289: Integrating Blockchain into Procurement w/ Remko Van Hoek

If 2019 was the year of emerging technology hype, then 2020 holds the potential to be the year that we turn our attention to the work that needs to be done to derive concrete value from that technology: blockchains included.

In late 2019, Remko Van Hoek, Clinical Full Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Arkansas – Sam M. Walton College of Business and a Member of the CSCMP Board of Directors, co-authored a book titled Integrating Blockchain into Supply Chain Management: A Toolkit for Practical Application. He and his three co-authors were looking to combine the understandable enthusiasm for distributed ledger technology with the knowledge we have about emerging technologies of the past. Their goal: to provide actionable insight and realistic use cases.

In this conversation, Remko answers questions about:

• The use cases he and his co-authors had the opportunity to study and what they learned from those leading companies
• The role of third party advisors in blockchain pilots and implementations
• How to increase the likelihood of success with a blockchain pilot project, including project scope, partner selection, and setting internal expectations