, B4, B9

Antecedent set

B2, B4, B7, B9 B4, B7, B9 B7 B9

Intersection set

Level

B2

III

B4 B7 B9

Table 15.8 Fourth-level partitions for blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Reachability set

Antecedent set

Intersection set

B4 B7 B9

B4 B4, B7 B4, B9

B4, B7, B9 B7 B9

B4 B7 B9

Level

IV

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Table 15.9 Fifth-level partitions for blockchain barriers. Blockchain barriers

Reachability set

Antecedent set

Intersection set

Level

B7 B9

B7 B9

B7 B9

B7 B9

V V

Lack of Teamwork

Poor Reputation

Lack of Scalability

Lack of Privacy

Slow Performance

Massive Energy Consumption

Lack of Skilled Developers

Lack of Standardization

Lack of Awareness

Lack of Regulation

Figure 15.2 ISMdbased hierarchical model for blockchain barriers.

that may be of great importance. The barriers which is having weak driving but strong dependence power are placed in the second cluster, known as “dependent barriers” and these barriers mostly depend on other barriers. In third cluster, known as “linkage barriers,” the barriers which is having strong driving as well as strong dependence power are positioned and these barriers are unstable in nature. As a result of the instability of linkage barriers, any action on these barriers will impact others and have a response on themselves. The barriers which is having strong driving and strong dependence power are placed in the fourth cluster, known as “independent barriers.” As the independent barriers have very strong driver power, these barriers are also called the key barriers. The driver-dependence power diagram is formed as shown in Fig. 15.3, by positioning all the blockchain barriers in four clusters.

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An ISM and MICMAC approach

Driving power B10

Independent barriers

B9

B7, B9

Linkage barriers IV

B8

III

B4

B7

B2

B6 B5

Autonomous barriers

B4

Dependence barriers B3, B6, B8

I

B3

II

B1, B5

B2 B1

B10 B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

Dependence Power

Figure 15.3 Driver-dependence power diagram.

5. Results and discussion Blockchain technology is considered to be the next transformational breakthrough and it is receiving lot of attention from researchers, practitioners, and regulators from all around the world. The implementation of blockchain technology in SC offers numerous benefits. However, blockchain technology creates considerable challenge in the process of adoption and integration. We have outlined some of the main barriers here and analyzed the interactions among them based on the ISM model. An understanding of the relative significance and interdependencies of the barriers can be gained from the driver-dependency diagram. Therefore, the supply chain industries will be able to deal with these barriers more proactively as a result of having some better insights. The following are the important findings from this research study: • It is clear from Fig. 15.3 that no barriers found under the autonomous barrier, indicating that all the blockchain barriers considered in this study are essential in the adoption of blockchain technology in SC.

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•

Poor reputation, lack of scalability, lack of privacy, slow performance, massive energy consumption, and lack of teamwork falls under the dependence barriers category. These dependence barriers have weak driving but strong dependent on other barriers. The manufacturing industries should give a special consideration while dealing with these dependence barriers in implementing blockchain technology in their SC. • In the category of linkage barriers, we do not find any barriers with a strong driving and strong dependence power. As a result, none of the 10 selected blockchain barriers are unstable in the present examination. • A further observation from Fig. 15.3 shows that following blockchain barriers fall under independent barriers categorydlack of skilled developers, lack of standardization, lack of regulation, and lack of awareness. These independent barriers with strong driver and weak dependence power are considered as “key barriers.” Therefore, the manufacturing industries must give high importance in handling these barriers. Blockchain barriers were placed in different levels for a better understanding of their implication in effective implementation of blockchain technology in SC. The ISM hierarchy model shown in Fig. 15.2 illustrates that lack of team work is at the top of the hierarchy and this barrier is influenced by the barriers at lower levels. Lack of skilled developers, lack of standardization, lack of regulation, and lack of awareness exhibit high driver and low dependence power and these barriers present at the bottom of the ISM model. This indicates that these barriers have a substantial part and contribute as key barriers in the effective implementation of blockchain technology in SC. Therefore, ISM methodology reinforces the blockchain technology’s views and illustrates the importance of it clearly. Using this approach, various barriers to successfully implement the blockchain technology in SC are identified and addressed with utmost care.

References Al-Jaroodi, J., & Mohamed, N. (2019). Blockchain in industries: A survey. IEEE Access, 7, 36500e36515. Avinash, A., Sasikumar, P., & Murugesan, A. (2018). Understanding the interaction among the barriers of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil in IndiadAn interpretive structural modeling approach. Renewable Energy, 127, 678e684. Chen, S., Liu, X., Yan, J., Hu, G., & Shi, Y. (2021). Processes, benefits, and challenges for adoption of blockchain technologies in food supply chains: A thematic analysis. Information Systems and E-Business Management, 19, 909e935.

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Dutta, P., Choi, T. M., Somani, S., & Butala, R. (2020). Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 142, 102067. Ghode, D., Yadav, V., Jain, R., & Soni, G. (2020). Adoption of blockchain in supply chain: An analysis of influencing factors. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 33(3), 437e456. Goldsby, T. J., & Zinn, W. (2016). Technology innovation and new business models: Can logistics and supply chain research accelerate the evolution? Journal of Business Logistics, 37(2), 80e81. Hileman, G., & Rauchs, M. (2017). Global Blockchain benchmarking study. U.K: Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.2139/ ssrn.3040224. Available at:. Movahedipour, M., Zeng, J., Yang, M., & Wu, X. (2017). An ISM approach for the barrier analysis in implementing sustainable supply chain management: An empirical study. Management Science, 55(8), 1824e1850. Queiroz, M. M., Telles, R., & Bonilla, S. H. (2020). Blockchain and supply chain management integration: A systematic review of the literature. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 25(2), 241e254. Queiroz, M. M., & Wamba, S. F. (2019). Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA. International Journal of Information Management, 46, 70e82. Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., Sarkis, J., & Shen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 57(7), 2117e2135. Umar, S. S., Asokan, P., Sasikumar, P., Mathiyazhagan, K., & Jerald, J. (2022). An integrated decision making approach for the selection of battery recycling plant location under sustainable environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 330, 129784. Wang, Y., Han, J. H., & Beynon-Davies, P. (2019). Understanding blockchain technology for future supply chains: A systematic literature review and research agenda. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 24(1), 62e84. Werbach, K. (2018). Trust, but verify: Why the Blockchain needs the law. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 33(2), 487e550. Yli-Huumo, J., Ko, D., Choi, S., Park, S., & Smolander, K. (2016). Where is current research on blockchain technology?dA systematic review. PLoS One, 11(10), e0163477. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163477 Zhao, G., Liu, S., Lopez, C., Lu, H., Elgueta, S., Chen, H., & Boshkoska, B. M. (2019). Blockchain technology in agri-food value chain management: A synthesis of applications, challenges and future research directions. Computers in Industry, 109, 83e99.

