Blockchain and Business: Applications and Implications

The corporation represents a pillar of modern capitalism. With the rise of a global peer-to-peer platform for identity, trust, reputation, and transactions, we will be able to re-engineer deep structures of the firm for innovation and shared value creation. In this module, we explore blockchain’s role in decentralizing the enterprise and its implications on the roles and boundaries of the firm.

There are countless opportunities for blockchain to disrupt or displace traditional centralized business models. In this module, we explore how blockchain technology can support new business models through the inclusion of native payment systems, reputation systems, uncensorable content, trustless transactions, smart contracts, and autonomous agents.

Because blockchain changes the deep structures and architecture of the firm, it will consequently transform our models of management and the roles of the C-Suite. Navigating the balance between blockchain’s hype and its true potential is a key responsibility of an organization’s management team. In this module, you will learn about some of the decisions and changes that business leaders can anticipate when considering how the future of blockchain will unfold within their business.

With companies across sectors seeking to harness the transformative potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), the blockchain ecosystem is an exemplar of new models of industry collaboration. Coopetition—the strategy of cooperating with competitors for defined purposes to cultivate a new economic ecosystem that benefits both—has become the new norm. In this module, you will learn what companies are trying to gain from consortia projects, and what industries and competitors need to accomplish to get to a win-win. You will discuss various design options, organizational models, and best practices for consortia projects, and will explore several examples of industry consortia that are at the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem.