Perception of Procurement Professionals on the Adoption of Blockchain Technologies and Its Impact on Supply Chain Management in Kenya

Abstract

The objective was to explore perception of procurement professionals on the adoption of blockchain technologies and its impact on supply chain management in Kenya. Specific objectives included to establish the extent of adoption of blockchain technologies in supply chain management, to determine the relationship between blockchain technologies and total efficiency in supply chain management, and to explore opportunities of blockchain technologies in supply chain management. The study was designed as exploratory research. By use of a questionnaire, data was collected from a total of 210 respondents. Descriptive statistics and ordinal regression analysis were the conducted for data analysis in SPSS. The study found that there was limited awareness of the current attempts to apply blockchain technologies in supply chain management. The fact that blockchain is more popular for cryptocurrencies may have affected the awareness of the participants about supply chain applications of the technology. The study also found a strong positive relationship between cost efficiency, provenance, traceability, time efficiency, and order fulfilment as independent variables, and total supply chain efficiency as the dependent variable. Ordinal regression recorded a Cox and Snell R-square of 0.935 indicating that a strong relationship existed between the factors of the research and total supply chain efficiency. Lastly, the research established that improved traceability would be the greatest opportunity for the application of blockchain technologies in supply chain management. Substantial improvements would also be recorded in all other aspects of supply chain management including the areas of provenance, cost efficiency, time efficiency, and order fulfilment. In concluding the study affirmed high potential for the application of blockchain technologies in supply chain management.