Abstract
Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that has attracted both practitioners and academics attention in recent years. Several conceptual and few empirical studies have been published focusing on addressing current issues and recommending the future research directions of supply chain management. To identify how blockchain can contribute to supply chain management, this paper conducts a systematic review through bibliometric and network analysis. We determined the key authors, significant studies, and the collaboration patterns that were not considered by the previous publications on this angel of supply chain management. Using citation and co-citation analysis, key supply chain areas that blockchain could contribute are pinpointed as supply chain management, finance, logistics, and security. Furthermore, it revealed that Internet of Things (IoT) and smart contracts are the leading emerging technologies in this field. The results of highly cited and co-cited articles demonstrate that blockchain could enhance transparency, traceability, efficiency, and information security in supply chain management. The analysis also revealed that empirical research is scarce in this field. Therefore, implementing blockchain in the real-world supply chain is a considerable future research opportunity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not applicable.
References
Abeyratne S, Monfared R (2016) Blockchain ready manufacturing supply chain using distributed ledger. Int J Res Eng Technol 05(09):1–10. https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0509001
Apte S, Petrovsky N (2016) Will blockchain technology revolutionize excipient supply chain management?. Journal of Excipients and Food Chemicals 7(3):910
Baumeister RF, Leary MR (1997) Writing narrative literature reviews. Rev Gen Psychol 1(3):311–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.1.3.311
Borgatti SP, Mehra A, Brass DJ, Labianca G (2009) Network analysis in the social sciences. Science 323(5916):892–895. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165821
Boyack KW, Klavans R (2010) Co-citation analysis, biblioFig.ic coupling, and direct citation: which citation approach represents the research front most accurately? J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 61(12):2389–2404
Chang Y-W, Huang M-H, Lin C-W (2015) Evolution of research subjects in library and information science based on keyword, biblioFig.ical coupling, and co-citation analyses. Scientometrics 105(3):2071–2087. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1762-8
China mulls blockchain development fund. (2020). www.Asiatimes.com, https://asiatimes.com/2020/05/china-mulls-blockchain-development-fund/
Christidis K, Devetsikiotis M (2016) Blockchains and smart contracts for the internet of things. IEEE Access 4:2292–2303. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2016.2566339
Coalter, J., & Tchangalova, N. (2020). Research guides: systematic review. https://lib.guides.umd.edu/SR/welcome
Cooper MC, Lambert DM, Pagh JD (1997) Supply chain management: more than a new name for logistics. Int J Logist Manag 8(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1108/09574099710805556
Crosby, M. (2016). BlockChain Technology: Beyond Bitcoin. 2, 16.
Dorofeyev M, Ksov M, Ponkratov V, Masterov A, Karaev A, Vasyunina M (2018) Trends and prospects for the development of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the digital economy. Eur Res Studi J XXI(Issue 3):429–445. https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/1073
Ellegaard O, Wallin JA (2015) The bibliometric analysis of scholarly production: how great is the impact? Scientometrics 105(3):1809–1831. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1645-z
Fahimnia B, Sarkis J, Davarzani H (2015) Green supply chain management: a review and bibliometric analysis. Int J Prod Econ 162:101–114
Fallahpour A, Nayeri S, Sheikhalishahi M, Wong KY, Tian G, Fathollahi-Fard AM (2021) A hyper-hybrid fuzzy decision-making framework for the sustainable-resilient supplier selection problem: a case study of Malaysian Palm oil industry. Environ Sci Pollut Res:1–21
Fathollahi-Fard AM, Ahmadi A, Mirzapour Al-e-Hashem SMJ (2020a) Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network for an integrated water supply and wastewater collection system under uncertainty. J Environ Manag 275:111277
