Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-

commerce 1

Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-commerce: A theory based research

framework for current trends

GRAD 695

Sai Tushar Mummalaneni

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

April 2019
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 2

Abstract

In the business environment, day by day new technologies which are evolving around the world

and are used in the different fields were applied to improve efficiency and performance. The digital

tools in the improvement of productivity played a key role beginning from the fourth industrial

revolution. In order to support the tasks of sending information and receiving information, different

kinds of technologies were used. Three factors that were kept in mind while exchanging the

information between the companies, they are trust, safety and speed. Many of the supply chain

professionals used Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) as the main technology to send and receive

information during a few decades. In the business environment, many of the aspects were changed

with the fourth industrial revolution and due to the Internet of Things (IoT). Productivity became

key, organizations and individuals must be more productive. For the business environment,

blockchain is one of the main streams. Bitcoin is the pioneer of the blockchain technology is the

argument by some of the researchers. To use the cryptocurrency as the exchange medium in the

market, financial companies joined forces to build a technological infrastructure. In the wake of

the global financial crisis, the first blockchain was conceived in 2008, and till now it has never

been hacked. Across a continuously and dynamic evolving landscape, supply chains are complex

networks of distant, separate entities which exchange goods, payments and data. Customer is

provided with the opportunity to understand how the supply chain works and how to get more

information about product traceability by taking advantage of the transparency and visibility

provided by the blockchain technology. To implement blockchain in logistics ns supply chain there

are some challenges which need to be addressed. This paper presents a theoretical review of the

impacts of blockchain n the supply chain and the current situation of the blockchain in the industry.

Technical architecture part that is applied in the blockchain is not covered in this paper. To apply
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 3

the blockchain in supply chain and logistics, the potential benefits were covered in the paper by

stating some industry examples usage.

Keywords: Blockchain, Supply chain, smart contract, traceability.

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 4

Table of Contents

Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 5
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Background ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Research Problem ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Research Purpose ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Research Questions ................................................................................................................................. 10
Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Supply Chain............................................................................................................................................ 14
Characteristics of Supply Chain ........................................................................................................... 15
Barriers of Supply Chain: ..................................................................................................................... 16
Block Chain:............................................................................................................................................. 17
Concept Behind the Blockchain: ......................................................................................................... 18
Blockchain applicability in the supply chain: ...................................................................................... 21
Proposed Research Design and Methodology ............................................................................................ 24
Research Worldview ............................................................................................................................... 24
Research Design ...................................................................................................................................... 24
Literature Search ................................................................................................................................. 24
Research Approach ............................................................................................................................. 24
Qualitative Approach .......................................................................................................................... 24
Research Strategy ................................................................................................................................... 25
Data Collection ........................................................................................................................................ 25
Data Collection Method ...................................................................................................................... 25
Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 25
Population ............................................................................................................................................... 25
Sample..................................................................................................................................................... 25
Proposed Schedule ..................................................................................................................................... 25
References .................................................................................................................................................. 27
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 5

List of Figures

Figure 1: Overview of the proposed concept, adapted from (Abeyratne, 2016) .......................... 18

Figure 2: Blockchain and smart contract Flow diagram ............................................................... 20

Figure 3: Blockchain applied in SCM (Gupta, 2018) ................................................................... 22

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 6

List of Tables

Table 1: Proposed Schedule ........................................................................................................................ 26

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 7

Introduction

The main aim of this section of the paper is to introduce the background of the study conducted

to the reader of the paper. This section is divided into different subsections in which the following

four are worth mentioning, they are the background of the study in which a simple and crisp

introduction is given about the goals of this study by mentioning lack of the subject in the previous

studies with the introduction to blockchain technology and supply chain management. The next

subsection is about the research problem in which the importance of implementing blockchain

technology in the supply chain is stated. The next subsection which is research questions explains

more about the hurdles of the supply chain in all means like the trust, collaboration of chain etc.,

and mainly focuses on how blockchain technology can help to impact all these hurdles. And some

of the terms were defined which are used in the study and finally the limitations and delimitations

of the study were focused.

