Factors Affecting Organizations’ Resistance to the Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Supply Networks

Abstract

From a supply chain perspective, new technologies such as blockchain can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of logistics and increase customer satisfaction. Although blockchain technology has been lauded as a way for firms to build sustainable supply chain networks, the rate of acceptance of this technology remains low. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the factors that discourage firms from merging blockchain with the supply chain. Instead of providing further reasons for adopting blockchain technology, we try to understand what deters firms from adding blockchain to their operations. Following the deductive approach, a confirmatory factor analysis is conducted on pre-test questionnaires to test, improve, and verify the constructs (questions) to measure the hypothesized factors. A theoretical model is proposed based on the hypotheses, and structural equation modeling is applied. The results are estimated using the partial least squares approach and a sample of 83 respondents. Our findings based on our empirical data support most of our hypotheses. We find that various factors impede the adoption of blockchain technologies, including technological barriers, constraints rooted in organizations and the environment, and system-related governmental barriers. In addition, various factors are critical determinants of resistance to blockchain in the technological, organizational, and environmental dimensions.

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

“…Furthermore, the environmental context refers to the regulatory environment, market factors, and competitors. e extant literature shows the use of the TOE framework for examining factors of blockchain technology adoption [8,9,13,45].…”

“…Furthermore, compatibility of technology also involves consideration of organizational culture [52] and the available technology infrastructure [53]. It is easier for an organization to apply blockchain technology to its supply chains if it has a high compatibility level [9]. e existing studies have confirmed that the compatibility of blockchain technology positively influences the intention to adopt it in supply chains by the organizations [13,51,54].…”

“…[4,8]. us, organizations are skeptical of adopting the technology in their supply chains [9]. erefore, it is required to ascertain the influencers that impact the intention of organizations to embrace blockchain technology.…”

“…Furthermore, a limited number of studies ascertained the technology adoption by supply chains of SMEs in a developing country like India [8,11]. e existing studies have used various theoretical models and constructs to ascertain the determinants of blockchain technology adoption by supply chains of the organizations [8,9,12,13]. One of the major limitations as pointed out by most of these studies has been the use of only a few antecedents to assess the determinants of the technology.…”

The Literature Review of Blockchain Adoption

“…Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta introduced the first idea of blockchain in a paper entitled "How to time stamp a Digital Document" in 1991 [2], their intention was to develop a system based on documented timestamps that could not be altered or tampered with. Being the Internet was immature, Heber and Store's idea did not reach the public about cryptographic trust between parties [3]. Blockchain appeared back in 2008 as an incredibly promising technology after Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency in a paper titled "A peer-to-peer electronic cash system" ] 4 [ .…”