Determinants of Blockchain Technology Adoption in Supply Chains by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India

Abstract

In recent times, organizations are increasingly adopting blockchain technology in their supply chains due to various advantages such as cost optimization, effective and verified record-keeping, transparency, and route tracking. This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the intention of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India to adopt blockchain technology in their supply chains. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from 216 SMEs in the northern states of India. The study has considered an integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), and Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE). Using this integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework, the study has proposed eleven hypotheses related to factors of blockchain technology adoption. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used to test the hypotheses. The results show that relative advantage, technology compatibility, technology readiness, top management support, perceived usefulness, and vendor support have a positive influence on the intention of Indian SMEs to adopt blockchain technology in their supply chains. The complexity of technology and cost concerns act as inhibitors to the technology adoption by SMEs. Furthermore, the three factors, namely, security concerns, perceived ease of use, and regulatory support, do not influence the intention to adopt the technology. The study contributes to filling a significant gap in the academic literature since only a few studies have endeavored to ascertain the technology adoption factors by supply chains of SMEs in a developing country like India. The study has also proposed a novel integrated technology adoption framework that can be employed by future studies. The findings are expected to enable SMEs to understand important factors to be considered for adopting blockchain technology in their supply chains. Furthermore, the study may benefit the blockchain technology developers and suppliers as they can offer customized solutions based on the findings.

Forecasting blockchain adoption in supply chains based on machine learning: evidence from Palestinian food SMEs

“…The study exhibits that a lessened CPLX in blockchain will boost the perceived ease of using this technology, thus instigating amplified usage of blockchain (H3). This outcome supports the results of a prior study (Kumar Bhardwaj et al. , 2021).…”

“…First, it provides a new conceptual framework and empirical evidence regarding ABT factors using the combined TOE–TAM model that previous studies neglect. Second, as mentioned in the explanations above, this study's findings reinforce the previous works (Faasolo and Sumarliah, 2021; Kumar Bhardwaj et al. , 2021; White, 2017).…”

“…, 2022). Consequently, the ABT models must scrutinise those elements from an enterprise perspective to identify the influential determinants of ABT in the SCs (Kumar Bhardwaj et al. , 2021; Mittal et al.…”

“…After conducting an in-depth survey in the Scopus database, the authors revealed that so far, only two significant ABT studies have used the TOE–TAM framework to examine the intent to adopt blockchain in the SCs (i.e. Kumar Bhardwaj et al. , 2021; Mittal et al.…”

Intelligent Optimization of the Financial Sharing Path Based on Accounting Big Data

“…is audit protocol can block privacy fraud. If this work can be successfully completed, it will be a very perfect project, which combines storage and computing security smoothly [8]. Yu and others reviewed the current status of cost management in the financial shared service center of Group A and elaborated on the current problems of inability to automatically collect cross-system data, untimely cost accounting, and unreasonable cost analysis and reporting models that are too fixed.…”