Background

To achieve better performance and to reduce the risks, the flow of the raw material procured,

goods manufactured, and the services provided must be managed, this management of all the

mentioned is the basic idea behind the concept of supply chain management (Tan, 2001). To

improve themselves and to improve the overall performance of the supply chain all the companies

need to work more closely together because of the fast-changing economy (Claudine Antoinette

Soosay, 2015). There are some proven strategies which impact the overall performance of the

company like the supply chain collaboration by enabling the trust in the chain (Horvath, 2001).

Supply chain collaboration helps companies in achieving various advantages like cost reduction,

service performance improvement and adapting the changes rapidly (Chi-MingTsou, 2013). One

of the main problems, this study is mainly pointing is the status of how blockchain is implemented
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 8

in the supply chain management to address the lack of trust and transparency in the process of

sharing the information among the business partners in supply chain management. These problems

are partly a consequence of many actors involved (Michael J. Casey, 2017).

Blockchain technology had gained a lot of attention after it was first ever introduced as bitcoin

which is the first block chain application. When we consider the bitcoin, it is just a small

application area for the technology in the cryptocurrencies. The technology that can change the

cultures, supply chains and the industries is considered as blockchain (Underwood, 2016). Without

the requirement of any kind of brokers, blockchain helps in transferring transactions safely

between two or more parties in a digitally decentralized ledger (Swan, 2015). In supply chains,

blockchain applications are considered as the solution to trust issues. To stay competitive in the

market, enthusiasts of the decentralized applications are promoting early adoption of the

technology for companies (Kshetri, 2018). At the early stage itself, many companies like Walmart

in cooperation with IBM and Maersk had started the planning for the implementation of the

blockchain in their supply chain as a pilot project to gain the benefits of the technology in the

supply chain (Lohr, 2017). Soon the full version of the implementation of the technology in the

companies supply chain will be made ready and it is assured by both Walmart and Maersk (Lohr,

2017). Providing the solutions for the problem facing in the supply chain management is still in

its early stage, companies can have lot of opportunities in the future when the technology is further

developed (Nowiński, 2017).

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 9

Research Problem

Many of the researches were conducted to figure out the important factors that help in making

supply chain management more effective. Some of the researchers figured out that supply

chain collaboration was the major strategy which helps in improving the performance and gain

a competitive advantage (Simatupang, 2002). Many of the researcher’s state that the trust is

the major issue in the supply chain management as it requires sharing of information which

includes the sensitive data and the transparency between different parties (Ramanathan, 2014).

Any evidence of proposing a convincing technology which allows the sharing of the sensitive

information is completely safe and transparent manner which helps in enabling the trust among

the partners of the supply chain was not captured in the literature. Implementation of

blockchain in the supply chain is a kind of strategy which helps in achieving the transparency

in sharing the sensitive data. Researchers already mentioned the positive impact on the level

of trust in the supply chain by the implementation of the blockchain (Wong, 2017). Many of

the researches had concentrated on how blockchain shows its impact on the financial sector

and very less evidence was left on how the technology can impact the supply chains.

Research Purpose

As there is very less evidence left on the impact of the blockchain on supply chain and the

Way it can improve the trust among the partners in the supply chain, this study mainly focuses on

the impact of the blockchain technology on the supply chain and the present situation of the

blockchain in the supply chain industry. Various blockchain solutions like the usage of smart

contracts in the transactions will be discussed as the technology provides many other benefits for

supply chain other than the common use of the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (Thomas Bocek,
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 10

2017). The working nature of the blockchain in the supply chain and its implementation in the

business fields will be studied. This study will explain the way in which the implementation of

blockchain can change the process of sharing the sensitive information among the partners and the

way how it can improve transparency and trust in the supply chain process. By studying the

impacts of the blockchain technology on the supply chain, this study helps in understanding the

potentials of this technology in the current situation. The impacts of the information sharing, and

the trust findings will be provided. Since trust is the major issue in the process of supply chain

management, the analysis will be done if blockchain can be the solution to increase the trust

between the supply chain partners. Information regarding whether the companies are ready to

adopt this new technology and their view regarding the opportunities provided by the blockchain

to the supply chain will be analyzed by conducting the interviews.

