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.
