Investigating the influence of organizational factors on blockchain adoption

Abstract

Purpose Blockchain possesses the potential to disrupt and reshape a plethora of industries in the next decade. However, blockchain adoption rates in technology developed countries, such as Ireland, are relatively low. Motivated by blockchain’s potential to transform sociotechnical systems, the lack of systematic inquiry pertaining to blockchain studies from an information system perspective, the authors propose the following research question: “How do organizational factors influence blockchain adoption in organizations based in a developed country?” Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to elucidate the impact of organizational factors on the adoption of blockchain and the adoption of blockchain in companies based in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature review was conducted, and the methods of qualitative content analysis were used to identify the most important technology–organization–environment (TOE) blockchain adoption factors. Organizational factors are often viewed as the most significant determinants of IT innovation adoption in organizations. Consequently, using a multiple-case study of 20 companies based in Ireland, the authors investigate how the top three organizational factors identified from the blockchain literature affected these companies decision to adopt or not adopt blockchain. Findings The literature review on blockchain adoption identified specific technological, organizational and environmental factors. Furthermore, the case study findings identified three patterns: top management support and organizational readiness are enablers for blockchain adoption, and large companies are more likely to adopt blockchain than small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors explain these patterns by examining the nature of blockchain and the characteristics of Ireland as a developed country. Practical and scientific contributions are also presented. Research limitations/implications This study makes several important scientific contributions. First, the findings revealed that top management support and organizational readiness are significant enablers of blockchain adoption. Ireland is recognized as a technology developed country; however, the findings in relation to top management support contradict existing IT adoption literature pertaining to developed countries. Second, previous IT innovation adoption literature suggests that organizations size has a positive influence on a company’s IT innovation adoption process. This study demonstrates that large organizations are more likely to not only adopt blockchain but are also more likely to conduct increased levels of blockchain research and development activities. Finally, and most significantly, the authors identified several patterns, which relate specifically to Ireland as a developed country that influenced the findings. These findings could hold particular relevance to governments and organizations of other developed countries in terms of accelerating blockchain adoption. Practical implications The findings about the low level of blockchain awareness and the lack of information pertaining to viable business use cases indicate that the Irish government could play a more significant role in promoting the benefits of blockchain technologies. Further, the findings could also encourage IT providers to formulate enhanced strategies aimed at disseminating information pertaining to blockchain technologies. Second, the positive influence of top management support and organizational readiness, particularly about core competencies, on blockchain adoption suggests that equipping managers with the requisite knowledge and skills will be crucial in adopting these IT innovations. Finally, organizations who adopted blockchain used cloud-based blockchain platforms and tools to overcome the constraints of their initial low levels of organizational readiness. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to identify specific TOE blockchain adoption factors. Further, the authors examine how the three most identified organizational adoption factors impact organizations decisions to adopt blockchain. Finally, the authors discuss how the resulting three patterns identified by examining the nature of blockchain and the characteristics of Ireland as a technology developed country.

Antecedents of blockchain adoption: An integrative framework

“…Tables 3 and 4 list the considerations that emerged as being important building on the framework as suggested by Clohessy et al (2019) and Clohessy and Acton (2019). The extended framework considers new literature and includes individual and task‐related considerations that were also identified as being necessary for blockchain adoption considerations.…”

“…When organizational readiness is strong, companies are more likely to persist with the adoption of the technology irrespective of the challenges they encounter (Clohessy & Acton, 2019). Currently, there is a dearth of research, which has empirically examined the specific impact of organizational readiness in a blockchain adoption context, even though organizational readiness has been shown to have a considerable influence on blockchain adoption (Swan, 2015; Wang et al, 2016).…”

“…However, its relevance in a blockchain adoption context has not received widespread attention. A recent study by Clohessy and Acton (2019) reports that the presence of sufficient organizational readiness had, in fact, positively impacted companies' decisions to adopt blockchain technology. This study also illustrates that the skills required to adopt blockchain technologies fell under the umbrella of technological‐based skills (e.g., distributed ledger, foundational technology) and business‐based skills (e.g., industrial design, regulations and standards, forensics and law enforcement and markets, economics, and finance).…”

“…This paper updates and refines the TOE framework, as presented in Clohessy et al (2019) and Clohessy and Acton (2019). Its goal is the identification of technological, organizational, environmental, individual, and task‐related considerations that impact organizational IT adoption (DePietro et al, 1990) to detect barriers and incentives to IT adoption.…”

“…It has been argued that blockchain technology exhibits the hallmarks of disruptive technology (Clohessy & Acton, 2019). Some have argued that, for blockchain to achieve widespread global adoption, blockchain technologies must be packaged with other technological solutions such as IoT, cloud computing, and decision‐making systems (Clohessy & Clohessy, 2020).…”