Dear Colleagues,

The blockchain is predicted to drastically transform the interactions and transactions that people have on the Internet, culminating in the breakthrough of a new economy. Therefore, the applications of blockchain transcend beyond the mere notion of buying and selling in governments, businesses, and public domains, ultimately affecting and revolutionising how these important sectors operate ( Seebacher and Schuritz, 2017). Blockchain technology enhances supply chain performance (i.e., traceability, transparency, traceability) through process tracking and regulatory compliance reporting.

Logistics services within the business environment branches into subcategories of product handling, storage as well as transportation in the traditional scheme. More recently, this definition has been revised such that the purpose of logistics service covers seven delivery rights, which are the right product, right condition, right time, right place, right customer, right cost, and right quantity (Queiroz and Fosso Wamba, 2019). These can only be achieved through the strategic management of transactional activities relating to the supply of the goods. As globalization has made the international exchange of goods easier, the material flow from the manufacturer to the end consumer becomes complex. This flow of goods is also accompanied by financial flow as well as information flow, which are not often in sync. In exchanging information relating to the goods, the simplest process still involves a fair amount of paperwork, which can account for approximately up to 15–20% of the shipping cost (Lal and Johnson, 2018). The digitalization of these processes will, therefore, result in a noticeable increase in revenue as well as provide a real-time information flow, which in turn boosts customer satisfaction. Many issues, such as varied cultural and human behavior and various regulatory policies, hinder risk management of global supply chains that could be dealt with ease with the help of the blockchain technology.

With the COVID-19 control protocols in place, human interactions have been restricted, and businesses are forced to interact through virtual platforms. As a result, blockchain technology continues to gain popularity among organizations by delivering substantial benefits such as reduction of intermediaries where the direct supplier and customer transaction is facilitated, nullifying the desire for reconciliations, and updated system for tracking asset movements and guaranteed quality data (Hughes, et al., 2019).

In the era of information technology and threats arising from pandemic (COVID-19), awareness about health consciousness and customer rights is increasing. The regulatory authorities are monitoring compliance of products and stakeholder requirements. This situation challenges the sustainable performance of the supply chain regarding meeting the quality, cost, delivery, resilience, and flexibility dimensions. Post-COVID-19, it is believed that e-commerce will continue to dominate, and last-mile delivery and pay per service will gain momentum. Online shopping practices have witnessed a surge above 50% in countries like India, Vietnam, and China during the COVID-19 period (Sharma et al., 2020). In this regard, the blockchain technology that makes the supply chain process secure by protecting against tampering, cybercrime, and fraud will gain wide acceptance.

Various preventive measures such as social distancing, lockdowns, travel restrictions, and shutdowns adopted during the pandemic have resulted in disruptions in supply chain activities in many sectors, and particularly in the health care sector. Healthcare service providers have closed their outpatient services to restrict accidental exposure of their staff to the virus. Hence, information technology-based communication channels have been developed to act as an interface between patient and healthcare staff. Many pharma companies are also trying to gain their market share through mobile app-based pharma businesses such as Medplus, Appolopharma, and others. However, widespread adoption of these technologies depends mostly on transparency and data security. Hence, the application of blockchain technology will help to boost telemedicine services.

Panic buying and irrational stockpiling of food items were experienced owing to the fear of anticipated shortage during lockdowns and shutdowns, shortage of labor, and restricted transportation activities during the pandemic. This has resulted in a disrupted food supply chain. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop an innovative and resilient supply chain for food supply to reduce food shortages as well as wastages. The food supply chain involves a large number of stakeholders who are associated with the supply of raw materials, seeds, equipment, financing, harvesting, temporary storage, warehousing, and transportation. Further, regulatory and compliance reporting plays a vital role in managing the supply chain of perishable products such as vegetables, pharmaceutical products, fruits, consumer goods, and others. Hence, blockchain technology could offer a potential solution in smoothening the co-ordination among various stakeholders and making the supply chain a resilient one.

In managing logistics associated with humanitarian aid, blockchain technology can be explored for application in logistic management, information transfer, and data management, where it provides a traceable and accountable system to manage all financial expenses. It eliminates the lack of trust in business and funds deviation, thus eliminating the most critical cause for disastrous failure for most of the supply chains (Anh et al., 2019). Additionally, the respective contributors and donors can keep track of their donations with credibility and transparency. Furthermore, there can be a significant reduction in supply delays, restocking of inventories, as well as the expedited purchase of goods by reducing the communication and transitional complexities between suppliers and procurement officials ( Zhang et al., 2020).