Fathollahi-Fard AM, Ahmadi A, Goodarzian F, Cheikhrouhou N (2020b) A bi-objective home healthcare routing and scheduling problem considering patients’ satisfaction in a fuzzy environment. Appl Soft Comput 93:106385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2020.106385
Fathollahi-Fard AM, Hajiaghaei-Keshteli M, Tavakkoli-Moghaddam R (2018) The social engineering optimizer (SEO). Eng Appl Artif Intell 72:267–293
Fathollahi-Fard AM, Hajiaghaei-Keshteli M, Tavakkoli-Moghaddam R (2020c) Red deer algorithm (RDA): a new nature-inspired meta-heuristic. Soft Comput:1–29
Feng Tian. (2016). An agri-food supply chain traceability system for China based on RFID blockchain technology. 2016 13th International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSSSM.2016.7538424
Fonseca B d PF e, Sampaio RB, Fonseca MV d A, Zicker F (2016) Co-authorship network analysis in health research: method and potential use. Health Res Pol Syst 14(1):34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-016-0104-5
Francisco K, Swanson D (2018) The supply chain has no clothes: technology adoption of blockchain for supply chain transparency. Logistics 2(1):2. https://doi.org/10.3390/logistics2010002
Gupta S, Sadoghi M (2018) Blockchain transaction processing. In: Sakr S, Zomaya A (eds) Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies (pp. 1–11). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63962-8_333-1
Hackius, N., & Petersen, M. (2017). Blockchain in logistics and supply chain: trick or treat? Digitalization in supply chain management and logistics: smart and digital solutions for an industry 4.0 environment. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), Vol. 23, 3–18. https://doi.org/10.15480/882.1444
Hughes A, Park A, Kietzmann J, Archer-Brown C (2019) Beyond bitcoin: what blockchain and distributed ledger technologies mean for firms. Busi Horiz 62(3):273–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2019.01.002
Hutt, R. (2018). All you need to know about blockchain, explained simply. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/blockchain-explained-simply/
Ivanov D (2019) Disruption tails and revival policies: A simulation analysis of supply chain design and production-ordering systems in the recovery and post-disruption periods. Computers & Industrial Engineering 127:558–570
Jalali MS, Razak S, Gordon W, Perakslis E, Madnick S (2019) Health care and cybersecurity: bibliometric analysis of the literature. J Med Internet Res 21(2):e12644. https://doi.org/10.2196/12644
Kamble S, Gunasekaran A, Arha H (2019) Understanding the blockchain technology adoption in supply chains-Indian context. Int J Prod Res 57(7):2009–2033. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1518610
Keogh JG, Rejeb A, Khan N, Dean K, Hand KJ (2020) Data and food supply chain. Build Future Food Safety Technol:145–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818956-6.00007-5
Kim HM, Laskowski M (2016) Towards an ontology-driven blockchain design for supply chain provenance. SSRN Electron J. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2828369
Kouhizadeh M, Sarkis J (2018) Blockchain practices, potentials, and perspectives in greening supply chains. Sustainability 10(10):3652. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103652
Kshetri N (2017) Can blockchain strengthen the internet of things? IT Professional 19(4):68–72. https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2017.3051335
Kshetri N (2018) Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives. Int J Inf Manag 39:80–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.12.005
Kshetri N, Voas J (2018) Blockchain in developing countries. IT Professional 20(2):11–14. https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2018.021921645
Kumar B, ShivaShiva Sai. (2020). . https://hackernoon.com/wtf-is-hashing-in-blockchains-z6f836i1
Li Z, Ho Y-S (2008a) Use of citation per publication as an indicator to evaluate contingent valuation research. Scientometrics 75(1):97–110
Li Z, Ho Y-S (2008b) Use of citation per publication as an indicator to evaluate contingent valuation research. Scientometrics 75(1):97–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1838-1
Linda Pawczuk. (2017). When two chains combine. www.Deloitte.com, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/supply-chain-meets-blockchain.html
Liu X, Bollen J, Nelson ML, Van de Sompel H (2005) Co-authorship networks in the digital library research community. Inf Process Manag 41(6):1462–1480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2005.03.012
