IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i8p3102-d1372294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Addressing Challenges: Adopting Blockchain Technology in the Pharmaceutical Industry for Enhanced Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Tino Riedel

    (Research Team, Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Jahnallee 59, 04109 Leipzig, Germany)

Abstract

The growing importance of sustainability in organizational success, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, underscores the need for leveraging technologies such as blockchain methods to enhance sustainability indicators across environmental, social, and economic pillars. This study aims to identify and understand the challenges hindering the adoption of blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical sector for improving sustainability performance, addressing two research topics: the specific challenges faced by blockchain adoption in this context and the interdependencies among these challenges. Employing a two-step approach, the study compiles challenges through a literature review, refines them via expert opinions, and establishes their interrelationships using methodologies like fuzzy interpretive structural modeling (FISM) and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC). The research contributes to unraveling the complex relationships and dependencies within the system, providing a structured framework for improved decision making and strategic planning. It fills a literature gap as the first attempt to outline driving and dependent factors related to the challenges of adopting blockchain technology for sustainability enhancement in the pharmaceutical sector, offering insights that can significantly impact brand image, company perception, and consumer value.

Suggested Citation

  • Tino Riedel, 2024. "Addressing Challenges: Adopting Blockchain Technology in the Pharmaceutical Industry for Enhanced Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-29, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3102-:d:1372294
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3102/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3102/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kannan, Govindan & Pokharel, Shaligram & Sasi Kumar, P., 2009. "A hybrid approach using ISM and fuzzy TOPSIS for the selection of reverse logistics provider," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 28-36.
    2. Abhijeet Ghadge & Hendrik Wurtmann & Stefan Seuring, 2020. "Managing climate change risks in global supply chains: a review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 44-64, January.
    3. Kouhizadeh, Mahtab & Saberi, Sara & Sarkis, Joseph, 2021. "Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    4. Niloofar Etemadi & Pieter Van Gelder & Fernanda Strozzi, 2021. "An ISM Modeling of Barriers for Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technology Adoption in Supply Chains towards Cybersecurity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-28, April.
    5. Deepak Mathivathanan & K. Mathiyazhagan & Nripendra P. Rana & Sangeeta Khorana & Yogesh K. Dwivedi, 2021. "Barriers to the adoption of blockchain technology in business supply chains: a total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) approach," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(11), pages 3338-3359, June.
    6. Yongbo Li & Bathrinath Sankaranarayanan & D. Thresh Kumar & Ali Diabat, 2019. "Risks assessment in thermal power plants using ISM methodology," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 279(1), pages 89-113, August.
    7. Sharfuddin Ahmed Khan & Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik & Simonov Kusi‐Sarpong & Himanshu Gupta & Syed Imran Zaman & Mobashar Mubarik, 2022. "Blockchain technologies as enablers of supply chain mapping for sustainable supply chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3742-3756, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaole Han & Leong-Mow Gooi, 2025. "Multi-Level Determinants of Sustainable Blockchain Technology Adoption in SCM: Individual, Organisational, and Societal Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-56, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vimal K.E. K & Sivakumar K & Jayakrishna Kandasamy & Vaibhav Venkat & Raghuraman Srinivasan Mani, 2023. "Barriers to the adoption of digital technologies in a functional circular economy network," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1541-1561, September.
    2. Mkedder, Nadjim & Jain, Varsha & Salunke, Parth, 2024. "Determinants of virtual reality stores influencing purchase intention: An interpretive structural modeling approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Davies, Jennifer & Sharifi, Hossein & Lyons, Andrew & Forster, Rick & Elsayed, Omar Khaled Shokry Mohamed, 2024. "Non-fungible tokens: The missing ingredient for sustainable supply chains in the metaverse age?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    4. Seyyed-Alireza Radmanesh & Alireza Haji & Omid Fatahi Valilai, 2023. "Blockchain-Based Architecture for a Sustainable Supply Chain in Cloud Architecture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Aditi S. Saha & Rakesh D. Raut & Vinay Surendra Yadav & Abhijit Majumdar, 2022. "Blockchain Changing the Outlook of the Sustainable Food Supply Chain to Achieve Net Zero?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Guoqing Zhao & Shaofeng Liu & Carmen Lopez & Yi Wang & Haiyan Lu & Jinhua Zhang, 2024. "Identification, establishment of connection, and clustering of social risks involved in the agri-food supply chains: a cross-country comparative study," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 338(2), pages 1241-1282, July.
    7. Zhang, Ying & Tavalaei, M. Mahdi & Parry, Glenn & Zhou, Peng, 2024. "Evolution or involution? A systematic literature review of organisations' blockchain adoption factors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    8. Ieva Meidute-Kavaliauskiene & Amir Karbassi Yazdi & Amir Mehdiabadi, 2022. "Integration of Blockchain Technology and Prioritization of Deployment Barriers in the Blood Supply Chain," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Weizhong Wang & Yu Chen & Yi Wang & Muhammet Deveci & Amer Al-Hinai & Seifedine Kadry, 2025. "Analyzing the barriers to blockchain adoption in supply chain finance using an integrated interval-valued Fermatean fuzzy RAFSI model," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 1-39, December.
    10. Chunguang April Bai & James Cordeiro & Joseph Sarkis, 2022. "Blockchain for the environmentally sustainable enterprise," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3689-3692, December.
    11. Ajay Kumar Pandey & Yash Daultani & Saurabh Pratap, 2024. "Blockchain technology enabled critical success factors for supply chain resilience and sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1533-1554, February.
    12. Clarissa Amico & Roberto Cigolini, 2024. "Improving port supply chain through blockchain-based bills of lading: a quantitative approach and a case study," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 26(1), pages 74-104, March.
    13. Xue Han & Pratibha Rani, 2022. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluate the barriers of blockchain technology adoption in sustainable supply chain management in the manufacturing sector using a novel Pythagorean fuzzy-CRITIC-CoCoSo approach," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 725-742, December.
    14. Zhu-Jun Wang & Yangyang Sun & Qin Su & Muhammet Deveci & Kannan Govindan & Mirosław J. Skibniewski & Zhen-Song Chen, 2024. "Smart Contract Application in Resisting Extreme Weather Risks for the Prefabricated Construction Supply Chain: Prototype Exploration and Assessment," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 1049-1087, October.
    15. Ulpan Tokkozhina & Ana Lucia Martins & Joao C. Ferreira, 2023. "Uncovering dimensions of the impact of blockchain technology in supply chain management," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 99-125, March.
    16. Ayushi Srivastava & Kavya Dashora, 2022. "A Fuzzy ISM approach for modeling electronic traceability in agri-food supply chain in India," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(2), pages 2115-2133, August.
    17. Balci, Gökcay & Surucu-Balci, Ebru, 2021. "Blockchain adoption in the maritime supply chain: Examining barriers and salient stakeholders in containerized international trade," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    18. Guoqing Zhao & Chenhui Ye & Denis Dennehy & Shaofeng Liu & Antoine Harfouche & Femi Olan, 2024. "Analysis of barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 to achieve agri‐food supply chain sustainability: A group‐based fuzzy analytic hierarchy process," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8559-8586, December.
    19. Venkataiah Chittipaka & Satish Kumar & Uthayasankar Sivarajah & Jana Lay-Hwa Bowden & Manish Mohan Baral, 2023. "Blockchain Technology for Supply Chains operating in emerging markets: an empirical examination of technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 465-492, August.
    20. Vineet Paliwal & Shalini Chandra & Suneel Sharma, 2024. "Adoption Intention of Blockchain Technologies for Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Indian MSMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-36, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3102-:d:1372294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.