Research Questions

The above-mentioned research purpose had led to the below-mentioned research questions,

1. In companies, how can the solutions of the blockchain be implemented?

2. How the blockchain technology can influence supply chain management?

3. How much impact can the blockchain technology show on the way how companies share

the information and handling the trust issues?

4. What is the current situation of the blockchain the supply chain management sector?

Hypothesis:

The question that the researcher is going to study in this particular paper is related to the

effects of the block chain technology implementation in supply chain collaboration in e-commerce

industry. The problem that this paper is going to deal with is about the transparency in the supply
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 11

chain management collaboration in the e-commerce industry. My hypothesis regarding this study

is that, if the block chain technology was implemented in the supply chain process of the e-

commerce industry, then the chances for increasing the trust and transparency also increases. The

independent variables and dependent variables are studied throughout the research, the way e-

commerce sites had adapted the technology till date and how they are going to treat the block chain

when it comes to the trust will be measured by changing the independent variables like the benefits

of adopting block chain technology and the dis advantages of adopting it as the data which is

sensitive need to be shared, by analyzing the behavior of the dependent variables the research will

be concluded. The hypothesis mentioned in this study is completely testable by gathering the

information from different e-commerce personals and the employees of the e-commerce websites,

especially who are related to the logistics and delivery team.

Definition of Terms:

In this paper the term block chain in supply chain is used to mean “the implementation of

block chain in the supply chain collaboration process of e-commerce websites. The term effects

of blockchain on supply chain collaboration means the advantages and disadvantages the e-

commerce companies which are implementing the supply chain collaboration process in their day

to day activities like getting the end product from the seller and listing them in their websites and

delivering the product to the end user through their logistics from the ware house. The term e-

commerce used in this paper means electronic commerce.

Ethical Consideration:

According to (Fouka, n.d.), the major ethical issues in conducting a research includes the

informed consent, beneficence- do not harm, respect for anonymity and confidentiality and respect
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 12

for privacy, vulnerable groups of people. Coming to this research all the above mentioned were

taken care in the following manner, the informed consent is guided using the questions like are

you willing to participate in the research to the participant and after taking his permission only the

research was conducted. All the participants who are all participated in this research had

voluntarily participated in the research. Coming to the beneficence do not harm, no participant was

harmed and there was no potential harm in any manner when this research in considered. Respect

for anonymity and confidentiality was given priority while stating about the participant response,

any kind of anonymity raised by the participant was stated like either from reliable sources or from

a person who is familiar in the e-commerce trends requested anonymity. For respecting the privacy

of the information shared by the participants, statements which are required to be private was not

stated in the paper if requested by the participant. There are some groups of people who were fired

from the e-commerce companies because their unethical behavior or for some any other those

group of people were considered as the vulnerable group and those kinds of people were not

involved in the process of data gathering for this paper. Overall no unethical practices were

followed for conducting this research.

Limitations:

The limitations of this study majorly include the limitations related to the sample, this study is

conducted as a research study mainly based on the existing data available and the data that is

gathered from the samples(participants) who worked/working in the supply chain process of the

e-commerce websites in the neighborhood (New Jersey) of the researcher. So, the data that was

collected to conduct the research are majorly specific to a region. In future studies the researchers

can have a detailed study by collecting the data from different countries and from different
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 13

samples. This can help the future researchers to overcome the cultural bias and other traditional

marketing issues.