Liu Z, Jiang L, Osmani M, Demian P (2019) Building information management (BIM) and blockchain (BC) for sustainable building design information management framework. Electronics 8(7):724. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8070724
Lu Q, Xu X (2017) Adaptable blockchain-based systems: a case study for product traceability. IEEE Softw 34(6):21–27. https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2017.4121227
Mark Tanner. (2018). Why China will drive blockchain and 4 related myths. www.forbes.com, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tannermark/2018/08/01/blockchain-china-misunderstandings/#544fc56213c8
Mentzer JT, DeWitt W, Keebler JS, Min S, Nix NW, Smith CD, Zacharia ZG (2001) Defining supply chain management. J Bus Logist 22(2):1–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2158-1592.2001.tb00001.x
Merediz-Solà I, Bariviera AF (2019) A bibliometric analysis of bitcoin scientific production. Res Int Bus Financ 50:294–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2019.06.008
Merigó JM, Cancino CA, Coronado F, Urbano D (2016) Academic research in innovation: a country analysis. Scientometrics 108(2):559–593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1984-4
Min H (2019a) Blockchain technology for enhancing supply chain resilience. Busi Horiz 62(1):35–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.012
Min H (2019b) Blockchain technology for enhancing supply chain resilience. Busi Horiz 62(1):35–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.012
Mishra D, Gunasekaran A, Papadopoulos T, Childe SJ (2018) Big data and supply chain management: a review and bibliometric analysis. Ann Oper Res 270(1):313–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-016-2236-y
Moed HF (2006) Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation. Springer Science & Business Media
Moiwo JP, Tao F (2013) The changing dynamics in citation index publication position China in a race with the USA for global leadership. Scientometrics 95(3):1031–1050. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0846-y
Muhuri PK, Shukla AK, Abraham A (2019) Industry 4.0: A bibliometric analysis and detailed overview. Eng Appl Artif Intell 78:218–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2018.11.007
Nakamoto, S. (2019). Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. In Manubot. Manubot.
Nowiński W, Kozma M (2017) How can blockchain technology disrupt the existing business models? Entrepre Busi Econo Rev 5(3):173–188. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2017.050309
Perboli G, Ferrero F, Musso S, Vesco A (2018) Business models and tariff simulation in car-sharing services. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 115:32–48
Perianes-Rodríguez A, Olmeda-Gómez C, Moya-Anegón F (2010) Detecting, identifying and visualizing research groups in co-authorship networks. Scientometrics 82(2):307–319
Persson, O., Danell, R., & Schneider, J. W. (2009a). How to use Bibexcel for various types of bibliometric analysis. Celebrating Scholarly Communication Studies: A Festschrift for Olle Persson at His 60th Birthday, 5, 9–24.
Persson, O., Danell, R., & Wiborg Schneider, J. (2009b). How to use Bibexcel for various types of bibliometric analysis (pp. 9–24). ISSI. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-25636
Pournader M, Shi Y, Seuring S, Koh SL (2020) Blockchain applications in supply chains, transport and logistics: A systematic review of the literature. Int J Prod Res 58(7):2063–2081
Queiroz MM, Fosso Wamba S (2019) Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: an empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA. Int J Inf Manag 46:70–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.11.021
Quillen SR (1994) Collection development at the NOAA Central Library
Reyes-Gonzalez L, Gonzalez-Brambila CN, Veloso F (2016) Using co-authorship and citation analysis to identify research groups: a new way to assess performance. Scientometrics 108(3):1171–1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2029-8
Saberi S, Kouhizadeh M, Sarkis J, Shen L (2019) Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. Int J Prod Res 57(7):2117–2135. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1533261
Saunders, M. N. K., & Lewis, P. (2012). Doing research in business and management: an essential guide to planning your project. Financial Times Prentice Hall, is an imprint of Pearson.