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CHAPTER 16

Blockchain-enabled humanitarian supply chain management: sustainability and responsibility Bavly Hanna, Guandong Xu, Xianzhi Wang and Jahangir Hossain University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

1. Introduction The novel COVID-19 has been causing an extraordinary pandemic throughout the world. The pandemic’s continuing effects have wreaked havoc on nearly every country’s economy. Almost every aspect of the human ecology has been impacted by the virus. The expenses of this pandemic will be quite significant, both directly and indirectly. While direct costs are linked with patient treatment and human life loss (i.e., the magnitude of the pandemic’s afflicted population), indirect costs are associated with lost productivity throughout the pandemic’s length. The World Health Organization (WHO) has ordered all of its member countries to maintain social isolation and social distance from the afflicted population. Nearly all nations are dealing with a range of economic issues, such as output decline as well as the necessity to support the poor and daily wage employees. Crucially, COVID-19’s problems have had a significant impact on the worldwide supply chain (SC), and future restoration techniques are one of the major study areas under SC resilience (Ivanov & Dolgui, 2020). Financial means, strategic targets, participation, and performance metrics are all factors to consider to differentiate humanitarian supply chains (HSCs) from typical commercial SCs since they are relief-oriented as well as nonprofit networks. In terms of time, location, and kind, there are certain differences between the two in terms of customer, demand attributes, environmental variables, random demand creation, and unexpected demand (Beamon & Balcik, 2008). According to Aranda et al. (2019) and Oloruntoba and Gray (2009), HSCs differ significantly from commercial or traditional SCs when it comes to their goals and nature, owing to a variety of various requirements for (1) forecast of demand under extreme time constraints, (2) more dependability Blockchain in a Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous World ISBN 978-0-323-89963-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-89963-5.00001-0

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

251

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to offer all essential material and information flows in design and maintenance while taking special conditions into accounts (temperature, expiry dates, and fragility are just a few examples), and (3) several agencies participating in “planning” and “resource allocation” to accomplish the desired goals. Blockchain (BC) allows SC businesses to solve many questions like “where is my container?” and “under what circumstances were my items transported?” by dissecting data silos and improving business-to-business (B2B) connectivity (Vyas et al., 2019). According to Tijan et al. (2019) BC allows for tracking each transaction (from the order through the arrival of the products, the invoice, and the payment). It eliminates paperwork and, as a result, helps to decrease mistakes, delays, and expenses across the SC. Kshetri (2018) analyzed 11 BC projects for supply chain management (SCM). BC will have an impact on quality, speed, reliability, and flexibility throughout the SCs. According to Montecchi et al. (2019), in a variety of sectors, BC can bring significant benefit to SC operations through creating knowledge of provenance and consequently decreasing consumer risk perceptions. These sectors include “pharmaceuticals” (Heutger & Kückelhaus, 2018), “luxury objects” (Choi, 2019), and “agri-food” products (Caro et al., 2018). While numerous researchers have looked into BC’s impact and ramifications in conventional and industrial SCs operations and logistics, there have been limited studies that have looked at HSCs. Some research in conventional SCM, operations, and logistics centered on demonstrating the feasibility of implementing BC in SCs (Wu, et al., 2017a, b). According to Wang, Han, and Beynon-Davies (2019) and Kshetri (2018), logistics businesses could modify BC systems to make use of some of the technology’s major features, including “traceability” and “security,” to make transactions “accessible” and “safe.” Furthermore, smart contracts, an additional essential component of BC, might play a big role in future BC deployments in the logistics sector by improving logistical operations efficiency (Wang, Singgih, et al., 2019). Additionally, it is believed that BC could increase customers’ faith in the network by allowing them to track items along the SC with complete certainty (Queiroz & Wamba, 2019). Saberi et al. (2019) identified four hurdles to BC adoption: (1) interorganizational, (2) intraorganizational, (3) technical, and (4) external. The rest of the chapter is designed as follows: Section 2 analyzes the related theories to supply chain management. Section 3 is a review of barriers to humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM). This is

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followed by a discussion of the attributes of a BC to supply chain management in Section 4 and a conclusion in Section 5.

2. Theory-based supply chain management The necessity for middle-range theorizing has developed as the logistics area has grown from a fairly description-based discipline to another discipline that is established on a good theoretical foundation (Stank et al., 2017). Middle-range organizational theories,1 in contrast to general theorizing, are more particular in terms of the field of research and focus on a deeper understanding of “why,” “how,” and “when” specific results occur (Astbury & Leeuw, 2010). A separate taxonomy of theories divides them into categories of analysis, explanation, prediction, or prescription based on their methodological approach (Gregor, 2006). Table 16.1 shows the relevance of organizational theories in the SCM paradigm. 2.1 Social exchange theory (SET) According to social exchange theory (SET), the advantages of social exchange are weighed against the possible benefits of other exchange interactions, such as those gained from a different type of trade or a different partner. As a result, whether parties maintain or terminate an existing exchange relationship is determined by the relative advantage of the connection (Lambe et al., 2001). Both in the fundamental works on the SET (Blau, 1964) and those evaluating the theory in the context of B2B, the notion of trust is regarded to be one of the most essential aspects of SET (Smith & Barclay, 1997). The assumption that trade is dependable and that parties will fulfill their promises has been characterized as trust (Lambe et al., 2001). “Trust is a crucial lubricant of a social system,” writes Arrow (1974). Trust is typically developed over time via repeated, pleasant trade encounters (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005).

1

We have analyzed 10 theories related to the SCM, however there are additional 14 theories that could be applied to SCM including “channel coordination CC,” “stakeholder Theory STK,” “relational exchange theory RET,” “resource-dependence theory RDT,” “just-in-time JIT,” “material requirements planning MRP,” “theory of constraints TOC,” “total quality management TQM,” “agile manufacturing AM,” “time-based competition TBC,” “quick response manufacturing QRM,” “customer relationship management CRM,” “requirements chain management RCM,” and “available-to-promise ATP.”

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Table 16.1 Organizational theories application in SCM. Theory

SCM application

SET

Social relationships and transaction are the product of a cost-benefit analysis. The institution’s formation, sustainability, and competitive advantage are influenced by tangible and intangible resources. Lowering the cost of asset specification and uncertainty. The use of vertical integration. Competitive advantage comes from knowledge. The production of SC value is boosted via information exchange. The formation of structural forms. Environmental characteristics are manipulated. Relevant performance standards are chosen. Conflict arising from authority delegation increases internalization. Collaboration is encouraged through positive relationships. Examining the surroundings for potential collaboration opportunities by using excellent practices. Simplifying the relationships between system components to better comprehend and analyze the results created by SC. Multiparty interorganizational interactions improve the resource capabilities and competencies of individual institutions. MLM creates systems to guarantee that inventory levels are kept under control.

RBV TCT KBV SCT AT INT ST NPT MLM

SET has been used in a variety of fields since its inception in the 1950e60s, including management of SCs (Gligor et al., 2019); management of communication and knowledge (Yan et al., 2016); sustainability (Wang, Xiang, et al., 2019); management of human resource and governance (Waldkirch et al., 2018); and relationships in the workplace (Chernyak-Hai & Rabenu, 2018). Trust must be created quickly in some circumstances, such as when interim organizational structures have to be operational and produce results in a short amount of time, for example, when a group of stakeholders (people or organizations) is gathered to complete a specific, short-term endeavor (Meyerson et al., 1996). This paradigm, dubbed “swift trust,” applies to digitalized organizational structures and the sharing economy, in which individuals from transitory ties over brief periods (Blomqvist & Cook, 2018). In literature about sharing economy, swift trust is a recurring idea. It is based on processes like reputation, clearly defined responsibilities and expectations, continual information sharing, and mutually agreed-upon standards and regulations (Meyerson et al., 1996). Tatham and Kovács (2010) extend the idea to the field of humanitarian logistics, in which ad

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hoc and hurriedly constructed networks are used by numerous relief groups. Norms are considered another important component of SET. They are described as the rules that govern the exchange procedure, i.e., the mechanisms that govern the stakeholders’ interactions and activities. As a result, standards govern conduct, make social interactions easier, and boost transactional efficiency (Lambe et al., 2001). They might be unspoken (e.g., an expectation of reciprocity) or formally bargained (such as a business-tobusiness contract). Norms that have been explicitly agreed to spill forth the stakeholders’ responsibilities and obligations (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). In the domains of tourism and hospitality, SET has been used to explore the sharing economy idea and the relevance of trust in exchange interactions (Altinay & Taheri, 2019). Lee et al. (2014) have applied SET to the field of tourism, including loyalty programs and the process of contact and exchange between local and visitor populations. Priporas et al. (2017) analyzed, through the perspective of SET, how do customers evaluate service quality in the shared lodging industry? They discovered that trustrelated aspects are the most essential contributors to service quality, like convenience2 and assurance.3 Boateng et al. (2019) used SET as a theoretical foundation to investigate consumers’ motivation to engage in the sharing economy, specifically what motivates people to utilize Uber services, and discovered that trust, convenience, and customer return on investment are the most important motivators. 2.2 Resource-based view (RBV) Barney (1991) states that “the RBV examines the link between a firm’s internal characteristics and performance.” RBV could assist with resource allocation to achieve a competitive edge. The BC’s unique qualities are likely to render certain benefits outdated, but they may also create strategic possibilities for early adopters (IBM, 2017). According to RBV, the SC management process should be designed based on the resources available to the institution. It is vital to consider social, environmental, and economic variables in order for an SCM to be long-term viable (Shibin et al., 2017). The RBV hypothesis describes the link between SC strategic resources and its capacity 2 3

Including readily available information. Including neighborhood safety and security systems usage.