Delimitations:

The reason for the researcher to choose this study was to find the observations and to

become the part of the technical transformation of the traditional supply chain collaboration

process in the e-commerce industry. The delimitations of the study include the scope of the study,

the scope that was set by the researcher for this study was to use the e-commerce platform and

industry to conduct the study regarding the process of supply chain collaboration. The delimitation

also includes the technology and terms like the block chain technology was limited to this study

and the terms that were used as the data from the samples where like the trust, information sharing

and relation. Future studies can have different other kinds of technologies which helps to enhance

the e-commerce business and can have different data which are related to the supply chain.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 14

Literature Review

Supply Chain:
A network of entities in which the material flows to develop a product which can be used

by the end user is the definition of the supply chain (Lummuns & Albert, 1997). Entities here

include suppliers who supply the raw materials, the transformers who use logistics to transform

the raw material, the distribution center through which the product developed is distributed, the

retailers who sell the product and finally the end customers who buy the product developed. TO

supply goods or services to a company or to end customer is the main function of a set of

interconnected companies which can be called as supply chain (Slack, 1999). To increase the

performance and to decrease the risk management of the flow of goods, services and information

in an effective manner is the general idea behind the supply chain management (Tan, 2001).

According to (Christopher, 1997), a leader company composes a set by including all the other

companies with whom they interact either directly or indirectly, by anyways through its customers

or suppliers either in upstream or downstream, starting from the point of origin like the raw

materials or basic services to the point where the end customer consumes the products or utilizes

the services.

To achieve the competitive advantage in the present world competition and the fast-

changing economy, industries and companies are not ready to take the risk by depending on their

own skills and capabilities instead they are mutually working with supply chain partners. Due to

the globalization that is impacting the industries and the existence of new and emerging

technologies, competition in the market made the role of supply chain very crucial over the years

and in fact it has become the main strategy to improve the performance of the companies and
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 15

sustainability of the companies in the competitive world (Claudine Antoinette Soosay, 2015). To

make better results to increase the profits and to gain competitive advantage two or more

companies work together to fulfil different kinds of requirements related to the development of the

product (Simatupang, 2002).

To achieve goals mutually, benefits and rewards companies deal with each other based on

information exchange (Min, 2005). The successful supply chain can be established is more

dependent on openness and trust (Festus O. Olorunniwo, 2010). To improve the performance

maintaining the long-term relationships and developing joint business processes is crucial (Daniel

F. Lynch, 2009). Benefits of the supply chain in a huge number can be gained through long-term

relationships. To achieve the trust and to maintain long term relationship, companies are willing

to invest in different tools to exchange information and communication which helps in improving

performance (Ramanathan, 2014). All the companies in the chain must know about their strengths

and requirements and they must also know about their weakness (Peter M. Ralston, 2017). The

main aim of the supply chain is to gain the advantage of performing higher as a group rather than

completing the tasks individually (Simatupang, 2002). Sharing of the resources, skills and process

are helpful for achieving these improvements (Stanley E. Fawcett, 2012). Improvements in

performance can be related to the profits, process improvement or it can be competitive advantages

(Douglas M. Lambert, 1996).

Characteristics of Supply Chain

Different kinds of aspects are there which can influence the supply chain. According to

(Barratt, 2004), trust, exchange of information and mutuality, openness as the crucial

characteristics of the supply chain. Trust is the key role in maintaining the relationship among all

the team members to implement the supply chain and maintain its collaboration (Nesheim, 2001).
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 16

Information sharing jointly and investing jointly are the collaborative activities which are fulfilled

by the committed partners in the supply chain who trust each other (Nyaga, 2010). Increasing

profits and occurring risks are more related to mutuality (Min, 2005). IN supply chain mutually

created knowledge helps in influencing the business positively (Scholten, 2015). Trust and

openness depend on the information exchange, so many of the researchers consider that as the

most important part of the supply chain (Min, 2005).

The link between information transfer and supply chain was marked as crucial (Wu I.-L.

C.-H.-H., 2014). Sharing of information and technology are closely related in the supply chain

process, companies need to deal with both the issues and advantages (Wu I.-L. &.-L., 2018).

Network resources and other information related to the company must be shared among the

partners of the supply chain (Wu I.-L. C.-H.-H., 2014). To achieve and control customer

satisfaction and to increase performance technology uses behaviors (Osterhaus, 2007). The less

transparent information that is shared with weak technology as the intermediate platform can

impact on the cost by increasing the costs and decreases the performance (Popp, 2000). Openness

and communication can also lead to successful supply chain and helps in gaining the advantages

of the supply chain in the company (Kumar, 2014). The methods that are used in the process of

communication must be clear and help the process of exchange of information and must give an

overall idea of supply chain processes (Frankel, 2002). To achieve the trust and to avoid the risk

of communication gap all the partners of the supply chain must be open and honest (Popp, 2000).

