Information Technology Assignment: Critical Review On Blockchain Technology In Business

Question

Task: Select one appropriate technological topic and write a 2,000-word information technology assignmentreport review on the themes, trends and arguments emerging about that topic.

The report should include:
a. Why do you deem this topic to be of importance?
b. How this has topic has developed
c. A detailed description of the technology used in this topic and what it is used for.
d. What technological platforms and software are used in the topic
e. What type of business and organisation uses the technology?
f. How is it used as a business tool and is this effective?

Approximately 45% of the word count
How does this relate to course content and discussion on the nature of the relationship between digital technologies and both old and newly emerging theories on business and management structures and practices?

Approximately 55% of word count

The work should relate to theories and models set out in the course content and other referenced source material, and course material and include a critical discussion of these from those sources.

Answer

Introduction:
The current information technology assignment revolves around the topic of Blockchain technology. The blockchain was started in the year 1991 and it was a method of securing the digital data of the organization or the business (Nofer 2017). It is also known as the open ledger which can be accessed by a lot of parties at once. Moreover, with the increase in competition in the market among the business,they need to take the security and efficiency of the business into consideration. Therefore, businesses today prefer Blockchain as a tool for growth as it removes the middleman and, hence automates the entire process (Gould 2020). The primary purpose of the following report is to evaluate the application of blockchain in business and the importance it holds in the competitive world.

The importance of blockchain in business:
The major importance of the use of Blockchain in the business is the verification and the traceability of the multistep transactions which are taking place within the organization which is also needing verification and traceability (Angelis et al., 2019). Moreover, it can also help in the reduction of the cost of compliance and therefore, speed up the transfer of the data within the network. Finally, when it comes to the use of blockchain in the business it can significantly help in the management of the contract and the audit of the primary origin of the product.

The development of blockchain in business:
Today most organizations are relying on technology for their growth in the market. Therefore, to compete in the market and also to stand against the rest of the companies within the market there is a need for the organization to take the technology evolution and development into consideration. Therefore, considering that there are various options in the market for the development of technology and its integration within the business such as cloud storage, use of 5G network or CRM. However, there is a need for technology that can not only handle the security of the information of the organization but will also benefit the organization as a whole in terms of efficiency (Tapscott & Tapscott 2017). Therefore, for the following study blockchain was taken into consideration as they are showcasing the encryption features, the method of decentralization and also the authenticity of the transactions which are of primary importance within the business. Therefore, blockchain was developed for the following business.

Description of the technology blockchain which is used in businesses:
Around the world, the blockchain is helping in shaping the future of the business and also transforming the business. Therefore, there is a need for greater trust with efficiency into consideration (Nowiski&Kozma 2017). With the growth in the privacy of the consumers and the global supply chain, there isan infinite pool of information which are present online which needs to be managed and therefore, bring in innovations of the decade. There are various methods the blockchain is used within the business and they are as follows:

• Levelling up the supply chain of the business–One of the major issues which the businesses are facing with their supply chain is the complex global supply chain system (Bedin et al., 2020). Therefore, because of the complexity of the following, it is difficult for the organization to know where the product has been originating from. Moreover, it also becomes hard for the company to locate the products and hence with the help of blockchain the following issues could be solved at a more significant level (Morkunas et al., 2019).

• Blockchain applications in finance – One of the most usable forms of blockchain which is taken into consideration by most companies is the use of blockchain in the transaction and the financial aspect. Below is the graph which is showcasing the use of blockchain in the market. With the help of blockchain being used in the transaction and the financial intermediaries, the number of frauds and data leakages could be significantly reduced (Lu et al., 2021). Moreover, the cost of transfer is also decreased to a significant level which is not the case with the manual settlement of the transactions.

Figure 1: Graph showcasing the primary benefit of blockchain in business
Source:Lu et al., 2021

• Businesses can use blockchain for smart contracts – The primary benefit most of the companies are using blockchain for is the smart contracts. It is a new method of recording the contracts in a manner that cannot be changed not it could be manipulated (Nofer 2021). Some of the smart contract’s use of blockchain in the business isa commercial lease, supplier and vendor agreements. Therefore, with the help of smart contracts, businesses can get a level of protection without being expensive.

Technological platforms or software’s used:
Some of the technological tools and software which are used are:
• Remix – It is a blockchain tool thatis used for the creation and deployment of smart contracts (Angelis & Ribeiro da Silva 2019). They are written in JavaScript and are used for the writing and the testing along with the debugging and deployment of the smart contract.

Figure 2: Remix software
Source:Angelis & Ribeiro da Silva 2019

• Blockchain as a service (BaaS) – It is a method or tool which are used by businesses so that they can create more convenient apps and functions for the business (Nowiski&Kozma 2017). This could be ranging from the transaction system to the handling and the management of the organization functions which allows for the blockchain operations to be more operational and agile.

