Block Chain- Four Facets:

There are four main facets or characteristics of a blockchain (Pattison, 2017). First, as it is designed
to be distributed and synchronized across networks, it encourages businesses to share data and
is therefore ideal for multi-organizational business networks, such as supply chains or financial
consortia. Second, blockchains contain smart contracts, an agreement made between participants
in advance and stored in the blockchain.

A smart contract is a computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify or enforce the
negotiated terms of a contract – allowing for credible transactions without the need for third-
party interventions as they are automated. These specific protocols can decide whether a specific
operation, such as a given payment, should be permitted or not (Pilkington, 2016). Other than the
payment itself, potentially via a cryptocurrency, smart contracts can also define functions and
conditions, including the validation of assets in a range of transactions with non-monetary
elements (Reyna et al., 2018). This gives confidence to the various actors in the network that
everyone is playing by the rules. Third, the blockchain is built using P2P networks, whereby there
must be agreement between all relevant parties that a transaction is valid, which serves to keep
inaccurate or potentially fraudulent transactions out of the database. And fourth, immutability of
the data means that agreed transactions are recorded and not altered. This provides provenance
of assets, which means that for any asset it is possible to tell where it is, where it has been and
what has happened throughout its lifetime.

Block Chain in OSCM- Operations and SCM:

For OSCM, a myriad of ways in which blockchain could transform practice are identified,
including enhancing product safety and security; improving quality management; reducing
illegal counterfeiting; improving sustainable supply chain management; advancing inventory
management and replenishment; reducing the need for intermediaries; impacting new product
design and development; and reducing the cost of supply chain transactions

Research Areas of Blockchain in SCM:

Six key themes for OSCM research into blockchains, as detailed in Table III, with a mixture of
empirical methodologies suitable for examining the phenomenon -

1. Blockchain technology development for OSCM

2. Incentivizing blockchain technology adoption in the supply chain
3. Trade-off considerations affecting the adoption of blockchain technology
4. Blockchain technology implementation in complex supply networks
5. Supply chain relationships
6. Theory application and development for blockchain