A Manager's Guide to Blockchains for Business: From Knowing What to Knowing How 2018
Published on 25. June 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-9956820-4-7 (ISBN)
Description
Based on interviews in global enterprises and startups, surveys, and participant observation research, this book focuses on how enterprises are actually building blockchain applications for business today. This comprehensive guide is written for leaders, managers, business students, and other inquisitive people who want to understand how enterprises can use blockchains to transact directly with trading partners; automatically execute business agreements; instantly track and trace assets through a supply chain; and settle transactions quickly and cheaply on a secure platform.
While readers will learn enough about the underlying technology to speak intelligently to blockchain experts, the guide focuses on the business challenges that must be overcome to realize the promised business value. The author presents a three-phased framework and action principles for making blockchains for business real. Most imperatively, global enterprises will need to shift their mindsets when moving from their current command-and-control centralized business applications to the shared governance models of distributed blockchain applications.
While readers will learn enough about the underlying technology to speak intelligently to blockchain experts, the guide focuses on the business challenges that must be overcome to realize the promised business value. The author presents a three-phased framework and action principles for making blockchains for business real. Most imperatively, global enterprises will need to shift their mindsets when moving from their current command-and-control centralized business applications to the shared governance models of distributed blockchain applications.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stratford upon Avon
United Kingdom
Illustrations
60 black & white diagrams & tables
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 190 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
400 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-9956820-4-7 (9780995682047)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr. Mary C. Lacity is Walton Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence in the
Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. Prior to this post she was Curators' Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Mary has held visiting positions at MIT, the London School of Economics, Washington University, and Oxford University. She is a Certified Outsourcing Professional (R), Industry Advisor for Symphony Ventures, and Co-editor of the Palgrave Series: Work, Technology, and Globalization. Her research focuses on the delivery of business and IT services through global sourcing and automation. Mary has conducted case studies and surveys of hundreds of organizations on their outsourcing and management practices. She has given keynote speeches and executive seminars worldwide and has served as an expert witness for the US Congress. She was inducted into the IAOP's Outsourcing Hall of Fame in 2014 - one of only three academics to ever be inducted - and she was the recipient of the 2008 Gateway to Innovation Award sponsored by the IT Coalition, Society for Information Management, and St. Louis RCGA. Mary has published 27 books, most recently Robotic and Cognitive Automation: The Next Phase (2018), Robotic Process Automation and Risk Mitigation: The Definitive Guide (2017) and Service Automation: Robots and the Future of Work (2016) - all three SB Publishing, UK, co-author Leslie Willcocks. Her publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, MIS Quarterly Executive, IEEE Computer, Communications of the ACM, and many other academic and practitioner outlets.
Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. Prior to this post she was Curators' Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Mary has held visiting positions at MIT, the London School of Economics, Washington University, and Oxford University. She is a Certified Outsourcing Professional (R), Industry Advisor for Symphony Ventures, and Co-editor of the Palgrave Series: Work, Technology, and Globalization. Her research focuses on the delivery of business and IT services through global sourcing and automation. Mary has conducted case studies and surveys of hundreds of organizations on their outsourcing and management practices. She has given keynote speeches and executive seminars worldwide and has served as an expert witness for the US Congress. She was inducted into the IAOP's Outsourcing Hall of Fame in 2014 - one of only three academics to ever be inducted - and she was the recipient of the 2008 Gateway to Innovation Award sponsored by the IT Coalition, Society for Information Management, and St. Louis RCGA. Mary has published 27 books, most recently Robotic and Cognitive Automation: The Next Phase (2018), Robotic Process Automation and Risk Mitigation: The Definitive Guide (2017) and Service Automation: Robots and the Future of Work (2016) - all three SB Publishing, UK, co-author Leslie Willcocks. Her publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, MIS Quarterly Executive, IEEE Computer, Communications of the ACM, and many other academic and practitioner outlets.
Content
Contents.
Figures and Tables.
Preface.
Author Introduction: The Inspiration, Research Base and Focus of the Guide.
Chapter 1: The Blockchain Landscape.
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Why should managers care about blockchains?
1.3 How big is the blockchain landscape today?
1.4 Blockchain's technology hype curve
1.4 Conclusion: the landscape shifts rapidly.
Chapter 2: The Blockchain Application Framework.
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Centralized systems vs. distributed blockchain applications
2.3 Bitcoin: The first blockchain application
2.4 The blockchain application framework
2.5 Blockchain's distributed ledger vs. traditional distributed databases
2.6 Mapping Bitcoin to the blockchain application framework
2.7 Conclusion.
Chapter 3: Business Application Examples.
3.1 Introduction
3.2. Blockchain applications in financial services
3.3 Blockchain applications in the energy sector
3.4 Blockchain applications in supply chains
3.5 Conclusion.
Chapter 4: Technical Challenges & Emerging Solutions.
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Security challenges
4.3 Performance and scalability challenges
4.4 Anonymity challenges
4.5 Privacy challenges
4.6 Interoperability challenges
4.7 Resource consumption challenges
4.8 Conclusion.
Chapter 5: Mindshifts, Strategies and Action Principles A Roadmap for Making Enterprise Blockchains Real.
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Mindshifts: The blockchain mindset
5.3 "Cart before the horse" exploration
5.4 "Horse before the cart" strategic intent
5.4 Critical mass
5.5 Conclusion.
Glossary
Figures and Tables.
Preface.
Author Introduction: The Inspiration, Research Base and Focus of the Guide.
Chapter 1: The Blockchain Landscape.
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Why should managers care about blockchains?
1.3 How big is the blockchain landscape today?
1.4 Blockchain's technology hype curve
1.4 Conclusion: the landscape shifts rapidly.
Chapter 2: The Blockchain Application Framework.
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Centralized systems vs. distributed blockchain applications
2.3 Bitcoin: The first blockchain application
2.4 The blockchain application framework
2.5 Blockchain's distributed ledger vs. traditional distributed databases
2.6 Mapping Bitcoin to the blockchain application framework
2.7 Conclusion.
Chapter 3: Business Application Examples.
3.1 Introduction
3.2. Blockchain applications in financial services
3.3 Blockchain applications in the energy sector
3.4 Blockchain applications in supply chains
3.5 Conclusion.
Chapter 4: Technical Challenges & Emerging Solutions.
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Security challenges
4.3 Performance and scalability challenges
4.4 Anonymity challenges
4.5 Privacy challenges
4.6 Interoperability challenges
4.7 Resource consumption challenges
4.8 Conclusion.
Chapter 5: Mindshifts, Strategies and Action Principles A Roadmap for Making Enterprise Blockchains Real.
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Mindshifts: The blockchain mindset
5.3 "Cart before the horse" exploration
5.4 "Horse before the cart" strategic intent
5.4 Critical mass
5.5 Conclusion.
Glossary