Blockchain technology for food supply chain: an investigation of the implementation process and impact on supply chain performance.

Abstract

The food supply chain (FSC) plays a vital role in sustaining human life and achieving economic growth. Food and agricultural products are inherently perishable, sensitive to temperature, dependent on nature for production, and seasonal. As the result, businesses have to face specific and persistent challenges in monitoring food quality and safety, and reducing waste. Moreover, the globalization and complexity of the modern FSC can lead to pressing issues such as information asymmetry, low transparency, and food adulteration. Businesses and academics have explored Blockchain technology as a potential remedy for the hurdles of managing the FSC. While the technology has grown at an impressive pace, the knowledge regarding Blockchain adoption and its impact is yet fully explored. Therefore, there is a compelling need for researching the Blockchain phenomenon in the FSC setting, contributing to both literature and practice, and ultimately to better management of food products. To close the gap, this thesis particularly aims to investigate the adoption process of Blockchain and its impact on operational performance. Through a series of three studies, this thesis provided a literature review of the subject, developed an evidence-driven model for Blockchain integration, evaluated the relationships between important determinants to the Blockchain implementation stages, and specified the effects of adopting Blockchain on key performance metrics of the FSC. The key findings of this thesis are three-fold. First, the thesis provided an extensive and scientific systematic literature review about the current state of Blockchain adoption research in the area of food supply chain management. Specifically, the literature review synthesized four main themes from relevant literature, including the Blockchain adoption process, drivers and barriers to the adoption, and applications of Blockchain in food management. Second, the thesis constituted a holistic model of Blockchain implementation in the specific context of the FSC. Started with combining insights from the literature review and Innovation Adoption theoretical lenses to develop a conceptual model for iii Blockchain implementation in the FSC, the thesis then employed a mixed- methods approach to develop the conceptual model further. First, interviews were conducted to explore the process of adopting Blockchain in the FSC. Then, quantitative data was gathered by a survey to statistically assess the key relationships in the implementation model. The result is an evidence-based and feasible model of Blockchain adoption for organizations in the FSC. This model details Blockchain implementation activities and critical determinants of the process (implications from interviews findings), as well as analyses the most important determinants of each adoption stage (implications from the survey findings), all in the FSC setting. Third, this thesis evaluates the impact of a successful Blockchain adoption on the operational performances of an FSC. Using the System Dynamics modelling approach and simulations, the thesis illustrates holistically how Blockchain technology can affect key performance metrics, including inventory level, service level, lead time, and cost, at a supply chain level. Findings in this thesis subsequently make several key contributions to literature, practice, and policy. The thesis extended the current knowledge of the Blockchain phenomenon in the context of FSC, especially how to implement the technology and what impacts it can have on supply chain performance. Moreover, the thesis provided valid attempts at elaborating Innovation Adoption theories and models to better explain the particular context of Blockchain in the FSC and bringing System thinking and System Dynamics approach to examine supply chain phenomenon. The results of this thesis inform managers in the field about the approach to implementing Blockchain technologies, and what factors they need to understand for successful adoption. The System Dynamics models in this thesis further provide a useful tool for businesses to experiment and explore the impacts of the technology on their operations. Moreover, the findings in this thesis suggest several important implications for policymakers. Particularly, they highlight the important role of regulators in advocating for the industry-wide adoption of Blockchain, provide an in-depth understanding of Blockchain roadmap and impacts for promoting the technology among businesses, and suggest regulatory bodies direct more efforts into onboarding the lesser iv technologically capable entities in the FSC (farmers, SMEs, etc) to a Blockchain network.