Barriers of Supply Chain:

Different barriers are there to implement the supply chain and make the collaboration

possible despite supply chain offering many advantages for the organizations. Most of the
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 17

companies will rely mostly on the new technology to implement the supply chain in their

businesses and they end up with the problems if that technology on which the company relied

doesn’t work out for applying the supply chain. The next barrier is choosing the correct partner in

the supply chain and start the process of manufacturing the product with the help of all the partners

in the chain. Thirdly, in some cases among the partners of the supply chain, there can be a lack of

trust (Ramon-Jeronimo, 2017). For a successful establishment of a proper supply chain, various

cultures of different organizations and different business structures must be brought into a common

standpoint which can also be a barrier (Fawcett, 2012).

Block Chain:
Blockchain is defined as a distributed, shared and encrypted database which serves as a

repository which is irreversible, incorruptible, it is a type of distributed ledger technology which

is underlying the bitcoin (Wright, 2015). According to (Nakamoto, 2008), bitcoin is a peer-to-peer

electronic cash system without any financial institution involvement which allows the online

payment from one party to the other party as a peer-to-peer electronic cash exchange. A blockchain

is both the network and a database which is secure and integrate which develop the transactions

based on the rules that are developed mathematically and enforces mechanically (Asset, 2016).

Combined with a system for “smart contracts” and a peer-to-peer distributed ledger forged

by consensus and other assistive technologies is the technical definition of the blockchain

technology which is based on Linux Foundation. Blockchain is a kind of technology which records

the transactions in a secure and permanent manner (Mougayar, 2016). Without any risk,

blockchain can save all the history of the transactions. As world wide web it is a kind of networking

technology which enables the decentralized exchange of data. In the most common manner,

blockchain can be treated as a distributed database a kind of ledger which persists a continuously
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 18

increasing transaction records which are maintained with timestamp and encrypted and are

organized as blocks which are linked internally with each other in the similar manner which is

adapted in Figure 1: Overview of the proposed concept, adapted from (Abeyratne, 2016).

Figure 1: Overview of the proposed concept, adapted from (Abeyratne, 2016)

Concept Behind the Blockchain:

A smart contract is a key technology behind the blockchain that allows the application of

blockchain in different kinds of application is the argument done by (Mougayar, 2016). Parties

information which is coded and uploaded to the blockchain makes this contract between them.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 19

This contract doesn’t depend on the third-party authorities. The processes which are dealing with

such contracts are controlled automatically. After all the parties in the transaction completed their

respective duties, the clauses of the contract are executed. Considering the existence of external

dependencies, this function clears all the uncertainty related to the execution of contract conditions.

When the condition that is within the system are met certain predefined actions are

executed which are these smart contracts, in general, some simple computer programs. The

negotiation process and performance of a contract in the transaction is made easier and more

efficient with the help of smart contracts, the logic of the contractual clauses is clearly imitated on

the interface of the smart contract in general, securing the process of contracts and the reduction

of the cost which is related to the contracting is the main aim (Kakavand, 2017). The main feature

of the blockchain is a smart contract this helps in enabling the trustless transactions (Swan, 2015).

Over a digital network chain, this kind of transactions is considered as monitored, validated and

bilaterally enforced transactions. To gain the necessary approvals of the participant's multiple

digital signatures are incorporated through smart contracts. If there is a dependency of the smart

contracts on the real-time data, then to monitor and verify this real-time data system called oracles

will be implemented. When there are conditions within the system which are met, then there are

certain predefined actions with the help of the execution of computer programs which are

considered as the smart contracts. To modify the state of the ledger, the language of transactions

is required which is provided by the smart contracts. Anything related value can be deal with by

the smart contracts. All the partners who are part of the will be signing the smart contract after that

transaction was created, and all those transactions were placed into the block which is saved into

blockchain immutably as shown in Figure 2: Blockchain and smart contract Flow diagram
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 20