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to gain a competitive advantage in this regard (Hitt et al., 2016). RBV helps institutions improve their SCM agility, flexibility, and alignment (Dubey et al., 2018). In the development of self-sufficient capacities to enhance “corporate performance,” the resources of “heterogeneity,” “allocation,” “independence,” “utilization,” and “imitability” stand out (Walker et al., 2015). The RBV regards the application of a collection of “tangible” and “intangible resources” as the basis for a “competitive advantage.” Resources must be diversified and immovable in order for a competitive advantage to be maintained. Furthermore, in order to gain a competitive edge, resources must be precious, uncommon, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable (Peteraf, 1993). RBV has gotten a lot of attention in operations management and SCM research for recommending that SC operations be focused on sustainability. RBV, as one of the most effective conceptual foundations for SC, may give a competitive edge (Nishant et al., 2016). According to Miemczyk et al. (2016), the RBV may illustrate the value of new resources in technology, knowledge, and connections, highlighting the role of SCM in continually responding to changes in the corporate environment in order to refresh strategic resources and maintain BP. 2.3 Transaction cost theory (TCT) According to Coase (1937), the TCT proposes that choosing the most efficient forms of “inter-organizational” and “intra-organizational” structures has an influence on the efficiency of various forms of governance systems in terms of productivity and transaction costs. Ex-ante costs of commencement4 and agreement5 are included in transaction costs, as are ex-post costs of control and adjustment. TCT is prevalent using transaction costs encountered during the supply management process. TCT could illustrate how intra- and interorganizational transaction costs would alter as a result of the BC. In addition, how this will affect organizational borders (Cocco et al., 2017). The economic and social results of trade exchanges are referred to as benefits. A transaction, more precisely, provides economic and/or social advantages (such as a philanthropic gift or a feeling of belonging), when combined, defines the exchange relationship’s overall outcome. 4 5

Such as search and information. Such as negotiation and decision making.

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When evaluating SCM on outsourcing, Tsay, et al. (2018) found TCT as the most widely employed theoretical paradigm. According to the TCT of SCM, an SC’s coordination (resulting in effective governance) is dependent on transaction cost minimization in terms of “ex-ante efficiency” measures like organizational integration, as well as production cost minimization in terms of “ex-post efficiency” measures like production input selection (Williamson, 2008). “Asset specificity,” “uncertainty,” and “frequency” are highlighted as major constructs of a transaction. “Incentive intensity,” “administrative control,” and “contract law regime” are identified as essential constructs of a governance structure. According to Clemons et al. (1993), transaction costs may be broken down into two categories: “coordination costs” and “transactions risk.” Transaction risk is divided into two categories. The first component is “small numbers bargaining,” in which a corporation exposes itself to opportunistic conduct by procuring from the market when there are only a few suppliers capable of offering the goods. The second component is “loss of resource control” as it relates to outsourcing a proprietary product, which may raise the likelihood of opportunistic conduct. 2.4 Knowledge-based view (KBV) KBV is based on the information knowledge that is now accessible. According to KBV, Grant (1996) perceives knowledge to be an institution’s most significant resource. In today’s information-intensive SCs, there is a rising interest in researching and controlling knowledge flows (Ketchen et al., 2008). Knowledge-based linkages are defined as implicit and explicit connections with high degrees of tacit knowledge, are impacted by and anchored in human interactions, and are characterized by informal socialization mechanisms (Carey & Lawson, 2011). Each institution is viewed as a link in the SC between suppliers and customers. Employee competencies and development impact an institution’s SCM performance, according to both theoretical and empirical research (McAfee et al., 2002). These contributions imply that the successful management of complex information flows linked to long-term competitive advantage. In SCM, organizational knowledge is considered a valuable resource. Finding significant knowledge assets in these SCs and efficiently using that information is a critical task (Desouza et al., 2003). Craighead (2009) analyzed the influence of knowledge on SCs and business performance.

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Schoenherr et al. (2014) proved empirically that knowledge improves SC effectiveness in several ways. Hult et al. (2006) explored why some SCs outperform others. They concluded that the degree to which strategy and organizational knowledge aspects interlock has a direct influence on SC performance. Hult et al. (2004) examined the effect of knowledge management on cycle time in strategic SCs. They discovered that the knowledge development process might account for a significant amount of variation. Knowledge development is one of the drivers for enhancing strategic SCM, according to Hult et al. (2007). In general, they agreed that in SCM, knowledge is a valuable, scarce, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable resource that provides a competitive advantage. 2.5 Strategic choice theory (SCT) SCT is built on and depends on several strategic theories that managers employ to guarantee that they choose the most suitable SC decisions (Ketchen & Hult, 2006). According to SCT, managers’ choices have a huge impact on whether an institution succeeds or fails (Child & Mansfield, 1972). Strategic renewal and repositioning are fundamental challenges in SCT. The premise is that institutions will actively shape and enact their environment. SCT aims to address questions about various areas of SCM research, such as the direct and indirect implications of SC decision-making on profit and sustainability (Ketchen & Hult, 2007). Miles et al. (1978) discussed the organizational SC strategies that adapt to the lifecycle of the company, as well as SC strategies that may handle several organizational strategies. In addition, the circumstances that led to each of those tactics becoming more effective. One of the limitations of the SCT in defining SC activities is that it focuses more on “governance structure” and “political pressures” in “decision-making” and less on the effective execution of “organizational operations.” The SCT, according to Child (1997), stresses the importance of authoritative management groups that could “influence the structures of their organizations through a basically political process.” SCT, according to Ketchen and Hult (2007), is an acceptable framework for describing the strategic SCM paradigm. In comparison to a conventional SC, SCT that specializes in “best value” selection may define the extent to which “best value” SC models can affect organizational outcomes. Unlike externally based approaches such as institutional theory,

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SCT focuses on intraorganizational strategies to supply particular qualities such as agility and flexibility. 2.6 Agency theory (AT) According to agency theory, the principaleagent relationship functions best under specific contractual frameworks. The connection between the principals and the agents is explained by AT. In most agency partnerships, the principal tries to cut agency costs by “defining, “rewarding,“ and “monitoring“ the agent’s behavior, while the agent tries to maximize rewards while minimizing the principal’s “control” (Fayezi et al., 2012). AT ensures that cost-cutting and revenue-boosting measures are implemented. Smart contracts can eliminate or mitigate the problem of information asymmetry from an AT viewpoint (ISDA, 2017). According to Fayezi et al. (2012), AT provides a “mechanism that may be used to explain how players (both independently and as a collective) within the SC respond to TCT dilemmas where rational and nonrational behavior occurs.” Agency theory, according to Stock (1997), may give alternative explanations for a variety of difficulties that are significant to both research and practice. Firstly, the formation of inter- and intraorganizational connections. Secondly, the upkeep of intricate ties between suppliers and customers. Thirdly, the consequences of SC decisions on risk-sharing, power dynamics, and conflict. Fourthly, determining the costs and advantages of making versus buying decisions. Outside of the SCM environment, there have been arguments in favor of combining TCT with AT (Williamson, 1988). Understanding the many facets of ACM is aided by AT. It may explain how a principal’s actions affect the agent’s willingness to collaborate and obey, as well as guide contractual responses to both actors’ “outcome/behavioral” uncertainty (Fayezi et al., 2012). 2.7 Institutional theory (INT) INT is constructed on the notions that govern the institution. According to INT, “organizations implement business practices because doing so enhances their legitimacy” (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). This theory can provide valuable insights on SCM tools and practice adoption. INT may be used to describe how changes in societal values, technology improvements, and legislation influence decisions about “green” sustainable activities and environmental management (Tate et al., 2010). Market forces along with the SC, according to Gonzalez et al. (2008), have a substantial influence on the adoption of environmental measures.

