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Advanced technological developments and innovation are playing significant roles in restructuring and reorganizing societies and industries. Economies are forced to adopt and adapt according to recent progressive trends in technology, digitization, and modernization. Nevertheless, there have been opposing views in the literature concerning the intention and purpose of these advanced technologies.
It has been suggested by Cann (2016) that such technological advancements are leading to a new type of industrial revolution but with a loss of millions of jobs worldwide. Thompson (2016) found that such phenomena create new highly skilled and specialized jobs (i.e., algorithmic and analytical) while replacing the outdated ones. The World Economic Forum stated that technological advancements are a few of the causes behind the loss, shift, replacement, or dislocation of a large number of jobs. On the other hand, such technologies have shown to lead to increased economic growth and development (Grothaus, 2017). Such inconsistencies in the literature have developed to be an interesting avenue to explore in this study.
Studies in innovation show that such technologies are being increasingly deployed and implemented by most large organizations, startups, and FinTechs. Businesses are increasingly adopting innovation into their processes, which in turn encourages large institutions to monitor their developments (Raymaekers, 2015). Among the recent developments in innovation, blockchain technologies have gained an exceptional interest.
Recently, a growing number of organizations and FinTechs have expressed their intent to enter the blockchain domain. Yet, their interests started shifting from the benefits (e.g., speed, increased efficiency) to the various challenges (e.g., high energy consumption, high processing/operation costs) of blockchain technology. Nonetheless, the underpinnings that inaugurate the benefits and challenges of blockchain technology have not yet been explored in the literature. Against these backgrounds, this study attempts to investigate the underpinnings of blockchain technology and the reasoning behind this disruptive innovation.
This study is conducted through the analysis of anecdotal evidence in the form of published online articles and coding them to extract specific themes. Furthermore, the text-mining method was used to develop an enriched understanding of blockchain technology. The study develops seven themes (i.e., politics, performance, added-value, datafication, digital revolution, robotics, and security) through three theoretical frameworks (i.e., economic, innovative, and societal perspectives) that may provide a “big picture” for understanding the concept of blockchain technology.
The importance of this study is the following. According to a 2019 survey conducted by Deloitte, 53% of respondents consider blockchain as a critical priority for their organizations (10% increase from 2018) (Deloitte, 2019). Yet, because the empirical literature on blockchain technology is still at its infancy, opposing opinions, views, and recommendations have emerged concerning this technology (Husain, Franklin, & Roep, 2020). Thus, this study is the first to address the inconsistencies found in the literature by identifying the underpinnings of blockchain technology. Hence, the starting point of this study is the academic and practical need for navigating the widely predominant blockchain concept. As such, the findings can serve as a general roadmap for tech organizations and FinTech startups in the blockchain domain to pre-identify certain elements that may support or hinder their growth.
The rest of the research is structured as follows: the following section discusses the concepts of disruptive innovation and blockchain technology. These are followed by the methodology section that consists of centering resonance analysis (CRA), text analysis, and themes development. The authors then elaborate on the findings and conclude with a discussion.