Figure 2: Blockchain and smart contract Flow diagram

The blocks are created as per the business rules agreed on and the chain is created after the

creation of the blocks, all this process is done once the terms of a smart contract are executed

during a transaction. Each block of a transaction is verified digitally against the smart contract

which consists of clauses to assure the sharing of and visibility as a single version of truth (Road,

2018). A smart contract can provide the autonomy which can be developed by anyone by not

having any mediators such as lawyer and auditors. It can also provide efficiency as it removes the

mediator’s significant efficiency gains can be seen.

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 21

Blockchain applicability in the supply chain:

The blockchain technology is having the unpredictable level of transparency which is

considered as the potential to make it as best suited for supply chain according to the blockchain

trust accelerator (TrustAccelerator, 2018). The new entries or any changes in the ledger were

validated by the blockchain system which was lacking in the traditional centralized databases, this

validation was done using the cryptographic consensus mechanism which helps in eliminating the

mediators of the process. This helps in developing the trust between the parties in the transaction

which are not known to each other. In supply chains, the blockchains are explained as a solution

for the trust developed issues in the supply chains (Kshetri, 2018). Market enthusiasts are

encouraging the companies to implement the technology at the early stages to achieve a

competitive advantage over other companies. At an early stage itself, many companies like Maersk

and Walmart in collaboration with IBM had started to implement the technology in their supply

chain process (Lohr, 2017). And both the companies Walmart and Maersk had assured that the full

version was ready to implement in their operations across the organization soon (Lohr, 2017). The

Figure 3: Blockchain applied in SCM explains the farm to fork example on which the blockchain

is applied to its supply chain management starting from the farm to sending it to the end customer,

this example also includes the information added on the smart contract and the recorded blockchain

as well. The implementation and development of the blockchain solutions in the supply chains of

the companies are still at early, so there are a lot of other opportunities for the companies when

the technology is developed in the future (Nowiński, 2017). Different solutions were offered by

the blockchain technology to improve the collaboration between the partners of the supply chain.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 22

Figure 3: Blockchain applied in SCM (Gupta, 2018)

Importance of Supply Chain Collaboration in E-commerce:

As the related ideas on collaboration of supply chain under electronic commerce

background had proposed, the importance of related studies to future insights of developing

electronic commerce through promoting innovation in the management of logistics system of the

e-commerce (J. P. Qiu, 2002). Various factors like behaviors of the members who include the

manufacturer, retailer in the supply chain, adaption of the channel under the environment of the

electronic commerce environment are considered (Liu, 2015). By providing the proper guidance

and required recommendations, win-win development of e-commerce and the private logistics

providers is becoming tendency (Yang, 2012). With the advanced information technology

applications equipped or implemented with the e-commerce service platform can help and improve

the circulation of fruits and vegetables supply chain management (L. W. Bao, 2012). According

to (S. Kurnia, 2015), the organizations in the grocery industry supply chain collaboration adoption

of business to business electronic commerce technology is examined. From the capital and market

operations perspective and production, demand uncertainty perspective in the supply chain as the

dependent variable the capabilities of integration is analyzed in (K. N. S. Iyer, 2009).

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 23

****** Need to Improve*******

Proposed Research Design and Methodology

Research Worldview

The research world view of this study is shaped up with the help of the researchers

known knowledge which the constructionism is and the researcher’s worldview which is

relativism. This relativism is defined as the interpretation of the researcher towards the reality and

this relativism is followed by the constructionism which consists of the known knowledge to the
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 24

researcher and ow the researcher gained that knowledge. Relativism is the theory behind the

ontology and constructionism is the theory behind the epistemology and these two are closely

connected and the theories behind them support each other (Easterby-Smith, 2015).

Other parts of the proposed research design and methodology need to be updated which will be

done in the next level of the research (Grad 699), if permitted.

Research Design

Literature Search

In this section the work done regarding the collection and study of the literature will be

included.

