Empirical analysis of barriers to implement blockchain technology in manufacturing environment: a developing economy perspective

Purpose The present study aims to identify the critical barriers of blockchain technology (BT) implementation in a manufacturing environment in context of developing countries. Design/methodology/approach In the present work, barriers of BT adoption have been investigated via literature review and screened them through expert’s input. Further, the interrelationships among screened barriers were framed using a modified total interpretive structural modelling (mTISM) and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) approach. The mTISM aims to develop a contextual relationship-based performance model with the logic behind transitive links formation to explore the dominant barriers. The MICMAC approach categorizes the blockchain adoption barriers based on their driving and dependence power. Findings Based on the analysis, nine barriers of BT adoption in manufacturing environment were identified and finalized through statistically. The obtained results exhibit that lack of awareness about blockchain and poor training/human expertise on innovative technologies are the most critical barriers that hinder blockchain adoption. This study provides a roadmap and may facilitate manufacturing professional, consultant, governing bodies and policymakers in the preparation of active strategies to overcome challenges in adoption of BT in the running system. Originality/value Literature is full with analysis of barriers of BT adoption in the domain of supply chain, operation management and manufacturing in context of developed nation only. The present work is the first attempt to examine the BT adoption barriers in the manufacturing environment of developing economy and covered the mutual-interrelationship among them via modified TISM approach.