Blockchain Technology And The Supply Chain Processes: The Case Of The One Belt And One Road Initiative(OBOR)

As Ren Zhengfei,the founder of Huawei,said “the next battle will be over the Chinese Telecom company's push into the Internet of things(Io T),smart factories and Blockchain Technology”.1 That's the reason why,this topic is highly relevant because with the emergence of Big Data,connected objects,mechanical and digital machines,the Supply Chain Management is facing lot of challenges.The combination of the Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology can allow to make predictive analysis and announce a real revolution at all level of the Supply Chain.Furthermore,this topic is also relevant since the Supply Chain Management is facing challenges to track and record products and to give a less corruptible centralized database through the all Supply Chain.Several small and big companies are currently trying to use a Blockchain system such as Walmart to track pork,IBM to improve process efficiency,BHP to create a trustful database or Goldman Sachs for financial services.2 But if we combine the Supply Chain Management with one the biggest project of this century,lot of challenges are raising.Indeed,this project will connect China with Asia,Europe and Africa,gathering 78 countries and will transform completely the all Supply Chain processes.The One Belt One Road project will increase the number of transactions between these countries through a maritime and land route.This case is highly relevant for the Blockchain Technology because the number of commercial exchanges will rapidly increase and the distribution channels,the manufacturing plants as the source of raw materials will change and will lead to increase the competition between companies.3 That's the reason why,customers would like to get transparent information to track and record their products from a different country.That's the reason why,this thesis focuses on the applicability of the Blockchain Technology to optimize the Supply Chain Management in the case of the One Belt and One Road Initiative.The hypotheses are that Blockchain good perfectly fits the Supply Chain Management and improves its efficiency for the One Belt and One Road Initiative,especially on 3 components: the supply chain processes,the supply chain visibility and the logistics risk.That's the reason why,a survey was conducting,on So Jump and Google Survey,with experts of the Supply Chain Management and the Blockchain Technology to verify the degree of applicability of the Blockchain Technology and its performance to address the Supply Chain's issues in the case of the OBOR Initiative.159 respondents took part to the survey corresponding to experts of the Supply Chain Management that have a strong experience in their professional activity(5+ years).Furthermore,to address the objectives of our thesis,respondents come from different countries that are,directly or indirectly,involve in the OBOR Initiative(i.e.Chinese,French,German,Italian or Russian experts).Since our sample is representative of our population,the sample error and bias are low,and our data and analysis are consistent and precise.Indeed,the main objective of our quantitative research method was to get clear and relevant variables to test our hypotheses and address the objectives of the thesis.Our analyses have shown that the Blockchain Technology has a direct and positive impact on the Supply Chain Management and especially in the case of the OBOR Initiative.Furthermore,our analyses have shown that the Supply Chain Management for the OBOR will face 3 main challenges on 3different components: the supply chain processes,the supply chain visibility and the logistics risk.That's the reason why,our researches have shown that the Blockchain Technology is a good solution for the Supply Chain Management to reach its objectives and challenges in the case of the OBOR Initiative.