Managing digital transformation with blockchain: Distributed ledger innovation platforms

Abstract Realizing its overarching potential in achieving digital transformation, leading organizations, such as Air New Zealand, have recently employed blockchain technology to manage 3D printing innovation. Despite the potential benefits, including the key role of blockchain as a supporting technology in Industry 5.0, these applications of blockchain technology in 3D printing are still at a nascent stage in practice and mostly limited to producer innovation. Additionally, 3D printing and blockchain technologies are often independently revolutionizing value capture and value creation, whereas the theoretical implications of their combined impacts on innovation management remain an underexplored domain. Limited digital transformation efforts have been made to employ blockchain technology to create a synergy between producer innovation and community innovation in relation to 3D printing innovation. To solve these issues, we introduce a novel concept, distributed ledger innovation platform (DLIP), which refers to a network of firms and individuals that create and capture value on a blockchain through digital transformation efforts. In this research, we draw upon transaction cost and social production theories to investigate the potential benefits of blockchain to solve the digital transformation challenges associated with 3D printing innovation. We utilize these perspectives to propose the concept of DLIP as a new governance structure for managing digital transformation activities with blockchain. Additionally, we examine illustrative digital transformation efforts via 3D printing innovation and applications of blockchain technology. Then, we present future research directions for innovation management scholars to investigate the benefits of DLIP in digital transformation efforts via 3D printing. We conclude by discussing the potential applications of DLIP to manage other enabling technologies of digital transformation, including big data, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse.