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Special issue call for papers from Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing

Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing (JGOSS)
Call for papers
Special issue on “Application of Blockchain technologies for global operations”

Guest Editors

Dr. Abhishek Behl, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (abhishekbehl27@gmail.com)
Dr. Angappa Gunasekaran, California State University, USA (agunasekaran@csub.edu)
Dr. Rajesh Singh, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India (rksdce@yahoo.com)
Dr. Zongwei Luo, South University of Science and Technology, China (luozw@sustech.edu.cn)
Dr. Sachin Kamble, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, India (sachin@nitie.ac.in)

Blockchain technology is one of the emerging technologies and has also been featuring in the disruptive technology section thereby enabling economic, social and business transformations in the recent past (Cohen & Amorós, 2014; Morkunas et al., 2019). While blockchain technology has been largely and primarily been used in the context of financial services, its impact on business operations has gradually started gaining attention (Babich and Hilary, 2019). It has its application in situations which involves a buyer and seller and trade cannot only be for information but also for technology, information etc. Thus, blockchain offers space for businesses to flourish and thereby creates a value chain for business models to expand (Tönnissen and Teuteberg, 2019). With scope and prospects which are largely discussed conceptually and rarely practised practically, there lies a gap which needs to be addressed. While businesses have shown potential in using blockchain technologies, there is a wide gap in understanding how this technology can be used universally and moreover accepted by business operations. The process of adoption and adaptation of blockchain depends on intrinsic and extrinsic factors which can be further classified into technological, social, economical, psychological etc. (Swan, 2015, Tapscott and Tapscott, 2016).
Blockchain technology is mostly used by industries as a pilot projects in the area of supply chain management, real estate, healthcare, public policy, consumer insights, financial transactions. While firms have gained some success in adoption and implementation blockchain in their existing process, there are a handful of business operation models developed which are incorporated by the industry and in academia (Kamble et al., 2019; Queiroz and Wamba, 2019). With a growing number of consortia, a decrease in complexity and costs of implementation, and a larger number of pilots and experiments underway, blockchain is advancing rapidly toward greater acceptance. Astute executives and managers should understand how the technology fits in their business and how it can help improve operations in order to capture its advantages ahead of their competitors.
Managers are well advised to continuously monitor blockchain technologies to assess their impact and consider the strategic importance of blockchain for their business operations. Blockchain technology also offers competitive edge for firms and makes their business processes transparent and trustworthy. Business operations also get smoother with lack of information asymmetry which builds on the case of blockchain to be understood by researchers, practitioners and faculty members. Some of the key research questions which need significant attention are:
What is the business operational value offered by blockchain technology?
How will blockchain offer support towards shared goals and operational strategies of organizations?
How would blockchain support and help industry 4.0 grow?
Will blockchain tighten relationships inside supply chain operations?
Will blockchain improve organizational cost structure?
How will blockchain enhance competitiveness and sustainability in global operations?

The special issues aims to invite papers with a focus primarily on the list of themes mentioned below, and are also encouraged to propose unique contributions in the body of knowledge of blockchain technologies and global operations using case studies, longitudinal data and theory focused studies.

Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to:
•    Empirical Studies for understanding adoption, adaptation and implementation of blockchain
•    Blockchain technology and global operations
•    Security and data concerns in blockchain for global operations
•    Blockchain and competitiveness for sustainable operations
•    Blockchain and big data analytics to understand supply chain practices
•    Role of governance in enabling and promoting usage of blockchain technologies
•    Developing swift trust among stakeholders using blockchain technologies
•    Blockchain technology development for global operations of e-commerce firms
•    Implementation of blockchain in complex supply network
•    Enhancing flexibility and agility in supply chain operations using blockchain technologies