Blockchain Technology and Its Strategic Implications for Supply Chain Management

The purpose of the research is to discover the way of applying the blockchain technology to enhance transparency, traceability, and efficiency of supply chain, and research the more broad and enduring strategic purpose of the technology in making organizations more competitive, collaborative, and sustainable. The paper also examines the issues and barriers that hinder application of blockchain in the supply chain operations. The quantitative research methodology was used whereby a structured questionnaire was carried out to 480 supply chain professionals in the manufacturing industry, logistics and retail industry. The analysis of the data was conducted in the form of the descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, and measurements of central tendencies. Results were presented in tabular, bar, pie, and donut charts to make simple conclusions on the perception of the respondent on the use of blockchain and the impact it has on the supply chain management. The findings demonstrate that the blockchain technology is linked with significant improvements in supply chains transparency, trust, and efficiency, and the respondents mentioned that this technology could be used to reduce costs and enhance collaboration among the stakeholders. However, the barriers were enormous implementation costs, the weaknesses technical capability, regulatory uncertainty, and resistance to change. Despite these limitations, the respondents had high hopes that blockchain would have significant role in creation of resilient, secure and sustainable supply chains in future. The present research paper makes a contribution to the existing literature on blockchain in the supply chain management by providing empirical research on the strategic implications of blockchain. In making certain that it must be implemented on a platform of progressive capacity building, models of collaboration and support regulatory mechanisms, the study makes viable contributions to organizations, policymakers and technology providers. Having the broader perspective of the digital transformation, supply chains can leverage the disruptive opportunities of blockchain and attain sustainable competitive advantage.