IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v131y2021icp598-609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A (new) role for business – Promoting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through the internet-of-things and blockchain technology

Author

Listed:
  • de Villiers, Charl
  • Kuruppu, Sanjaya
  • Dissanayake, Dinithi

Abstract

We outline the business opportunity for the provision of measurement technology, linked to the internet, i.e. the internet-of-things (IoT), which feeds information into blockchains, providing reliable and trusted data and an incentive for others to contribute towards progress on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both existing businesses and start-ups could exploit these new opportunities, which could inspire the participation of employees, volunteers, donors, and other participants. We provide a conceptual framework for the different ways business can play a role in facilitating measurement of SDGs, and trust in these measurements, by harnessing technology.

Suggested Citation

  • de Villiers, Charl & Kuruppu, Sanjaya & Dissanayake, Dinithi, 2021. "A (new) role for business – Promoting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through the internet-of-things and blockchain technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 598-609.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:131:y:2021:i:c:p:598-609
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.066
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320308262
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.066?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simi Mehta & Vikash Kumar & Arjun Kumar, 2018. "The Way Forward: Advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals in India and Bangladesh," Comparative Studies of Sustainable Development in Asia, in: Lessons in Sustainable Development from Bangladesh and India, chapter 0, pages 103-121, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & Etter, Michael, 2019. "It’s real, trust me! Establishing supply chain provenance using blockchain," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 283-293.
    3. Maurizio Massaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Carlo Bagnoli, 2020. "Crypto‐economy and new sustainable business models: Reflections and projections using a case study analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2150-2160, September.
    4. Miola, Apollonia & Schiltz, Fritz, 2019. "Measuring sustainable development goals performance: How to monitor policy action in the 2030 Agenda implementation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Roger L. Burritt & Stefan Schaltegger, 2010. "Sustainability accounting and reporting: fad or trend?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 829-846, September.
    6. Jarrod Grainger-Brown & Shirin Malekpour, 2019. "Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Strategic Tools and Frameworks Available to Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Ying fan and Adonis Yatchew, 2016. "Introduction," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(China Spe).
    8. Bailu Fu & Zhan Shu & Xiaogang Liu, 2018. "Blockchain Enhanced Emission Trading Framework in Fashion Apparel Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2019. "Blockchain-technology-supported platforms for diamond authentication and certification in luxury supply chains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 17-29.
    10. Boon Seng Tan & Kin Yew Low, 2019. "Blockchain as the Database Engine in the Accounting System," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 312-318, June.
    11. Jeffrey Unerman & Jan Bebbington & Brendan O’dwyer, 2018. "Corporate reporting and accounting for externalities," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 497-522, July.
    12. David Yermack, 2017. "Corporate Governance and Blockchains," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 21(1), pages 7-31.
    13. Tyrone Carlin, 2019. "Blockchain and the Journey Beyond Double Entry," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 305-311, June.
    14. Sumit Lodhia & Gerard Stone, 2017. "Integrated Reporting in an Internet and Social Media Communication Environment: Conceptual Insights," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 27(1), pages 17-33, March.
    15. Giovannucci, Daniele & Ponte, Stefano, 2005. "Standards as a new form of social contract? Sustainability initiatives in the coffee industry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 284-301, June.
    16. Hughes, Alex & Park, Andrew & Kietzmann, Jan & Archer-Brown, Chris, 2019. "Beyond Bitcoin: What blockchain and distributed ledger technologies mean for firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 273-281.
    17. Michael Kend & Lan Anh Nguyen, 2020. "Big Data Analytics and Other Emerging Technologies: The Impact on the Australian Audit and Assurance Profession," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 30(4), pages 269-282, December.
    18. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    19. Huang, Kuo-En & Wu, Jih-Hwa & Lu, Shiau-Yun & Lin, Yi-Chia, 2016. "Innovation and technology creation effects on organizational performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2187-2192.
    20. Jan Bebbington & Jeffrey Unerman, 2018. "Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(1), pages 2-24, January.
    21. Simi Mehta & Vikash Kumar & Arjun Kumar, 2018. "Lessons in Sustainable Development from Bangladesh and India," Comparative Studies of Sustainable Development in Asia, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-3-319-95483-7, December.
    22. Gyusun Hwang & Jeongcheol Lee & Jinwoo Park & Tai-Woo Chang, 2017. "Developing performance measurement system for Internet of Things and smart factory environment," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(9), pages 2590-2602, May.