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They conclude that companies with a certified EMS place greater pressure on their suppliers to adopt environmental practices, claiming that environmental awareness diffuses upstream in the SC. According to Zhu and Sarkis (2007), these three institutional constraints have a moderating influence on Chinese firms’ GSCM practices and performance. They show that normative and coercive constraints modulate certain GSCM practices to enhance firms’ environmental performance, although the presence of mimetic pressure increased GSCM practices’ economic performance. However, none of the pressures result in a win-win situation for GSCM in terms of increased economic and environmental performance. Delmas and Toffel (2004) study how different organizational methods led to the adoption of environmental management techniques using INT. A core firm inside a supply chain (Hall, 2001) and government regulation are two major drivers of green rule modifications (Rivera, 2004). 2.8 Systems theory (ST) ST is focused on the institution’s SC management systems. ST is based on the systems of the institution (Halldorsson et al., 2007). In the realm of information systems (IS), Yourdon (1989) utilized general systems theory. In comparison with prior scholars who used general systems theory to physical items, his work is groundbreaking in that he extended it to ethereal objects and notions (Miller, 1978). SC is said to be comparable to IS in that they are more ethereal than tangible, have established and repeatable operational methods, and exist to support a business’s economic aim, such as the exchange of products or services. Given these parallels, it was thought that Yourdon’s (1989) work might be useful. The number of “material flow,” “service flow,” and “information flow” loops have increased as SCs have expanded from simple dyad interactions to fairly complex networks (Stonebraker & Afifi, 2004). Long SCs are complex dynamic systems with potential challenges such as time delays, discontinuities, and non-linearities (Fowler, 1999), and hence would struggle to adapt to quickly changing settings. Lai et al. (2001), in their examination of the rising complexity of Chinese service organizations and the increasing amount of disorder in their operations, provide more evidence for this idea.

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2.9 Network perspective theory (NPT) To assist SC in connecting at all levels, the NPT offers linkages and explanations for all of the networks that are available. The BC’s promise to provide “trustless trust” can be fully investigated using NPT (Werbach, 2018). Due to their mathematical tractability, the modeling of networks has used either a regular network model or a random network model (Erdos & Renyi, 1960). A regular network model, for example, has an ordered set of connections between nodes and a regular topology shown by a lattice structure. A random network model, on the other hand, has a random topology represented by a random set of connections between nodes. Understanding the fundamental structure, features, and methods of SC creation is crucial if supply chains are to be described as networks. Each SC partner has its own organizational traits, industry nuances, and supply network position (Zsidisin et al., 2005). As a result, not all risks have the same amount of impact on the SC. Internal, interfirm, and external turbulences all have the potential to destabilize such a network of linkages. The complexity of the SC makes it challenging to develop a risk management model that can account for all of the risk variables that impact a network at the same time. Overreaction, needless interventions, second-guessing, distrust, and inaccurate information all contribute to the network’s risk (Childerhouse et al., 2002). The changing nature of SC performance indicators is the second problem of SC risk management. Efficiency and responsiveness remain critical SC performance metrics, and resilience has been introduced to the vocabulary of SC KPIs. The capacity to tolerate and recover from disturbances is referred to as resilience. The capacity of a system to recover to its original state or to transition to a new, more desired state after being disrupted is a key quality for resilience (Christopher & Peck, 2004). Developing resilient SCs necessitates a thorough understanding of the elements that might cause disruption and contingency strategies to address them. The SC resilience is predicated on passive rescue and recovery thinking, which is a key flaw in this strategy. However, proactive resilience takes into account the inevitability of change and aims to build a system that can adapt to changing conditions and requirements (Dovers & Handmer, 1992). As a result, a better understanding of what causes vulnerability in SCs is required.

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2.10 Materials logistics management (MLM) theory The “Law of Industrial Dynamics” is a well-known phenomenon that causes considerable demand fluctuations as orders go down an SC. Large swings in demand forces the company to implement practices that contradict the goals of materials logistics management (Bowersox et al., 1985). • “reducing inventories while maintaining strategic stocks.” • “improving product quality.” • “lowering total cost of operations and procurement.” • “ensuring customer service levels.” • “reducing variance in the material flow.” The two primary flows that must be considered while designing an SC are the “down” SC information flow and the “up” SC material conveyance to the end consumer. Retailers, wholesalers, and the manufacturing company’s own sales, marketing, and distribution operations have traditionally kept a production facility away from the ultimate customer. As a result, each level is likely to represent a distinct decision-making point that takes into account factors such as: • perceived demand, • process capabilities, • disturbances due to machine/equipment breakdowns, • information and material flow transmission delays, and • inventory, work in progress, and output rates.

3. Barriers to humanitarian supply chain management HSCs are responsible for obtaining needed resources, transporting them to the afflicted area, and delivering them to the victims. The literature has identified several problems in HSCM. Numerous studies, for instance, have identified a lack of coordination as a critical issue in HSCs (Petrudi et al., 2020). This challenge could result in a variety of consequences, spanning from inefficient assistance distribution to actor rivalry for scarce resources and transportation network traffic congestion (Kabra & Ramesh, 2015). Furthermore, financing issues have been identified as a key impediment to HSCM (Kovacs & Moshtari, 2019). Fig. 16.1 shows the major challenges of HSCM.

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Figure 16.1 Major challenges of HSCM.

Given these obstacles, there is a pressing urge to create more effective, efficient, and durable methods to surmount HSCM hurdles that will eventually improve HSCs performance. It may be claimed that, among many other options, BC and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could play an important role in tackling these difficulties and challenges (Dubey et al., 2020). While a large number of studies are attempting to uncover possible BC applications in SC and logistics (Cole et al., 2019), In the literature, there are relatively little empirical research and case studies (Ar et al., 2020). Rozman et al. (2019) created a framework that allows decision-makers to integrate BC and IoT into SC processes. Recent disasters have revealed difficulties in the flow of aid, data, and financial resources (Santos-Reyes et al., 2010). Reduced relief delivery lead times, enhanced collaboration and communication, dependable accountability and transparency, real-time data, and responsive procedures are all requirements of the HSC. There are several intriguing suggestions to fulfill these goals, but the majority of them are separate techniques to address specific flaws in HSCs. To find the most effective ways to improve HSCs, it is necessary to take a peek at the entire SC, as well as the three flows provided (Wang, Han, & Beynon-Davies, 2019). Integrating multiple EDTs can be a good way to supplement, track, and execute choices.

