Blockchain in Supply Chain Management: Characteristics and Benefits.
| Autor | Rodrigues, Eladian |
| Cargo | Research Article |
INTRODUCTION
The application of new technologies in organizations is based on the continuous analysis of data and information from multiple sources, which are intelligently interconnected, so that all internal and external experiences of the organization are coordinated, and their added value is maximized (Roblek, Mesko, & KrapeZ, 2016). In this sense, Industry 4.0 and all associated transformations are continuously promoting the shift from the industrial focus on products to the focus on 'data-driven' products and services that require a strategic positioning of information technology, especially in the area of supply chain management (SCM) (Zhong, Klotz, & Newman, 2017).
Blockchain is one of the new technologies associated with the concepts and principles of Industry 4.0 that generate benefits in dealing with SCM uncertainties and difficulties. It is a transaction system (information exchange) with cryptographic evidence that enables direct interaction between actors involved in the digital network or the chain it refers to (Buterin, 2014; Nakamoto, 2008).
This technology has the function of creating a decentralized and distributed environment, in which digital information on transactions between the parties is accessible to all parties involved and is no longer centralized in a single agent. A simultaneous cryptographic check guarantees the information contained in its linear record with multiple reliable and complete sources (Biktimirov, Domashev, Cherkashin, & Shcherbakov, 2017; Risius & Spohrer, 2017).
Much has been said about the potential of blockchain technology and its benefits to improve a series of business process, providing a very secure chain of information and transactions, but also its effects that can cause disruption in several sectors, changing things to a new reality with the adoption of technology, as shown by a variety of recent systematic literature reviews (SLR), as example of: blockchain in agriculture (Yadav & Singh, 2019), analysis for blockchain solutions in IoT (Conoscenti, Vetro, & Martin, 2016; Lo et al, 2019), blockchain for cities (Shen & Pena-Mora, 2018), blockchain for big data (Karafiloski & Mishev, 2017), blockchain on service systems (Seebacher & Schiiritz, 2017), and multi-agent systems (Calvaresi, Dubovitskaya, Calbimonte, Taveter, & Schumacher, 2018). Thus, considering the initial stage of the scientific debate of this object of analysis and the absence of a wide range of SLR on the issue SCM and blockchain, this research aimed to understand the scenario of the adoption of blockchain in SCM based on academic publications evidencing its characteristics and benefits, through a systematic literature review.
CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND
Supply chain management (SCM) has several approaches, either as a function, as a philosophy, or even as a discipline. However, fundamental principles permeate all these variants, including information transparency, supplier relationships, customer service, agility, quality, communication, segmentation, and others (Ellram & Cooper, 2014).
The organizations that use SCM adopt a systematic approach to the supply chain that includes a strategic alignment with internal and external synergies and value creation with a focus on customer satisfaction (Mentzer et al, 2001).
Supply chains are globally networked, connecting organizations and customers through a constant flow of information, materials, and capital (Seuring, 2013). In this sense, the SCM processes that permeate the entire corporate structure are supported, recorded, and integrated by an intensive internal flow of information and between the individual links in the chain, usually through information systems (Lambert, Cooper, & Pagh, 1998; Lambert & Enz, 2017).
Hence, the flow of information and relationships in SCM has its challenges and obstacles to overcome, including inaccuracies, distortions, delays, mistrust, and inefficiency. These conditions imply uncoordinated decisions, opportunities for whip effects, failure in information systems, and mistrust between related parties (Cao, Gan, & Thompson, 2013).
In this sense, information technology is of growing importance to SCM. It represents an opportunity to improve competitiveness by implementing physical cyber connectivity between systems, processes, and people in SCM for Industry 4.0 (Hermann, Pentek, & Otto, 2016; Lee, Bagheri, & Kao, 2015; Waller & Fawcett, 2013).
