Introduction
Blockchain technology has spearheaded the most impactful forces with transformation potential across diversified industries such as finance, supply chain, and healthcare. Understanding the various impacts of blockchain technology and its advantages is quintessential in integrated business with a blockchain strategy. This paper represents a reflective analysis and summary of academic research whose subject is the techniques of integrating blockchain technology into business strategies. The paper, therefore, discusses, through analysis of scholarly literature, insights drawn as to the strategic approaches, frameworks, and collaborative efforts that should be put in place by organizations to harness the full potential of blockchain technology in driving innovation and competitiveness in the respective sectors.
Summary of Academic Articles
Weking et al. (2020) check the impact of blockchain technology on business models in a taxonomy and its archetypal patterns. They identify the effects of blockchain in five dimensions: value proposition, value creation and delivery, value capture, organization, and governance. They identify patterns such as archetypical ones, like the variety of blockchain applications, and how they impact business models. This framework provides critical insights for organizations aspiring to incorporate blockchain in their strategy in a manner that helps them understand the fundamental shifts being brought forward in varying aspects of business operations.
The first dimension, therefore, value proposition, denotes the advantage the blockchain technology offers to the customer or stakeholder. These benefits could be summarized in the transparency, immutability, and decentralization attributes. The actual creation and delivery of value to customers can be described in terms of value creation and delivery. For instance, this could be achieved through smart contracts to enable automated transactions or through cryptographic hashing to make the data even more secure. Value capture relates to how blockchain creates value and how businesses monetize that value through subscription or transactional fees.
Organizational changes would be occasioned by the adoption of blockchain technology about structure. Such could involve the creation of cross-functional teams or the crafting of new roles and responsibilities in relation to the implementation and management of blockchain. Last but not least, governance is all about mechanisms related to decision-making and control within blockchain-based systems. It could be the setup of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) or governance frameworks covering compliance and accountability aspects.
Upon the identification of these dimensions and archetypal patterns, Weking et al. (2020) have been able to generate the complete structure, which will have quite an influential impact on assisting any organization in developing an implication of adopting blockchain strategies and designing an effective mechanism that will help them possibly leverage their potential.
Strategic Implications of Blockchain Technology for Procurement in 2024 According to Govindan et al., they denominate Procurement 4.0. for the strategic implications of blockchain technology for procurement in 2024. For this purpose, they conduct a literature review to research the current state of research in this area and derive a future research agenda. It indicates how blockchain could be a strategic weapon to heighten transparency, efficiency, and trust in procurement processes.
Some benefits of using blockchain technology in procurement are improved transparency and traceability through enhanced visibility, reduced transaction costs, and increased supply chain data security. All these, therefore, help achieve an efficient and trustworthy procurement operation, leading to improved supplier relationship management, which, in a positive manner, gears up an enhanced business performance.
However, Govindan et al. (2024) emphasize that challenges must be met while integrating blockchain into procurement strategies. Challenges include scalability, interoperability, and regulatory barriers. The authors conclude that more research is required to look into practical implementation strategies, as they can help overcome the difficulties highlighted. All these studies, like the ones by Weking et al. and Govindan et al., bring precious insights into techniques and strategic considerations connected with integrating blockchain technology into business strategies. Therefore, understanding the impact of blockchain on the architecture of business models and the potential application of blockchain in specific domains, like procurement, would enable the development and sustaining of competitive advantage through the appropriate use of blockchain technologies.
Reflection on Integration Techniques
The academic articles give crucial insights into the techniques of integrating blockchain technology with business strategy. As per the academic readings, the standard method is needed to understand the transformativeness of blockchain across different dimensions of business operations. Weking et al. (2020) put stress on the revaluation of the value proposition, creation, and mechanisms for the delivery of value through the prism of blockchain technology. Likewise, Govindan et al. (2024) explain how blockchain can fundamentally reshape procurement processes and bring forward Procurement 4.0.
Another significant way is by developing frameworks and taxonomies to guide organizations through the complexities of blockchain integration. Weking et al. (2020) gave a taxonomy classifying the impacts of blockchain on business models using a structured approach to analysis. They assist organizations in developing or identifying opportunities and challenges associated with blockchain adoption, enabling organizations to make the best-informed decisions regarding strategies.
Both studies identify the aspect of collaboration and partnership as key to the integration of blockchain into a business strategy. Weking et al. (2020) add that even the orchestration of ecosystems should also be able to ensure that blockchain technology is deployed with maximum impact. To an equal measure, Govindan et al. (2024) agree that a composition of stakeholders of various forms will be needed to facilitate blockchain-enabled procurement ecosystems. These relationships enable sharing of know-how and resources, as well as collective innovation, for improving the implementation and scaling-out of solutions based on blockchain.
Conclusion
Enabling a strategic approach in integrating blockchain technology within the business strategy to understand the potential that is transforming the development of frameworks to collaboration among stakeholders. Moreover, academic research is fundamental as it provides information about ways and strategies for effectively integrating blockchain in different industries. The idea behind doing so is to allow organizations to fully realize and benefit from the potential that such a blockchain technology application could hold for them regarding innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness in the rapidly digitizing economy.
References
Govindan, K., Jain, P., Singh, R. K., & Mishra, R. (2024). Blockchain technology as a strategic weapon to bring procurement 4.0 truly alive: Literature review and future research agenda. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 181, 103352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2023.103352
Weking, J., Mandalenakis, M., Hein, A., Hermes, S., Böhm, M., & Krcmar, H. (2020). The impact of blockchain technology on business models–a taxonomy and archetypal patterns. Electronic Markets, 30, 285-305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00386-3
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