Perceived business model impacts of blockchain and other advanced technologies adoption

Abstract

The adoption of advanced technologies by organisations can affect all aspects of an organisation’s business model. This is particularly true for disruptive technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and others. The objective of this study is “To explore the perceived impacts of blockchain and other advanced technologies adoption on an organisation's business model.” A web-based survey was derived by adopting the Business Model Canvas (BMC) (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) as a lens, and 19 business model impacts were identified in prior research. The study employs a mixed-method approach in two phases: an exploratory study with 31 questionnaire responses plus short interviews, and an extended study with 72 survey responses. The exploratory study focuses on blockchain, small and medium enterprises, and Saudi Arabia. The extended study contains several technologies, organisation sizes, and regions. The findings reveal that the majority of respondents (N=72) perceive all 19 business model impacts stemming from adopting advanced technologies in general, although this correlates with organisational size for some impacts. However, the perceived impacts of blockchain adoption as reported by blockchain adopters (N=41) are mixed. The majority of blockchain adopters surveyed do not perceive the anticipated impacts of blockchain adoption, although again this correlates with organisational size and sector. The study makes several key contributions that agree with prior research on the perceived impacts of technology adoption in general, challenging prior research on the perceived impacts of blockchain adoption specifically, and extending current knowledge in terms of the relationships between size, sector, and perceived impacts. The study also contributes to practice, offering insight to managers who are motivated to address the challenges of technology adoption, mitigate negative effects, and maximise positive impacts. Such decision makers can benefit from the insights of the study about the importance of use cases, ROI measurement, and other factors.