Research Approach

The reasons for selecting the approach that is followed for this study will be highlighted

by the author.

Qualitative Approach

The way of using qualitative approach for this study is explained in this section.

Research Strategy

Different case studies were reviewed and finally a case study will be done by the author

and those details are mentioned here.

Data Collection

Data Collection Method

Qualitative interviews were done as part of the research and it is the main chosen data

collection method for this thesis.

Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 25

Data Analysis

The analysis method that was done on the empirical data was explained.

Population

Details of the population involved in the data collection process and in the research, process

were discussed in this section.

Sample

The main target of this research is to find out the impacts and current situation of the

blockchain in supply chain management, the targeted sample for this research study are the

companies that provide the blockchain solutions.

Proposed Schedule

Activity Due Date

Topic Review Week 1
Literature Search Week 2-Week 3
Improving the Literature Week 4-Week 5
Reviewing Existing Literature Week 6 – Week 9
Research Design Improvement Week 10-Week 11
Research Methods Improvement Week 12-Week 13
Results Week 14

Table 1: Proposed Schedule

In Grad 699 various improvements must be done to the current research by enhancing the

review of the existing literature and conducting the data collection and analyzing the data and

finally conclusions must be given by stating the gaps that were left over for further researches.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 26

References

Abeyratne, S. a. (2016). Blockchain ready manufacturing supply chain using distributed ledger.
International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, 1-13.

Asset, D. (2016, Jan 01). Embracing Disruption – Tapping the Potential of Distributed Ledgers to Improve
the Post-Trade Landscape. Retrieved from digitalasset: http://hub.digitalasset.com/industry-
reports/dtcc-embracing-disruption-tapping-the-potential-of-distributed-ledgers-to-improve-the-
post-trade-landscape

Barratt, M. (2004). Understanding the meaning of collaboration in the supply chain. An International
Journal , 30-42.

Chi-MingTsou. (2013). On the strategy of supply chain collaboration based on dynamic inventory target
level management: A theory of constraint perspective. Elsevier, 5204-5214.

Christopher, M. (1997). A logística e o gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos . Editora Pioneria.

Claudine Antoinette Soosay, P. H. (2015). A decade of supply chain collaboration and directions for
future research. MCB University Press, Emerald, 613-630.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 27

Daniel F. Lynch, G. N. (2009). Examining Supply Chain Relationships: Do Buyer and Supplier Perspectives
on Collaborative Relationships Differ? Journal of Operations Management, 28(2).

Douglas M. Lambert, M. A. (1996). Developing and Implementing Supply Chain Partnerships. The
International Journal of Logistics Management , 1-18.

Easterby-Smith, M. T. (2015). Management and business research 5th ed. London: Sage Publications.

Fawcett, S. E. (2012). Peeking inside the black box: toward an understanding of supply chain
collaboration dynamics. . Journal of Supply Chain Management, 44-72.

Festus O. Olorunniwo, X. L. (2010). Information sharing and collaboration practices in reverse logistics.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 454-462.

Fouka, G. (n.d.). what-are-the-major-ethical-issues-in-conducting-research-is-there-a-conflict-between-

the-research-ethics-and-the-nature-of-nursing.php?aid=3485. Retrieved from hsj:
http://www.hsj.gr/medicine/what-are-the-major-ethical-issues-in-conducting-research-is-there-
a-conflict-between-the-research-ethics-and-the-nature-of-nursing.php?aid=3485

Frankel, R. G. (2002). Grocery Industry Collaboration in the Wake of ECR. . The International Journal of
Logistics Management, 13(1), 54-75.

Gupta. (2018). Harnessing Blockchain in the SCM & Logistics Space. WhitePaper.

Horvath, L. (2001). Collaboration: the key to value creation in supply chain management. Supply Chain
Management: An International Journal, 6(5), 205-207.

Kakavand, H. K. (2017, Feb 7). The Blockchain Revolution: An Analysis Of Regulation And Technology
Related To Distributed Ledger Technologies. Retrieved from lexology:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5adaf528-b9ad-4575-8933-4cb033a2536d

Kshetri, N. (2018). Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives. International
Journal of Information Management, 80-89.