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HSCs are largely concerned with getting goods to people who may be affected by catastrophes or complicated situations. Identifying and addressing numerous problems and constraints in relief chains is one of the most significant topics in HSCM (Petrudi et al., 2020). As the incidence and intensity of catastrophes increase throughout the world, humanitarian supply networks must be ready to respond efficiently. Nonetheless, humanitarian groups working on relief operations have several challenges that must be addressed. As a result, it’s not unexpected that the HSCM literature has focused on these challenges. Several studies have looked into the difficulties and roadblocks that HSCs face.6 The problems faced by different sorts of catastrophe and emergency occurrences, stages of disaster assistance, and many sorts of humanitarian groups were explored by Kovacs and Spens (2009). Internal stakeholders, input and output environment, competitive environment, and regulatory environment were all identified as obstacles. Balcik et al. (2010) investigated the synchronization challenges of HSC and discovered that the fundamental drivers of coordination challenges were various participants, donor preferences, financing arrangements, subsidy competition, unpredictability, asset scarcity or excess, and coordination. Despite the excitement and frequent public announcements about the development of BC applications in the SCM space, several hurdles remain in the way of mainstream adoption. Saberi et al. (2019) classify them into four groups: • Intraorganizational barriers (e.g., a lack of knowledge and cultural restrictions that hinder the implementation of new systems), • Interorganizational barriers (e.g., a reluctance to share data with SC partners), • System-related barriers (e.g., BC technology’s immaturity), and • External barriers (e.g., in the logistics business, there is a lack of government policies and integration). 6

Humanitarian relief hurdles have been divided into several classes in some research. Kabra et al. (2017), for example, investigated HSCM coordination hurdles and classified them into five categories: (1) managerial, (2) technology, (3) culture, (4) people, and (5) organizational. Kabra and Ramesh (2015) identified 23 hurdles to coordination in HSCM and classified them into five categories: (1) strategic, (2) individual, (3) organizational, (4) technological, and (5) cultural. In addition, Petrudi, et al. (2020) looked at over 50 hurdles and divided them into eight categories: (1) resources, (2) management, (3) organizational, (4) interorganizational, (5) impacted population, (6) aid workers, (7) environment, and (8) communication.

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As shown by the growing number of publications, BC has sparked a surge in interest in SCM. However, empirical studies on the subject of SCM are lacking (Pournader et al., 2020), and theory-based research are required to provide the theoretical underpinnings for BC research (Treiblmaier, 2018). Table 16.2 outlines some of the obstacles to BC adoption in SCs (Kumar et al., 2019; Wang, Han, & Beynon-Davies, 2019). It’s worth noting that a unified theory of technology acceptance and usage has been developed in the literature to investigate the adoption factors (Queiroz et al., 2019).

Table 16.2 Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain management. Challenges

Explanation

Organizational requirement and readiness

• Inadequate knowledge of the rewards and difficulties associated. • Knowledge of complicated technology is limited. • Because this is a new technology, there aren’t many examples of its application. • A conviction that traditional information and database technologies can solve most problems and that BC is unnecessary. • It’s tough to ensure the accuracy of input data. • It’s difficult to persuade all parties to share information. • The organization and efficient utilization of such vast volumes of data is a challenge. • Various BC systems are being created, and many attempts are being made in silos. • All of these must be standardized, and easy interoperability must be ensured. • Otherwise, rather than simplifying things, it will make them more confusing and challenging.

Data collection and management

Interoperability of systems

Continued

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Table 16.2 Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain management.dcont'd Challenges

Explanation

Concerns about cost, security, privacy, and legality

• Technology adoption and transformation at the corporate level is an expensive and lengthy process. • Because the technology is currently young and fragile, model and data privacy and security must be maintained. • Regulatory ambiguity can lead to a slew of unwelcome problems. • If the system fails, the entire organization might suffer. • After considering the implementation economics, both in terms of expenditure and threat, BC should be used carefully. • It is a significant shift in all elements of an established company. • There are a lot of stakeholders involved, and altering old mindsets, cultures, and work methods is a significant deal. • Different parties may have contradictory objectives. • Intermediaries participating at various levels may be removed, perhaps causing rifts. • Acceptance is hampered by uncertainty and a lack of awareness. • There is a fear that using BC technology would result in job losses.

People, processes and technology transition and integration

4. Attributes of a blockchain to supply chain management A BC is an encrypted digital record that is stored on numerous computers in a network that can be public or private. BCs are made up of data records or blocks. Every transaction is logged and saved in a block. A BC is made up of data records or blocks. A block is created for each transaction. Each block is interconnected with the one before it and the one after it. In an irreversible chain, each block is appended to the next, and transactions are then blocked together. As a result, “blockchain” was coined. After these blocks have been assembled in a chain, no one actor may change or delete

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them. Governance methods, on the other hand, are employed to check and manage them (Cheng et al., 2017). BC is seen as a transformational technology with the potential to improve SCM transparency and trust in a variety of sectors. Some think that as BC technology improves, it will be able to solve social injustice and poverty (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016). The social aspect of sustainable SCM and its long-term viability has become more important to SC academics (De Burca et al., 2005). The literature emphasizes the influence of business by including the impoverished as suppliers or customers, which is often associated with the notion of corporate social responsibility, CSR (Eriksson & Goran, 2015). According to the literature on the bottom/base of the pyramid (BoP), technology should be “participatory” to serve its objective of improving all parties, including the BoP (Hall et al., 2014). BC-enabled social innovations open up new possibilities for this field of study. The current state-of-the-art achievements in SCM are the consequence of several significant developments. SCs have learned a great deal about how to operate in accordance with nature and social goals (sustainability). In addition, ways to make themselves more resilient in the face of severe natural or man-made calamities. Furthermore, the process of recovery and management of the repercussions of their lean, responsive, and globally integrated structural designs (Dolgui et al., 2020). Moreover, how to make use of the benefits of digital technology in SCM. L’Hermitte and Nair (2020) created a BC-enabled conceptual framework for sharing logistical resources during the emergency operations marketplace. This framework links emergency responders and corporate organizations by combining the aforementioned theoretical ideas, academic literature, and practical experiences. The usage of BC in the framework allows consumers and providers of logistical resources to communicate and exchange resources directly, without the need for a central organization. Emergency responders, as consumers of logistical resources, require supplies and the ability to transport and warehouse these goods, as well as making them available whenever and wherever they are required by catastrophe victims. Emergency supplies include shelter items, equipment, and medical supplies that can be made temporarily available and returned to the owner after use (such as crutches and wheelchairs). Shipping containers, vehicles,7 railroads, airplanes, ships, and barges are among the transportation resources required to convey relief supplies and/or people. 7

Such as trucks with drivers or driverless trucks.

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A crucial component of efficient emergency response is the fast transfer of freight between modes of transportation, as demonstrated by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Kaikoura on New Zealand’s South Island on November 14, 2016, which stranded thousands of people due to key road and rail lines are closed immediately (L’Hermitte et al., 2018). Finally, storage facilities include warehouse space dedicated for relief supplies, yard as well as parking areas for trucks, trailers, and containers. These resources enable the distribution of emergency supplies within or close to disaster-affected communities across several sites. Commercial organizations are willing and able to offer emergency goods, transportation resources, as well as storage capacity to relief operations, which are known as logistical resource providers. Transporters, logistics businesses, merchants, construction firms, producers of heavy machinery, leasing and rental firms, and any other company with accessible resources are examples. Companies that operate in all means of transportation, such as air, train, road, and sea, are considered transporters (including coastal shipping). Because of their proximity (in or near disasteraffected areas), sophisticated logistical procedures, vast networks of transportation, storage, and distribution, as well as the capacity to source and distribute urgently required goods at short notice, retailers are another major corporate actor in disaster relief (Swanson & Smith, 2013; White, 2010). Organizations evaluate their advantage while engaging in trade contacts, according to Social Exchange Theory and the advantages of exchange interactions. Businesses typically participate in relief efforts to generate revenue, strengthen relationships with those affected parties (such as clients and the general public), improve their corporate image (since they believe it is their moral obligation to do so), and/or offer unique resources and core competencies (Kapucu, 2016). These advantages are either economic (such as increased income or asset utilization) or social in nature (such as assisting communities in need and making a charitable contribution). The benefits to users of logistical resources include improved resource diversity, faster availability of resources, and capacity access is more flexible (since resources are accessible on demand).

