Breaking the mold: the pursuit of decentralized trade and supply chain finance

Purpose Blockchain technology (BT) presents a decentralized approach that has promising potentials to alleviate many of the long-lasting risks and inefficiencies in trade finance (TF) and supply chain finance (SCF) operations, providing international traders greater access to working capital. Despite this, the actual adoption of the technology and related issues in this space has remained under-researched. This paper examines the state of the practice to identify the main drivers and inhibitors faced by TF/SCF parties in their BT adoption efforts. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study applies a multi-stakeholder perspective and a mixed-methods approach using semi-structured interviews with practitioners in various stages of BT implementation in TF/SCF initiatives across North America, Europe and Asia. The study then determines the priority of the identified factors using the Bayesian best-worst method (BWM). Findings The findings show that while the discussion has focused on the technological drivers of BT adoption for TF/SCF, practitioners rely more on non-technological factors such as peer adoption and fostering innovation. The findings also reveal how practitioners address common BT issues, including scalability and interoperability. Originality/value The study offers insights into important requirements for realizing the full benefits of BT in support of TF and SCF from an extended technology-organization-environment (TOE) perspective. On a more general level, it highlights what is required to transform this industry toward digitization.