In the pantheon of new technologies incorporated and powered by Industry 4.0, lies blockchain or blockchain technology, referred to as a distributed system of capture and encrypted storage, in a linear, immutable, and non-perishable record, of transactions between agents of a network (Risius & Spohrer, 2017).
Its most famous applications are cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which were created in 2008. Blockchain is configured as the basis for the application for these transaction systems. However, the focus of its application goes beyond these operations, and attracts interest from several other areas, as the disruptive potential of blockchain could lead to changes in the business world. Understanding the potential of blockchain and its various applications is still in its early stages (Buterin, 2014; Chen et al, 2017; Nakamoto, 2008).
The exchange of information between two parties connected to the blockchain network is called a transaction, which in turn is recorded in a data set, called a block. This block connects to another already registered block, and all blocks that contain information about all executed transactions are stored simultaneously in the so-called node. The nodes contain the records of all transactions on the blockchain network and confirm the truthfulness of each new transaction with the help of algorithms and encryption. When all transactions are completed, there is a type of consensus between the nodes, and new blocks are connected in a continuous stream, the so-called blockchain, and aligned with the previous blocks. Blockchain concept is presented in Figure 1 to contribute to the comprehension of blockchain functionality.
Blockchain networks can primarily be divided into two types, public and private, with two sub-targets, networks with or without authorization. This classification can be treated as a design option, as defined when setting up the network (01nes, Ubacht, & Janssen, 2017). The classification is evidenced in Table 1.
Technical challenges should, however, be taken into account, as this is a new technology, the use of which is currently being expanded. In general, seven points can be highlighted: information transfer rate, processing latency, size and bandwidth, security if a hacker attack happens on 51% of the network, waste of resources, usability and infrastructure, the multiple chains, rigid forks, and versioning. All of this can create a complex environment to blockchain application in real world, but these are challenges to be overcome (Swan, 2015).
METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES
The systematic literature review was carried out with integral participation of all authors in three complementary steps: input, process, and output. The applied method (Figure 2) is the result of the models presented by Webster and Watson (2002), Levy and Ellis (2006), Biolchini, Mian, Natali, Conte and Travassos (2007), and Conforto, Amaral and Silva (2011).
Input
In the input stage, the research report is drawn up, which describes the central points. Once evaluated, it is considered a guide to the researcher's entire work execution. The protocol completes the research objective, the key questions, the keywords, the criteria for selecting research sources, the selection of databases, the languages considered, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the types of study definition, and the key issues of extraction (Conforto et al, 2011). The protocol established for this work is presented in Table 2. The steps and their respective descriptions are revealed in it.
Some justifications are necessary to better understand the criteria set out in the previous chart. There have been selected articles, journals, and topics from conferences as sources, because it is understood that the subject being researched is not only relevant but also presents a great range of possibilities of study. To a broader understand and better qualification of the epistemological gap it is important to consider the overall information of the research materials, not focusing only on metrics of citation, review process, or others, but also on other relevant information, even from less formal publication venues as conferences (Vahdati et al., 2021). By that, a variety of topics to be studied relating SCM and blockchain is emerging and being displayed in numerous types of sources that must not be disregarded--as example, relevant publications in conferences during the researched period. To eliminate possible misinterpretations in the qualitative selection analysis, exclusion criteria were defined to complement the inclusion criteria, and to guide the relevance evaluation of the studies: (a) Blockchain in peripheric topics to supply chain management: Outlined in the premises, it will use studies on peripheral topics related to the supply chain and its business processes, with less relevance and causing a deviation from the focus of this study, for example, application in IT systems for industry, or proposals of new models of coding for application in industry; (b) Issues non-related to blockchain in SCM: The premise states that there are studies on blockchain that are applied to other fields of knowledge, specific and/or with too much technical depth, for example, studies that focus on information technology rather than network architecture, IT direct applications, IT information security applications, cryptocurrencies applications, and others; (c) Inability to access the full text: Texts presented in the search results that are not accessible or unavailable due to restrictions as...
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