Enterprise Strategy for Blockchain: Lessons in Disruption from Fintech, Supply Chains, and Consumer Industries

How companies can gain strategic advantage by developing blockchain capabilities.

Blockchain is far more than cryptocurrency. Regarded for a decade as complex and with limited application, blockchain has now matured to be on the verge of fully realizing its disruptive potential. In Enterprise Strategy for Blockchain, business strategy expert Ravi Sarathy shows how companies can gain competitive advantage by developing and deploying blockchain capabilities. Sarathy explains what makes blockchain unique, including its capacities to eliminate intermediaries, guard against hackers, decentralize, and protect privacy. Presenting examples drawn from such sectors as finance, supply chains, computer services, consumer products, and entertainment, he describes how executives can strategically assess blockchain's applicability to their business.

After outlining blockchain's technological features--and its technological obstacles--Sarathy describes disruptive technologies already happening in the financial services market with the emergence of decentralized finance, or DeFi, arguing that a wave of innovation might be positioning DeFi as blockchain's "killer app." He also explores, among many other uses, a blockchain application that addresses chronic supply chain problems, pilot blockchain programs aimed at facilitating cross-border payments, and the use of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that allow digital art to be collected and traded. And he outlines a path for organizations that includes establishing a business case for applying blockchain, evaluating enterprise cost-benefits, and preparing the organization to develop the requisite knowledge and people skills while overcoming resistance to change.

Business leaders should invest, explore and experiment with blockchain now, positioning their organizations to be first in their fields, ahead of both rising startups and late-to-the game incumbent peers.

企業如何通過發展區塊鏈能力獲得戰略優勢。

區塊鏈遠不僅僅是加密貨幣。在過去十年中，區塊鏈被認為是一個複雜且應用有限的技術，但現在已經成熟，即將完全實現其顛覆性潛力。在《區塊鏈企業戰略》一書中，業務策略專家Ravi Sarathy展示了企業如何通過開發和應用區塊鏈能力獲得競爭優勢。Sarathy解釋了區塊鏈的獨特之處，包括消除中間人、防範黑客攻擊、去中心化和保護隱私的能力。他通過金融、供應鏈、計算服務、消費品和娛樂等行業的實例，描述了高管如何戰略性地評估區塊鏈對其業務的適用性。

在概述區塊鏈的技術特點和技術障礙之後，Sarathy描述了金融服務市場中已經發生的顛覆性技術，即去中心化金融（DeFi）的出現，並主張創新浪潮可能將DeFi定位為區塊鏈的“殺手應用程序”。他還探討了許多其他應用，包括解決長期供應鏈問題的區塊鏈應用程序，旨在促進跨境支付的試點區塊鏈計劃，以及允許收集和交易數字藝術品的非同質化代幣（NFT）的使用。他還概述了組織的發展路徑，包括建立應用區塊鏈的業務案例，評估企業成本效益，並準備組織發展所需的知識和人才技能，同時克服對變革的抵制。

企業領導者應該現在就投資、探索和實驗區塊鏈，使其組織成為行業中的先行者，超越新興初創企業和後來者。

Ravi Sarathy is Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business. He is the coeditor of Firms within Families: Enterprising in Diverse Country Contexts.

Ravi Sarathy是東北大學D'Amore-McKim商學院的國際商業和策略教授。他是Firms within Families: Enterprising in Diverse Country Contexts的共同編輯者。