Abstract

Background: Supply chain visibility is paramount for industries to prevent harmful disruptions to organizational processes; however, supply chains often struggle with performing fully visible procedures. Blockchain as an emerging technology is believed to disrupt the ways businesses work. Once it started to gain momentum, companies became interested to invest into the technology. In this context, having the right resources in place vastly influences the success of technology implementations.

Purpose: This thesis synthesizes the concepts of supply chain visibility and blockchain by applying the lens of the resource-based view. Identifying the types of required resources is beneficial for a successful blockchain implementation and ultimately the potential achievement of supply chain visibility.

Method: This study is qualitative and adopts an abductive reasoning. To refine and complement existing theories, we adopt a multiple case study with semi-structured interviews to derive empirical data. We use multiple units of analysis and analyze the collected data using content analysis, both on a within-case and cross-case basis. Thus, we interpret the data to contextualize the findings and identify the answers to the research questions.

Conclusion: Blockchain may help to improve supply chain visibility if the supply chain participants have the appropriate resources to dedicate. In this context, the positive effects of blockchain include accessibility, transparency, trust and IT security. The most crucial resources are human-related managerial and technical resources, including both internally and externally derived knowledge. However, blockchain still misses successful implementation projects to use as proof of its relevance and success. Therefore, its future potential and value adding characteristics remain uncertain.