Type of business and organization which are using blockchain:
Various businesses are using the blockchain to a greater level. Apart from the technology industry,other industries are also using the following technology (Morkunas et al., 2019). Some of the notable businesses which are using the following blockchain technology are financial services as seen in the following graph. The primary reason for the use of the following is the increased security in the transactions.

Figure 3: Business industries using blockchain
Source: Morkunas et al., 2019

How blockchain is used as a business tool and its effectiveness:
As discussed above the primary area where most of the blockchain is used is during the transactions as it makes the process more secure. Other than that, a supply chain is a major part of the business where the blockchain is used as a tool (Bedin et al., 2020). This includes tracking the products of the businesses in the supply chain. Using blockchain automated the paperwork within the business which improves the efficiency of the business as it significantly results in fewer disputes.

Nature of relationship between the digital technologies and the old and new emerging theories on business and the management structure and practices:

The following course is related to digital technologies and business. Therefore, in the following study, all the information and the evaluation which is considering the place is for the fact that the technology is being used for the business. Therefore, the discussion for the topic which is selected for the following is related to the Blockchain and its implication on the business (Huang et al., 2021). Today with the increase in competition and the number of information and data which are present with the companies and organizations. They will be able to leverage that information regarding making better customer decisions and also understanding the performance of the products in the market among the consumers. In addition to that, using the following information the companies can compete with their rivals in the market.

In general, when it comes to the blockchain they are referred to the innumerable number of blocks which are holding the information. These are the linear blocks, and they are added to the chain in a more chronological order using the method of cryptography (Wang et al., 2021). When it comes to the blockchain in the business they are the combination of all the cryptography, contracts, peer to peer networks that are present which are also a part of the computational infrastructure. When it comes to the relationship between the use of blockchain and business management various opportunities could be used for innovation purposes. Moreover, on the other side, this could be regarding the reductions of the cost in the market and therefore, provide a faster transaction within the organization which will help in the enhancement of the traceability of the data and verification. One of the major theories which are applicable for all businesses is the Systems Management Theory. Using the following theory, it is offering a more alternative approach to the planning and the management of the business organization. The business is like a human body with various components within itself (Sharma and Mahendru 2017). Therefore, it is important to take measures and understand the proper functioning of all the components within the business organization. According to Richardson and Jackson(2018), one of the major reasons for the success of the business organization is the dependence on synergy, interdependence and the interrelations between the subsystems of the organization. Therefore, the blockchain provides that opportunity to the business organization to make use of the system management theory more effectively. Since blockchain works with cryptography, therefore, all the subsystems within the business organization are functioning properly and efficiently. Again, there is an implication of the Contingency Management Theory within the organization which is playing a key role in the effective functioning of the business. Therefore, according to Velinov et al., (2018),three variables are influencing the structure of the organization which is the size of the organization, the technology they are implementing and the style of leadership. Therefore, since technology is a part of the process hence, the use of blockchain can be inculcated within the following for the better functioning of the organization (Abba et al., 2018). Blockchain is the technology that is being implemented in most organizations and is also deemed to be more secure. Hence, because of the following relations use of blockchain can significantly improve the efficiency of the business organization.

Other than the reduction of the costs within the business organization, their traceability and also the security implications the blockchain supports the business model and the concept of the organization which is the distributed autonomous organization. The use of cryptographic implementation of the blockchain in the business models is a change in the value propositions which ensures the authenticity of the interactions within the network (Ali et al., 2021). Security practices are one of the major practices within the business organization. Therefore, blockchain technology implication is the method that could be used for securing the security practices within the business organization setting. Moreover, today one of the most vulnerable parts of the business are the transactions that are taking place both internally and externally within the business organization setting. Therefore, with the help of blockchain, they can secure their transactions and have more secure assets in the long run. In the words of Dierksmeier and Seele(2020), the use of blockchain technology would be enabling more small and distributed stakeholders for exercising control over the transactions of the company and hence which will help in hiding the identity of the organization with the layers of security. Moreover, the assets which are circulating in the blockchain are in the form of physical, monetary and also user-specific. Therefore, the improvement and the changes within the business organization would be better applicable for the customers, competitors of the organization or the suppliers of the organizations (Pal et al., 2021). The use of blockchain in the following is a more effective approach that can significantly improve the operations of the organization and the functioning of the organization efficiently effectively and efficiently.

Conclusion:
The primary purpose of the following study was to evaluate and understand the implications and applications of blockchain in the business and how it has showcased the importance of its implication. Other than that, the relationship between blockchain technology and business management theories and practices has also been evaluated which showcases that the use of blockchain can significantly help in increasing the efficiency of the business. The study also concludes that financial business and the financial transaction within the business is one of the major areas of the business where the technology is applicable.

References:
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