5. Conclusion Organizations participating in disaster relief activities face complicated situations as a result of disasters and crises (Gunasekaran et al., 2018). Natural

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catastrophes are increasingly impacting people’s lives. These occurrences indicate that the volatility of our environmental, economic, and social systems is rising at a quicker rate than many institutions and civilizations can handle. As a result, in recent years, the bulk of emerging economies have been either purposefully built or developed to run efficiently and successfully in predictable and stable conditions (Ivanov & Dolgui, 2019; Zhang et al., 2019). Unprecedented epidemic outbreaks have plagued the modern world, wreaking havoc not only on the efficacy of OSCM business models but also on society as a whole (Lin et al., 2020). The ripple effects of such disruptive events are common (Ivanov, 2020). While SCs across the world have already been affected by epidemics and pandemics, they have lately been slammed hard by an extraordinary, far-reaching breakout of a disruptive epidemic, notably the novel COVID-19, a new kind of extremely contagious coronavirus with potentially fatal effects (Boccaletti et al., 2020; Choi, 2020). Humanitarian logistics is concerned with the mobilization and administration of resources (both human and material) to assist catastrophe victims in difficult circumstances (Manopiniwes & Irohara, 2017). The delivery of supplies such as food, water, medications, cleaning kits, and tents is critical to the victims’ survival. However, the supply of services is hampered by broken infrastructure, many participants, unknown conditions, and the dynamic fluctuation of demands. According to Lee and Marc (2003), the existing disaster management systems are harmed by duplication of data input efforts, multiple formats, a lack of budget control, a lack of accountability, a lack of integrity in the procurement process, the lack of a central database, as well as the inefficiency of manual reporting and tracking. Limited collaboration among numerous parties, supply constraints, a lack of recordkeeping, and inadequate information management are all consequences of these problems (Whybark et al., 2010). The flood in Tabasco in 2007 is a notable example of these issues, which were exacerbated by the disaster’s extraordinary size. With the introduction of Industry 4.0, there is a chance to look at technology solutions that can help with disaster management.

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Index ‘Note: Page numbers followed by “f ” indicate figures and “t ” indicate tables.’

A Accessibility, Security, Accountability (ASA), 178 Agency theory (AT), 259 Agri food supply chains (AFSC), 101e103. See also Meat supply chain blockchain technology and applications in, 103e106 benefits of adopting, 106e110 challenges in implementing, 110e112, 113t Agriculture, 13 blockchain and supply chain in, 67e68 Agriculture industry, 102 Agriculture supply chain (ASC), 29, 48 Amazon Web Services, 157 Ambiguity, 102, 106 blockchain, 30e34 VUCA, 34e40 Anonymity, 10 Application layer, 63 Application Programming Interface (API), 129e130 Artificial Intelligence (AI), 29, 50, 102e103, 121, 200e201, 219e220, 227e228 Attendance keeping, 156e157 Auditability, 10, 62 Authenticating education records, 130 Automotive industry, 15 Autonomous barriers, 244e246

B Background check, 153 Banking frauds, 202 Barclays, 237 Barriers, 197e198 to blockchain adoption, 136e137 environmental barriers in context of external view, 205e207

in context of SCM, 205 organization barriers, 204e205 technological barriers, 203e204 Behavioral Volatility, 166 Big Data Analytics, 103, 110 Bitcoins, 21e22, 152, 157e158, 222, 225, 234, 237 Block body, 150e151 Blockchain (BC), 3, 17, 21e22, 30e34, 43e45, 58e63, 77, 124, 150, 176, 178, 182, 200 accountability, 233 advantages, 23e26 application in supply chain, 23e24 challenge in, 26 IoT and, 24e25 trade lens-container shipment blockchain, 26 in transport and logistics, 25 applications, 67e71 in agriculture, 67e68 in healthcare, 68e69 in real estate, 71 in smart grids, 69e70 in supply chain management, 11e15 architecture for SCM, 62e64 advantages of blockchain in SCM, 64 application layer, 63 consensus layer, 63 data layer, 63 network layer, 63 physical infrastructure layer, 63 cases for blockchain HR, 152e157 centralized ledger vs. blockchain, 31 characteristics, 10 classification, 7 components, 4e5 conceptual framework of, 59e60 consensus algorithms, 8e9 consensus mechanism, 60e61

277

278

Index

Blockchain (BC) (Continued) DAO, 7 death, 135 in different supply chain, application of, 48e51 consumer electronics supply chain, 49 food/agriculture supply chain, 48 health care supply chain, 49 industry 4.0 and manufacturing supply chain, 50 logistics and transportation, 51 digital signature, 6 to drive supply chain innovation, 26e27 in food production, 27 in shipping logistics, 26e27 feature of, 61e62, 252 good fit for application, 33e34 governance, 135 in HR, 157e158 hyperledger fabric vs. ethereum, 31e32 induced HRM, theorization of, 150e152 innovation, 94, 97 issues and challenges of blockchain adoption, 86e87 cost issues and challenges, 86e87 legal issues and challenges, 86 risk issues and challenges, 86 in meat business, implementation of, 83e85 network, 178 platforms, 9e10, 144 private BCT vs. public BCT, 31 in recruitments, 144e145 reliability, 233 in SCM, implementation challenges of, 65e67 blockchain scalability, 66 blockchain security, 67 data privacy in, 66 implementation cost of, 66 insufficient literacy in, 66 interoperability challenge, 67 lacks of partnership, 67 transitioning blockchain difficulty, 66 SHA 256 algorithm, 6e7 in supply chain, 252 sector, 15e16

volatility, 177e178 to supply chain management (SCM), 266e268 supply chain transparency, 26e27 for supply chain uncertainty, 46e48 risk involved in different type of organization, 47t understanding blockchain technology, 18e21 blockchain looks like, 19e21 viability of blockchain for supply chain, 21e22 bitcoin and blockchain, 21e22 smart contract, 22 working, 5e6, 145e147 Blockchain barriers, 237 description of, 238te239t interpretative structural modeling (ISM), 246f level partitions, 242, 244te246t Blockchain based Human Resource Management System (BcHRMS), 152 Blockchain in supply chain management (BSCM), 200 application of, 202e203 barricades in implementation of, 203e214 absence of organization vision and social alterations, 208 awareness and trust, lack of, 209 barricades in humanitarian supply chain, 208 bootstrapping, 210 challenges in forming consortium, 211 change in behavior, 210 in context of external view, 205e207 in context of SCM, 205 data storage, 209e210 distributed ledger expertise, 208 environmental barriers findings of study, 213e214 flexibility limitations, 211e212 government regulations and trust issues, lack of, 208 high computation power, 210

Index

inadequate funding, 210 major disadvantages of implementation of blockchain, 212 organization barriers, 204e205 potential security threats, 209 quantum computing, 211 regulatory issues, 210e211 scalability, 209 standardization of blockchain networks, 211 technological barriers, 203e204 competitive factors for implementation of BC, 201e202 materials and methods, 200 objective of study, 200 Blockchain technology (BCT), 3, 5e6, 43e44, 57e58, 65, 77e78, 81, 83e87, 90e91, 94e95, 103e106, 108, 121, 124e126, 130e131, 144, 150, 153e154, 177e178, 221, 224e225, 235, 247e248 adoption for SCM, 35 ambiguities for BCT in SCM, 38e40 applications in AFSC, 103e106 before blockchain vs. after blockchain implementation, 134t mapping blockchain characteristics, 131te132t mitigating challenges identified in, 128e132 problems identified in, 127e128 in talent supply chain management, 127e132 barriers to blockchain adoption, 136e137 benefits of, 178e186 adopting BCT, 106e110, 111t applications of BCT in supply chain technology, 187 BCT applications in Indian banking industry, 189 block chain fundamentally deals with information, 178e179 light house for high D/E companies, 184e185

