Blockchain and Supply Chain Management: Applications and Implications

Blockchain has shown promise to transform supply chains due to its unique combination of features such as decentralized networks, security, smart contracts, and auditability. Numerous supply chains have examined and implemented blockchain to ease global supply chain issues such as lack of traceability and reliability and poor information management. Blockchain can address sustainability concerns such as data manipulation and fabrication, poor environmental safety, and product provenance. Despite the potential, several barriers for blockchain adoption exist. This chapter provides an overview of blockchain and its underlying features. We highlight the potential application of blockchain for supply chain management and sustainability and propose a framework that can guide successful adoption of this technology. We introduce a few use cases from different industries that adopted blockchain for their supply chain operations. This chapter presents several blockchain barriers that impede successful adoption of this technology. A lack of theoretical perspective provides an untapped potential for research and further practical development. We explore blockchain adoption through various lenses and provide managerial and theoretical insights for future development.