Introducing a managerial decision-support tool for technology adoption in supply chains: a case study in the shipbuilding industry

Abstract

Blockchain technology promises significant benefits within the scope of the supply chain and attracts the attention of scholars and practitioners. Academic research focused on revealing the disruptive potential of blockchain in supply chains, in functional and structural dynamics, is visibly increasing. Furthermore, businesses have realised the potential of the technology, and several have launched various platforms, such as CargoX, Blockshipping, and IQAX's eBL. Some platforms, however, have ceased to exist due to a number of challenges, including costs, low profitability, and scalability-related issues. This context highlights the need for a holistic and practical perspective on the net value of blockchain adoption that considers both the benefits and risks of the technology. Nevertheless, the primary shortcoming of the existing research is that the proposed adoption models are mostly conceptual and have low applicability. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by introducing the net value of adopting technology. The proposed methodology outlines the computational foundation of the proposed net value metric, and an engineering firm operating in the shipbuilding supply chain is identified for pilot application and early implementation of the proposed decision-support model.