279

management to be taken care by, 185e186 reactive inventory management and financial implications, 179e184 challenges in implementing blockchain technology, 110e112 characteristics, 125e126, 233 complexities for BCT in SCM, 37e38 design thinking for BCT in SCM, 36e37 in health care, 89e97 limitations of, 135e136 pillars of, 198e200 structures for supply chain, 198e200 significance of, 200e201 solution methodology, 237e246 constructing ISM model, 242e244 fifth-level partitions for, 242, 246t first-level partitions for, 242, 244t fourth-level partitions for, 242, 245t MICMAC analysis, 244e246, 247f reachabiliy matrix (RM), 240e241, 242te243t second-level partitions for, 242, 245t structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM), 239e240, 241t third-level partitions for, 242, 245t steps in information and blockchain transactions, 224f in supply chain, 45e46 literature, 235e237 management, importance and necessity of, 221e224 problem statement, 237, 238te239t results and discussion, 247e248 understanding blockchain technology, 150e152 Blockchain-based Recruitment Management System (BcRMS), 129e130, 152 Bull whip effect, 164 Business, 29, 58, 141, 149e150, 163e164 enterprise, 185 organization, 179 process management, 13, 77e78 Business-to-business (B2B), 252

280

Index

Buterin, 7 Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT), 8

C Cabrito food, 79e80 Candidate verification system, 153 Capretto, 79e80 Centralized ledger vs. blockchain, 31, 32t Certificate authority (CA), 49 Certifications, 144e145 Chain, 5 Circular economy model, 4, 43e44 Cloud database, 234 Complexity, 102, 106 blockchain, 30e34 VUCA, 34e40 Confident technology, 18e19 Consensus algorithms, 8e9 BFT, 8 DPoS, 8 PBFT, 9 POA, 9 PoB, 9 PoC, 9 PoS, 8 PoW, 8 Consensus layer, 63 Consensus mechanism, 22, 60e61, 77, 128e129 Consortium banking, 13 Consortium blockchain, 7, 125 Construction sector, 14e15 Consumers, 81e83 electronics supply chain, 49 Coordination costs, 257 Corda, 10 Core competency, 149e150 Cost, 16 COVID-19 pandemic, 43, 97, 251 Crypto technology of Decentralized Ledger System, 181 Cryptocurrencies, 38, 156e158, 220e221 blockchain HR, 154e156 Cryptographical method, 150e151 Cryptography

algorithms, 201, 228 and distributed systems, 124 Cryptotoken, 121 Cuisines, 79e81 Curry goat, 79e80 Customer-order-process management (COM), 13 Customers, 166 erratic behavior of, 172 Cutting-edge technology, 105e106 Cyber attacks, 135, 202

D Dark net, 237 Data aggregation, 89 consistency of, 68 data restriction, 69 decentralized architecture, 69 immutability, 89 integrity, 128e129 layer, 63 liquidity, 89 management system model, 128e129 modification of, 69 privacy in blockchain, 66 protection techniques, 209 security, 127 single copy of, 69 storage, 128e129 Database Management System (DBMS), 122 Database system, 5e6, 146 Decentralization system, 10, 20, 150e151, 225 Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), 7 Decentralized distributed system, 78 Decentralized Employment System (D-ES), 130 Decentralized HR solutions provider for recruitment (DeHR), 125 Decentralized Ledger System, 181 Decision makers, 166 erratic behavior of, 167, 172 Delegated proof of stake (DPoS), 8, 57e58, 61

Index

Demand forecasting, 13 Deprived pecuniary behavior, 206e207 Diagraph, 242e244 Diamonds, 222 tracking process, 11e12 Diffused algorithms, 150e151 Digital access rules, 89 Digital currency transactions, 223 Digital illiteracy, 86e87 Digital open economy, 197e198 Digital technologies, 4, 29 Digitalization process, 197e198 Distributed consensus, 77 Distributed ledger technology (DLT), 30e31, 43e44, 87, 106, 209 Distributor block, 60 Drug Supply Chain Integrity Management, 93e94 Drugs forging, 95e96

E E-business implementation, 219 E-payments, 14 E-supply chain management, 219 Economic profits, 185e186 Electronic chips IDs (ECID), 49 Elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA), 6 Employee, 146 background verification, 147 data, 122 database management, 128e129 information, 153e154 resume, 141 End to End delivery (E2E delivery), 94 End-User block, 60 Energy sector, 14 Energy Web Foundation (EWF), 125 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), 122 Environmental Volatility, 170 EOS, 10 Erratic behaviour of customers, 172 of decision-makers, 172 in supply chain, 167 Ether (ETH), 32

281

Ethereum, 10, 31e32 blockchain, 157 Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), 10 Exponential technologies, 18

F Facilitating condition (FC), 200e201 Fault-tolerant, 77 Federated blockchains, 125 Financial implications of block chain technology, 179e184 Financial losses method, 179 reduction of, 181 Financial supply chain, 13e14 Flexibility, 176e178 of business, 221 FMCG, 12 Food, 12 blockchain in food production, 27 safety, quality and security, 109 supply chain, 48 Fool-proof background verification, 143 Forecasting of demand, 171

G Genesis node, 5 Global Trade Digitization (GTD), 26 Global trade identification numbers (GTIN), 48 Goats, 79 growers, 81 jerky, 79e80 meat, 79e81, 83 owners, 82e83 rearing, 79e81 Google Cloud platform, 157 Government regulations and trust issues of BSCM, 208 Green supply chain organization (GSCM), 208

H Hand-checking processes, 223 Hashing system, 20 Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), 48 HDG model, 91

282

Index

Headhunters, 156 Health-care business, 208 Healthcare system, 91 block chain technology in, 89e97 blockchain and SC in, 68e69 supply chain, 49 High D/E companies, block chain light house for, 184e185 High sustainability expenses, 197e198, 206e207 Higher educational institutes (HEIs), 130 Hiring process, 141e142, 146 Human Resource (HR), 121, 146e147 blockchain in, 157e158 function, 149e150 technologies, 149e150 Human Resource Management (HRM), 121, 149e150 theorization of blockchain induced HRM, 150e152 Human Resources Information System (HRIS), 151e152 Humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) barriers to, 262e265, 263f blockchain (BC), 266e268 theory-based supply chain management, 253e262 Humanitarian supply chains (HSC), 251, 262 barricades in, 208 Hyperledger fabric, 9, 31e32, 35, 40

I IBM, 237 Immutability, 10, 15, 20, 135, 150e151 Impact matrix cross-reference multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis, 244e246, 247f Independent barriers, 244e246 Indian Banking Block Chain Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. (IBBIC), 189 Indian banking industry BCT Applications in, 189 Indian goat, 80e81

Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), 29 Industry 4.0, 69e70, 151e152 and manufacturing supply chain, 50 sustainable global HR operations in blockchain in HR, 157e158 cases for blockchain HR, 152e157 theorization of blockchain induced HRM, 150e152 understanding blockchain technology, 150e152 Information systems (IS), 260 designs, 224 Innovation process, 51e52 Institutional theory (INT), 259e260 Institutional volatilities, 170 Integrated circuits (IC), 49 Integrity, 77 Inter planetary file system (IPFS), 48 Interconnected nodes, 5 International blockchain network, 154e156 International Monetary Fund (IMF), 3e4 Internet of things (IoT), 48, 50e51, 102e103, 108, 110, 200e201, 223, 228, 233 and blockchain, 24e25 medical services, 93 Interoperability, 15, 38 Interpretative structural modeling (ISM), 239 blockchain barriers, 246f construction of, 240f, 242e244 Intraorganizational misalignment, 171 Inventory management, 172 Issues and challenges of blockchain adoption, 86

J Job applicants, 141e142 Jobseekers, 141, 144 Joint venture (JV), 26 JP Morgan, 237 Just-in-time (JIT), 123

Index

K Key Managerial Personnel (KMP), 204 Knowledge-based view (KBV), 257e258

L Latency, 15e16 Law of Industrial Dynamics, 262 Lean Management Process, 182 Ledgers, 124 Linkage barriers, 244e246 Logistics, 12 Long Lead times, 166, 171e172

M Machine Learning, 103 Macro data, 227e228 Manufacturer block, 59 Manufacturing block, 59 Market related volatility, 168 Market-based hazards, 206e207 Marketplaces, 79e81 Materials logistics management (MLM) theory, 262 Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), 165 Meat business, 83e85 implementation of blockchain in, 83e85 Meat consumers, 81 Meat cuisines, 79e83 Meat marketplace, 80e81 Meat sellers, 82e83 Meat suppliers, 81 Meat supply chain, 81. See also Agri food supply chains (AFSC) case illustration, 81e85 implementation of blockchain in meat business, 83e85 sample marketplace, 82 sample summary, 82e83 goat rearing, meat cuisines, and marketplaces, 79e81 goat meat, cuisines and technologies, 79e81 review background, 79