Kumar, G. &. (2014). Supply chain collaboration index:An instrument to measure the depth of
collaboration. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 21(2), 182-203.

Lohr, P. &. (2017, March 04). Blockchain: A Better Way to Track Pork Chops, Bonds, Bad Peanut Butter?
Retrieved from nytimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/business/dealbook/blockchain-
ibm-bitcoin.html

Lummuns, R. R., & Albert, K. (1997). Supply Chain Management: Balancing the Supply Chain with
Customer Demand. APICS. Falls Church, VA.

Michael J. Casey, P. W. (2017). Global Supply Chains Are About to Get Better, Thanks to Blockchain.
HarvardBusinessReview.

Min, S. (2005). Supply Chain Collaboration: What's Happening? The International Journal of Logistics
Management, 237-256.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 28

Mougayar, W. a. (2016). The Business Blockchain: promise, practice, and application of the next Internet
technology. 1st ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nakamoto. (2008). Bitcoin: Apeer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

Nesheim, T. (2001). Externalization of the core: Antecedents of collaborative relationships with

suppliers. European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 7(4), 217-225.

Nowiński, W. &. (2017). How Can Blockchain Technology Disrupt the Existing Business Models?
Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 173-188.

Nyaga, G. N. (2010). Examining supply chain relationships: Do buyer and supplier perspectives on
collaborative relationships differ? . Journal of Operations Management, 101-114.

Osterhaus, P. M. (2007). Information sharing and supply chain performance:The role of connectivity and
willingness. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 358-368.

Peter M. Ralston, R. G. (2017). The past and future of supply chain collaboration: A literature synthesis
and call for research. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 508-530.

Popp, A. (2000). “Swamped in information but starved of data”: Information and intermediaries in
clothing supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 5(3), 150-158.

Ramanathan, U. (2014). Performance of supply chain collaboration - A simulation study. Expert Systems
with Applications, 210-220.

Ramon-Jeronimo, J. F.-L.-J. (2017). Understanding the Generation of Value along Supply Chains:
Balancing Control Information and Relational Governance Mechanisms in Downstream and
Upstream Relationships. Sustainability, 3-26.

Road, A. (2018). Blockchain for Supply Chain: Ghost in the Machine or Breakthrough Technology . White
Paper.

Scholten, K. &. (2015). The role of collaboration in supply chain resilience. . Supply Chain Management:
An International Journal, , 471-482.

Simatupang, T. M. (2002). The collaborative supply chain. International Journal of Logistics

Management, 15-30.

Slack, N. (1999). Production Management. Atlas.

Stanley E. Fawcett, A. M. (2012). Peeking Inside the Black Box–Toward an Understanding of Supply Chain
Dynamics. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 42(1).

Swan, M. (2015). Blueprint for a new economy. Beijing: Safari Tech Books.

Tan, K. C. (2001). A framework of supply chain management literature. European Journal Of Purchasing
& Supply Management, 39-48.

Thomas Bocek, B. B. (2017). Blockchains Everywhere - A Use-case of Blockchains in the Pharma Supply-
Chain. 772-777.
Running head: Effects of Blockchain on Supply Chain Colloboration in E-
commerce 29

TrustAccelerator. (2018). Blockchain Trust Accelerator.

Underwood, S. (2016). Blockchain beyond bitcoin. Communications of the ACM, 15-17.

Wong, C. &. (2017). Global Supply Chains Are About to Get Better,Thansk to Blockchain. Harvard
Business Review.

Wright, A. a. (2015, March 10). Decentralized Blockchain Technology and the Rise of Lex Cryptographies.
Retrieved from ssrn.com: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2580664

Wu, I.-L. &.-L. (2018). Examining supply chain collaboration with determinants and performance impact:
Social capital, justice, and technology use perspectives. . International Journal of Information
Management, 5–19.

Wu, I.-L. C.-H.-H. (2014). Information sharing and collaborative behaviors in enabling supply chain
performance:A social exchange perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 122-
131.