Shahed KS, Azeem A, Ali SM, Moktadir MA (2021) A supply chain disruption risk mitigation model to manage COVID-19 pandemic risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res:1–16
Shiau W-L, Dwivedi YK (2013) Citation and co-citation analysis to identify core and emerging knowledge in electronic commerce research. Scientometrics 94(3):1317–1337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0807-5
Sikorski JJ, Haughton J, Kraft M (2017) Blockchain technology in the chemical industry: Machine-to-machine electricity market. Appl Energy 195:234–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.03.039
Small H (1973) Co-citation in the scientific literature: a new measure of the relationship between two documents. J Am Soc Inf Sci 24(4):265–269
Snyder H (2019) Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. J Bus Res 104:333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Swan, M. (2015). Blockchain: blueprint for a new economy. O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Systematic review—research guides at University of Maryland Libraries. (2019). https://lib.guides.umd.edu/SR
Tapscott D, Tapscott A (2017) How blockchain will change organizations. MIT Sloan Manag Rev Cambridge 58(2):10–13
Thomé AMT, Scavarda LF, Scavarda AJ (2016) Conducting systematic literature review in operations management. Prod Plan Control 27(5):408–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2015.1129464
Toyoda K, Mathiopoulos PT, Sasase I, Ohtsuki T (2017) A novel blockchain-based product ownership management system (POMS) for anti-counterfeits in the post supply chain. IEEE access 5:17465-17477
Tranfield D, Denyer D, Smart P (2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. Br J Manag 14(3):207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375
Trujillo CM, Long TM (2018) Document co-citation analysis to enhance transdisciplinary research. Sci Adv 4(1):e1701130. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701130
Underwood S (2016) Blockchain beyond bitcoin. Commun ACM 59(11):15–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/2994581
Van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2010) Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics 84(2):523–538
van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2010) Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics 84(2):523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3
van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2011). Text mining and visualization using VOSviewer. ArXiv:1109.2058 [Cs]. http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.2058
Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2014). Visualizing bibliometric networks. In Measuring scholarly impact (pp. 285–320). Springer.
Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2020). VOSviewer Manual. 53.
Venkatesh VG, Kang K, Wang B, Zhong RY, Zhang A (2020) System architecture for blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability. Robot Comput Integr Manuf 63:101896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2019.101896
Vujicic, D., Jagodic, D., & Randic, S. (2018). Blockchain technology, bitcoin, and Ethereum: a brief overview. 2018 17th International Symposium INFOTEH-JAHORINA (INFOTEH), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/INFOTEH.2018.8345547
Wei, F., & Zhang, G. (2020). A document co-citation analysis method for investigating emerging trends and new developments: a case of twenty-four leading business journals [Text]. University of Borås. http://informationr.net/ir/25-1/paper842.html
White, P. B. (2019). Using data mining for citation analysis | White | College & Research Libraries. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.1.76
Winkelhaus S, Grosse EH (2020) Logistics 4.0: a systematic review towards a new logistics system. Int J Prod Res 58(1):18–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2019.1612964
Xu LD, Xu EL, Li L (2018) Industry 4.0: State of the art and future trends. Int J Prod Res 56(8):2941–2962
Ying W, Jia S, Du W (2018) Digital enablement of blockchain: evidence from HNA group. Int J Inf Manag 39:1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.10.004
Zeng S, Ni X, Yuan Y, Wang F-Y (2018) A bibliometric analysis of blockchain research. IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV) 2018:102–107. https://doi.org/10.1109/IVS.2018.8500606
Zhuang Y, Liu X, Nguyen T, He Q, Hong S (2013) Global remote sensing research trends during 1991–2010: a bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics 96(1):203–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0918-z
Zibareva IV, Parmon VN (2013) Identification of “hot spots” of the science of catalysis: bibliometric and thematic analysis of nowaday reviews and monoFig.s. Russ Chem Bull 62(10):2266–2278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11172-013-0329-1
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J. Mousavi: Conceptualization; Formal Analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Software; Validation; Original Draft; Visualization; Review and Editing
L. M. Naeni: Supervision; Project Admiration; Review and Editing
A. M. Fathollahi-Fard: Supervision; Review and Editing
U. Fiore: Review and Editing
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Consent for publication
All authors declare that they are consent for publication in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moosavi, J., Naeni, L.M., Fathollahi-Fard, A.M. et al. Blockchain in supply chain management: a review, bibliometric, and network analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13094-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13094-3