Blockchain Drivers and Challenges in Supply Chain Management: Multiple Case Studies in Emerging Economies

Currently, Blockchain Technology (BT) is still in the early stages of development. However, this technology has been used in some governments, organizations, companies, and research institutions. The novelty of BT led to the needs of an organization to understand what drives them to implement it. Besides understanding the drivers of implementing BT, it is also equally necessary to understand the challenges of BT implementation in a particular organization. However, some research only analyzed in developed countries, which cannot be generalized worldwide. Therefore, to expand this research, researching emerging countries will be beneficial to know which drivers and challenges that influence the implementation of BT in SCM context.

This research has aim to identify the drivers and challenges of implementing Blockchain in two emerging countries: Indonesia and China. Once it is successfully identified, a framework will be proposed to address them. Several research questions will be addressed.

The methodology of this project was divided into three phases: Preliminary, Data collection, and Analysis. In the first phase, a systematic literature review is adopted as the method of literature review to establish the theoretical framework. In the second phase, data collection methods, interviewees, and interview documents are stated. The data of multiple cases study in this project are collected from semi-structured interviews of six companies. The final phase is to conduct within-group analysis and cross-case analysis, which can help readers understand similarities and differences between different cases.

Based on the theoretical framework and the data collected from six interviewed companies, this project established a new theoretical framework, which is composed of the drivers and challenges companies faced when implementing BT in the SC field, and connected it with supply chain flow. Data integration and information sharing in information flow is the most powerful driver that Indonesia and China face in the implementation of BT in SC. The Cooperation and Information Sharing from information flow and High Investment and ROI Uncertainty from cash flow are the most apparent challenges facing both countries