It is hoped that the proposed Special Issue (SI) will critically present the current developments in blockchain technology (BCT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled supply chain networks. The SI is also expected to encourage research to explore the behavioral intention of customers as well practitioners toward the adoption of BCT integrated supply chain activities, which the current literature fails to address (Kautish and Sharma, 2019). The SI will also address and pave the path to address the complex challenges that current supply chains are experiencing amidst the global pandemic.

The primary focus of this issue will be to address the following research questions:

• How will Blockchain technologies help in improving supply chain management?
• What are the challenges for designing and implementing Blockchain technologies in sector-specific supply chains?
• How can advanced decision-making techniques help to enhance the supply chain effectiveness in Industry 4.0 and Blockchain era?
• How will Blockchain technologies integration help to improve the performance of supply chains involved with last-mile delivery?
• How can Blockchain technologies be integrated with Big Data and Industry 4.0 to improve the responsiveness and flexibility of supply chains?
• Will Blockchain technologies affect the resilience of the supply chains?
• How can OR models help to implement Blockchain technologies in the manufacturing sectors to enhance the sustainability of their supply chains? 

The papers are expected to further our knowledge on:

• How does Blockchain Technology help to improve the performance of the supply chain?
• Challenges and prospects of blockchain technology-enabled supply chains
• Modeling the critical success factors of digitalization of supply chains based on Blockchain technology
• Assessment of performance of blockchain integrated supply chains
• Blockchain technology for enhancing the sustainability of supply chains
• Blockchain technology for the sustainable food supply chain
• Blockchain technology for sustainable health care supply chain
• Blockchain technology for enhancing the effectiveness of the humanitarian supply chain
• Blockchain in e-government services delivery

References

1. Anh, N. T. M., Hui, L., Khoa, V. D., & Mehmood, S. (2019). Relational capital and supply chain collaboration for radical and incremental innovation. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. Vol. 31, No.4, pp 1076-1094.
2. Inamdar, Z., Raut, R., Narwane, V. S., Gardas, B., Narkhede, B., &Sagnak, M. (2020). A systematic literature review with bibliometric analysis of big data analytics adoption from period 2014 to 2018. Journal of Enterprise Information Management.https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1108/JEIM-09-2019-0267
3. Kautish, P., & Sharma, R. (2019). Managing online product assortment and order fulfillment for superior e-tailing service experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. Vol. 31 4pp. 1161-1192
4. Queiroz, M. M., & Fosso Wamba, S. (2019). Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA. International Journal of Information Management. Vol 46, pp. 70-82. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.11.021
5. Raut, R. D., Mangla, S. K., Narwane, V. S., Gardas, B. B., Priyadarshinee, P., &Narkhede, B. E. (2019). Linking big data analytics and operational sustainability practices for sustainable business management. Journal of cleaner production, Vol. 224, pp. 10-24.
6. Rodríguez-Espíndola, O., Chowdhury, S., Beltagui, A., & Albores, P. (2020). The potential of emergent disruptive technologies for humanitarian supply chains: the integration of blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and 3D printing. International Journal of Production Research. Vol. 58 No. 15, pp. 4610-4630. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/00207543.2020.1761565
7. Saberi, S., Kouhizadeh, M., Sarkis, J., & Shen, L. (2019). Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 57 No. 7, pp.2117-2135.
8. Seebacher, S., &Schüritz, R. (2017, May). Blockchain technology as an enabler of service systems: A structured literature review. In International Conference on Exploring Services Science(pp. 12-23). Springer, Cham.
9. Sharma, H. B., Vanapalli, K. R., Cheela, V. S., Ranjan, V. P., Jaglan, A. K., Dubey, B., ... & Bhattacharya, J. (2020). Challenges, opportunities, and innovations for effective solid waste management during and post COVID-19 pandemic. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 105052.
10. Wang, Jianhua, Zhao, W., & Wan, D. (2019). Simulations of Self-Propelled Fully Appended Ship Model at Different Speeds. International Journal of Computational Methods. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1142/S0219876218400157.
11. Wang, S. (2019). Wang Y., Singgih M., Wang J., Rit M. Making sense of blockchain technology: How will it transform supply chains, 221-236.
12. Zhang, A., Zhong, R. Y., Farooque, M., Kang, K., & Venkatesh, V. G. (2020). Blockchain-based life cycle assessment: An implementation framework and system architecture. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Vol. 152, PP. 1-11. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104512

Dr. Kamalakanta Muduli
Dr. Rakesh Raut
Dr. Balkrishna Eknath Narkhede
Dr. Himanshu Shee
Guest Editors

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• Supply chain performance
• COVID-19
• Blockchain
• Industry 4.0
• Big-data analytics
• Food supply chain