283

issues and challenges of blockchain adoption, 86e87 Microsoft Azure, 157 Miners, 5, 60, 124e125 process, 5, 8 Minimum viable product (MVP), 36e37 Mining process, 5, 8 Mobile Healthcare system, 97 Mobile phone, 81e82 Musician Imogen Heap, 153

N Network layer, 63 Network perspective theory (NPT), 261 New transaction, 224e225 Nodes, 4e5, 145 NonCurrent Assets, 185

O Oil supply chain, 11 On time Delivery Rate (OTDR), 166 Organic farming or products, 30 Organization Trust Score (OTS), 128e129 Organizational volatility, 165, 171e172 Organizations’ supply chain, 185 Over stocking method, 179e180

P Patient identity, 89 Patient-driving interoperability, 89 Patient-focused interoperability, 89 Payroll, 154e156 Pecuniary behavior, 197e198 Peer-to-peer (P2P), 45, 77 layer, 63 network, 4, 43e44 system, 197e198, 202 technology, 128e129 transaction platform, 4 Permissioned blockchains, 31, 125 Permissioned private blockchains, 24e25 Permissionless blockchains, 31, 124e125 Pharmaceutical supply chain, 13 Physical assets, 222 Physical infrastructure layer, 63 Plots, 9

284

Index

Practical byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT), 9 Predictive analytics, 29 Prescriptive analytics, 29 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 13 Private BCT, 31 Private blockchain, 7, 31 platforms, 39 Product life cycle (PLC), 101 Profit-based SC design, 226 Programmable money. See Ether (ETH) Proof of activity (POA), 9 Proof of burn (PoB), 9 Proof of capacity (PoC), 9 Proof of Stack (POS), 57e58, 60e61 Proof of stake (PoS), 8, 124e125, 210 Proof of Work (PoW), 8, 22, 57e58, 60, 124e125 consensus model, 136 experience, 142e143 Public BCT, 31 Public blockchains, 7, 24e25, 31, 39e40, 124e125 Public ledger, 234 Publishing node, 124

Q Quorum, 10

R R3 institutions, 10 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), 48 Raw Material Supplier, 59 Raw materials, 166 Reachabiliy matrix (RM), 240e241, 242te243t Reactive inventory management of block chain technology, 179e184 Real estate, blockchain and supply chain in, 71 Reliable blockchain, 62 Reserve Bank of India (RBI), 39 Resilience, 10 Resource-based view (RBV), 255e256 Resume building, 156

Retailer block, 60 Return on investment (ROI), 39 Revenue generation, assets for, 185 Ripple, 9 Robotic Process Automation (RPA), 29

S Sales and Operations Planning (S & OP), 165 Sample marketplace, 82 Satoshi Nakamoto, 30e31 Saturday Market, 82 Scalability, 15, 38, 206e207 Secure reporting and auditing, 156 Security, 10 threats, 209 Self-induced volatility, 171e172 Self-reliance in Industry production, 163 “Self-sovereign identity” for employees, 153e154 Selfish mining, 16 Sensors, 227e228 SHA 256 algorithm, 6e7 Shipping blockchain in shipping logistics, 26e27 industry, 14 Shorter Operating cycle, 183e185 Silos, 20 Skills gap, 37e38 Skills mapping process, 131 Smart contracts, 45, 153 process, 22 talent supply chain management, 125, 130 Smart grids, blockchain and supply chain in, 69e70 Smart healthcare systems (SRS), 200e201 Social alterations, absence of organization vision and, 208 Social exchange theory (SET), 253e255 norms, 255 tourism and hospitality, 255 trust, 254e255 Storing education records, 130 Strategic choice theory (SCT), 258e259

Index

Structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM), 239e240, 241t Supply chain, 30, 34e35, 43e44, 65, 163e164, 172, 233 application in, 23e24 blockchain (BC), 252 erratic behavior of decision makers in, 167 industry 4.0 and manufacturing supply chain, 50 necessity of blockchain for supply chain uncertainty, 46e48 requirements for, 251e252 risks and uncertainty, 44e45 sectors, 252 system, 51e52 transparency, 26e27 using blockchain to drive supply chain innovation, 26e27 viability of blockchain for, 21e22 volatility, 164 BCT applications in Indian banking industry, 189 benefits of block chain technology, 178e186 dimensions of, 164e170, 169t global landscape in applications of BCT in, 187 management, 172 problems of, 170e177 role of block chain in, 177e178 score, 170 Supply chain management (SCM), 43, 57e62, 225e226, 234e235, 252. See also Blockchain in supply chain management (BSCM): Theory-based supply chain management advantages of blockchain in, 64 ambiguities for BCT in SCM, 38e40 applications of, 67e71 blockchain in different supply chain, 48e51 blockchain on, 226e228 in agriculture, 67e68 in healthcare, 68e69 in real estate, 71 in smart grids, 69e70

285

applied to talent management, 123e124 BCT adoption for, 35 blockchain applications in, 11e15 challenges in implementing blockchain in supply chain sector, 15e16 financial supply chain, 13e14 blockchain architecture for, 62e64 blockchain technology, 221e224 complexities for BCT in, 37e38 conceptual framework of, 59e60 consensus mechanism, 60e61 design thinking for BCT in, 36e37 feature of, 61e62 implementation challenges of blockchain in, 65e67 importance and necessity of blockchain in, 221e224 important advantages of blockchain, 220f necessity of blockchain for supply chain uncertainty, 46e48 process, 200 related works, 44e46 blockchain technology in supply chain, 45e46 supply chain risks and uncertainty, 44e45 system, 20 Sustainability, 43e44, 109 Systems theory (ST), 260

T Talent acquisition, 154 Talent sourcing process, 127 temporary employment in, 127e128 Talent supply chain management, 121e122 barriers to blockchain adoption, 136e137 blockchain technology, 124e126 application in, 127e132 limitations of blockchain technology, 135e136 principles of supply chain management applied to talent management, 123e124

286

Index

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), 40 Taxation process, 14 Technology, 79e81, 149e150 lack of understanding, 15 Technology affinity (TA), 200e201 Technology readiness (TR), 200e201 Telephonic conversations, 81e82 Telephonic interview method, 81e83 Theory-based supply chain management, 253e262, 254t agency theory (AT), 259 institutional theory (INT), 259e260 knowledge-based view (KBV), 257e258 materials logistics management (MLM) theory, 262 network perspective theory (NPT), 261 resource-based view (RBV), 255e256 social exchange theory (SET), 253e255 strategic choice theory (SCT), 258e259 systems theory (ST), 260 transaction cost theory (TCT), 256e257 Time-consuming process, 206 Traceability of AFSC, 108 Trade lens-container shipment blockchain, 26 Transaction cost theory, 256e257. See also Transaction cost analysis Transactions, 5, 18e20, 225 fees, 61 risk, 257 Transition difficulty, 38

Transparency, 61, 177 of AFSC, 108 system, 20e21 Trust, 178, 225 Trustworthiness, 86

U Uncertainty, 102, 106 Understocking method, 180 Up-gradation process, 51e52

V Validation process, 144 Validators, 124e125 Validity, 77 Verification process, 144 Vertical Volatility Score, 166 Volatility, 102, 106 Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA), 3, 34e40, 102 ambiguities for BCT in SCM, 38e40 BCT adoption for SCM, 35 complexities for BCT in SCM, 37e38 design thinking for BCT in SCM, 36e37

W Wallet software, 124e125 Web based platform of information sharing, 176 Wholesale Price Index, 80e81 Wholesaler block, 60 World Health Organization (WHO), 13, 251