Analysis of barriers to implement blockchain in industry and service sectors

Abstract

Blockchain technology holds great potential for industries and services globally by executing transactions in a verifiable and permanent way. It operates as an open distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties. However, the adoption and implementation of distributed ledger technologies in various industries and services is a challenging task. In this study, we develop a framework for investigating barriers to the adoption and successful implementation of blockchains across different industries and services, using DEMATEL technique. We identify these barriers with the help of extant literature and experts’ opinions and further classify them into ten broad categories. Then, we establish the causal relationships among those barriers and rank them based on their degree of prominence and relationships. We find that challenges in scalability, and market-based risks are the most influencing barriers. Whereas high sustainability costs, and poor economic behaviour are the most influenced barriers during successful blockchain adoption. Finally, we perform a series of sensitivity analyses to test the robustness and generalizability of our proposed framework. Findings from our study can be beneficial for managers in eliminating the major barriers in efficient implementation of blockchain technologies in their organizations.