Ecosystem Readiness: Blockchain Adoption is Driven Externally

Abstract

Blockchain technology has been extensively tested, implemented, used, or even abandoned by organizations. Whether organizations adopt blockchain technology depends on many factors. Previous literature has identified a range of potential factors affecting the adoption of blockchain technology, but most studies have focused solely on a subset of specific factors. As a result, these studies can provide only limited explanations for the varying degrees of blockchain adoption. By relying on the well-established Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, we propose an extended Blockchain Adoption Model (BAM). We derive a rich set of factors from the current state of research on blockchain adoption and the business ecosystem literature and extend them by conceptual reasoning. We then develop testable hypotheses for each of the identified factors. The resulting 14 hypotheses are tested by conducting a survey (n = 350) within the DACH-region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). We quantitatively analyze our BAM with a binary logistic regression analysis and identify six constructs impacting the adoption (relative advantage, observability, organizational age, external stakeholder pressure, regulatory uncertainty, and scope of business ecosystem). Based on our findings we introduce the novel idea of “ecosystem readiness” as the most important factor for the adoption of blockchain. Ecosystem readiness is characterized by the following attributes: 1) a large ecosystem scope, 2) stakeholders that are not yet collaborating in a trustful and regulated environment, and 3) a powerful organization leading the ecosystem. This powerful organization further intentionally promotes innovation by 4) making the benefits of this new technology observable for others, by 5) putting pressure on the other ecosystem participants to adopt the new technology, and eventually by 6) striving for regulatory certainty in the application and use of blockchain.

Selecting the Fintech Strategy for Supply Chain Finance: A Hybrid Decision Approach for Banks

“…First, the highest DANP influential crite-rion is C4, which suggests that the top management support would be the most critical driving force for a bank to embrace an innovative Fintech strategy. This result echoes a previous work [43] and emphasizes a crucial factor overlooked in the previous study [26], based on the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM). On the other side, technol-ogy-related issues are not the primary concerns.…”

“…Support from the top management of banks is crucial to adopting new technologies. Several studies highlight its critical importance in diverse industries [40][41][42][43]. Our interviews with domain experts found that high-level management support often influences banks to consider new technologies.…”

Factors influencing blockchain adoption in the South African clearing and settlement industry

“…Although DOI theory encompasses both TOE and the TAM factors, it is limited, because it does not emphasise external factors (Oliveira & Martins 2011). Blockchain Adoption Model addresses, to some extent, the external factors, which are categorised as ecosystem factors, but fails to consider industry and country-specific issues Lustenberger et al (2021).…”

“…Studies focused strongly on the factors influencing the adoption of blockchain by discussing the technical characteristics of blockchain technology, such as open access, decentralised consensus, immutability and distributed verification. Furthermore, studies attempted to show how the adoption of blockchain may lead to more transparency, efficiency and disintermediation when applied to various industries (Lustenberger, Malešević & Spychiger 2021). Researchers have applied traditional technology frameworks and theories to the adoption of blockchain technology.…”

Adoption of IoT by telecommunication companies in GCC: The role of blockchain

“…It enables a number of geographically scattered network members to guarantee the authenticity and accuracy of all financial dealings. There have been many different consensus algorithms created by academics since the advent of BC and distributed ledger technologies, each catering to the needs of the user (Lustenberger et al, 2021;Sun et al, 2018). The implementation of BC into the operations of both small and large-scale firms may increase security, privacy, and data transparency; however, few studies have explored the potential influence of BC on organizations (Joshi et al, 2022).…”