Call for Papers

CfP special issue on "Enterprise and organizational applications of distributed ledger technologies"

No longer accepting submissions

Guest editors

Liudmila Zavolokina, University of Zurich, Switzerland, zavolokina(at)ifi.uzh.ch
Andreas Hein, Technical University of Munich, Germany, andreas.hein(at)tum.de
Arthur Carvalho, Miami University, USA, arthur.carvalho(at)miamioh.edu
Gerhard Schwabe, University of Zurich, Switzerland, schwabe(at)ifi.uzh.ch
Helmut Krcmar, Technical University of Munich, Germany, krcmar(at)in.tum.de

Theme

Among other promising technologies, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), often referred to as Blockchain, promise to be one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the internet’s TCP/IP protocol. The combination of DLT characteristics such as accountability, pseudonymity, or distributed network topology, as well as the first cryptocurrency Bitcoin, drew enormous attention given the ubiquitous amount of possibilities for which this technology can be used since its invention in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Whereas TCP/IP lowered the cost of transferring data between two parties dramatically, DLTs have the potential to reduce the cost of transactions (i.e., transfer of assets and value) dramatically. DLTs can enable the secure transfer of any asset worldwide with nearly instant accountability by specifically cutting out intermediary trust holders due to the capabilities of the network’s proof-of-X trust-building processes, e.g., the Bitcoin proof-of-work mining concept. More recent developments built on top of DLTs, like smart contracts and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), take the possibilities of programmable secure transactions even further.

However, during the peak of inflated expectations, most DLT applications remained on a conceptual level. Now, reaching the trough of disillusionment in the Gartner Hype Cycle, DLT applications need to be put to the test to show the promised effects. Hence, this call for paper welcomes research regarding methods and techniques, issues and critical challenges (Alt, 2020), as well as organizational approaches for understanding the potential of DLTs for business models (Bons et al., 2020; Weking et al., 2018), value chains (Eggers et al., 2021), organizations (Wang et al., 2019; Zavolokina et al., 2020), governance mechanisms (Lumineau et al., 2021), emerging competitive landscapes (Hein et al., 2020), and new start-ups. Besides, submissions should address specific industry or organizational applications and focus on the technology layer, strategic organizational challenges, social implications about core values, and the socio-technical perspective on governing organizations that use DLT. By opening this call for paper to the IT, economic/management science, and IS community, we foster the interdisciplinarity needed to grasp the phenomenon from different perspectives.

Central issues and topics

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Applications of DLT and their potential in different areas (e.g., insurance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, energy sector, manufacturing, transportation, automotive industry, provenance, education, government sector) 
  • The business implications of Blockchains and Internet of Things (e.g., machine-to-machine interaction, automated devices, DLT for metered appliances)
  • The impact on business models (e.g., change of existing business models, the emergence of new business models, disruptive business models, blockchain-based data markets)
  • Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and its implications for enterprises
  • Non-fungible Tokens (NFT): design, applications, use in the enterprise context
  • Organizational transformation through DLT (e.g., distributed autonomous organizations)
  • Implications and challenges on governing and co-creating value in organizations that use DLT (e.g., decentralized platform ecosystems or consortia)
  • Smart contracts and process automation in and between organizations, technology adoption and diffusion
  • The impact on the value chain (e.g., disintermediation, change of actors, advantages and disadvantages), the internet and the digital economy
  • Regulatory aspects of Blockchains and implications for risk management
  • Philosophical issues on the use of Blockchains (e.g., governance of blockchain society, decentralization of society, change in core values, building of community and collaboration)

We are open to all methodological approaches such as case studies, surveys, experiments, conceptual papers, and design/engineering research.

Keywords

Blockchain, DLT, decentralized finance, digital platforms, business models, governance, design, DAO, business processes, inter-organizational networks

Submission

Electronic Markets is a Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)-listed journal (IF 4.765 in 2020) in the area of information systems. We encourage original contributions with a broad range of methodological approaches, including conceptual, qualitative and quantitative research. Please also consider position papers and case studies for this special issue. All papers should fit the journal scope (for more information, see www.electronicmarkets.org/about-em/scope/) and will undergo a double-blind peer-review process. Submissions must be made via the journal’s submission system and comply with the journal's formatting standards. The preferred average article length is approximately 8,000 words, excluding references. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this special issue, you may either contact the guest editors or the Editorial Office.

Important deadline

* Submission Deadline: May 31, 2022

References

Alt, R. (2020). Electronic Markets on blockchain markets. Electronic Markets, 30(2), 181-188.

Bons, R. W., Versendaal, J., Zavolokina, L., & Shi, W. L. (2020). Potential and limits of Blockchain technology for networked businesses. Electronic Markets, 30(2), 189-194.

Eggers, J., Hein, A., Weking, J., Böhm, M., & Krcmar, H. (2021). Process Automation on the Blockchain: An Exploratory Case Study on Smart Contracts. Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences,

Hein, A., Schreieck, M., Riasanow, T., Soto Setzke, D., Wiesche, M., Böhm, M., & Krcmar, H. (2020). Digital platform ecosystems. Electronic Markets, 30(1), 87–98.

Lumineau, F., Wang, W., & Schilke, O. (2021). Blockchain governance—A new way of organizing collaborations? Organization Science, 32(2), 500-521.

Wang, S., Ding, W., Li, J., Yuan, Y., Ouyang, L., & Wang, F.-Y. (2019). Decentralized autonomous organizations: concept, model, and applications. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 6(5), 870-878.

Weking, J., Stöcker, M., Kowalkiewicz, M., Böhm, M., & Krcmar, H. (2018). Archetypes for Industry 4.0 business model innovations Americas Conference on Information Systems, New Orleans, USA.

Zavolokina, L., Ziolkowski, R., Bauer, I., & Schwabe, G. (2020). Management, governance and value creation in a blockchain consortium. MIS Quarterly Executive, Epub ahead of print.