    23. Ergül Halisçelik & Mehmet Ali Soytas, 2019. "Sustainable development from millennium 2015 to Sustainable Development Goals 2030," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 545-572, July.
    24. Witold Nowiński & Miklós Kozma, 2017. "How Can Blockchain Technology Disrupt the Existing Business Models?," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 5(3), pages 173-188.
    25. Jana Schmitz & Giulia Leoni, 2019. "Accounting and Auditing at the Time of Blockchain Technology: A Research Agenda," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 331-342, June.
    26. J. Leon Zhao & Shaokun Fan & Jiaqi Yan, 2016. "Overview of business innovations and research opportunities in blockchain and introduction to the special issue," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 1-7, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hakkarainen, Tuuli & Colicev, Anatoli, 2023. "Blockchain-enabled advances (BEAs): Implications for consumers and brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Teresa Riso & Carla Morrone, 2023. "To Align Technological Advancement and Ethical Conduct: An Analysis of the Relationship between Digital Technologies and Sustainable Decision-Making Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Kumar, Devinder & Singh, Rajesh Kr & Mishra, Ruchi & Daim, Tugrul U., 2023. "Roadmap for integrating blockchain with Internet of Things (IoT) for sustainable and secured operations in logistics and supply chains: Decision making framework with case illustration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Giuliano Sansone & Flavio Santalucia & Davide Viglialoro & Paolo Landoni, 2023. "Blockchain for social good and stakeholder engagement: Evidence from a case study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2182-2193, September.
    5. Emilio Abad-Segura & Ana Batlles-delaFuente & Mariana-Daniela González-Zamar & Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña, 2021. "Implications for Sustainability of the Joint Application of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy: A Worldwide Trend Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Kalpana Tyagi, 2023. "A global blockchain-based agro-food value chain to facilitate trade and sustainable blocks of healthy lives and food for all," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Fairouz Mustafa & Suman Lodh & Monomita Nandy & Vikas Kumar, 2022. "Coupling of cryptocurrency trading with the sustainable environmental goals: Is it on the cards?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1152-1168, March.
    8. Grijalvo, Mercedes & García-Wang, Carmen, 2023. "Sustainable business model for climate finance. Key drivers for the commercial banking sector," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    9. Goldberg, Mitchell & Schär, Fabian, 2023. "Metaverse governance: An empirical analysis of voting within Decentralized Autonomous Organizations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Jana, Rabin K. & Ghosh, Indranil & Wallin, Martin W., 2022. "Taming energy and electronic waste generation in bitcoin mining: Insights from Facebook prophet and deep neural network," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    11. Smith, Hannah & Discetti, Roberta & Bellucci, Marco & Acuti, Diletta, 2022. "SMEs engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals: A power perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 112-122.
    12. Loh, Xiu-Ming & Lee, Voon-Hsien & Leong, Lai-Ying & Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Cham, Tat-Huei & Tang, Yun-Chia & Hew, Jun-Jie, 2023. "Understanding consumers’ resistance to pay with cryptocurrency in the sharing economy: A hybrid SEM-fsQCA approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    13. Hu, Hui & Xu, Jiajun & Liu, Mengqi & Lim, Ming K., 2023. "Vaccine supply chain management: An intelligent system utilizing blockchain, IoT and machine learning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Cozzio, Claudia & Viglia, Giampaolo & Lemarie, Linda & Cerutti, Stefania, 2023. "Toward an integration of blockchain technology in the food supply chain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    15. Baudier, Patricia & Kondrateva, Galina & Ammi, Chantal, 2023. "Can blockchain enhance motivation to donate: The moderating impact of religion on donors' behavior in the USA's charity organizations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han, Hongdan & Shiwakoti, Radha K. & Jarvis, Robin & Mordi, Chima & Botchie, David, 2023. "Accounting and auditing with blockchain technology and artificial Intelligence: A literature review," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    2. Vineet Paliwal & Shalini Chandra & Suneel Sharma, 2020. "Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Review and a Classification Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    3. Marco Bellucci & Damiano Cesa Bianchi & Giacomo Manetti, 2021. "A literature review on blockchain in accounting research," Working Papers - Business wp2021_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    4. Dulani Jayasuriya Daluwathumullagamage & Alexandra Sims, 2021. "Fantastic Beasts: Blockchain Based Banking," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-43, April.
    5. Leng, Jiewu & Ruan, Guolei & Jiang, Pingyu & Xu, Kailin & Liu, Qiang & Zhou, Xueliang & Liu, Chao, 2020. "Blockchain-empowered sustainable manufacturing and product lifecycle management in industry 4.0: A survey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    6. Hughes, Alex & Park, Andrew & Kietzmann, Jan & Archer-Brown, Chris, 2019. "Beyond Bitcoin: What blockchain and distributed ledger technologies mean for firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 273-281.
    7. Nanja Kroon & Maria do Céu Alves & Isabel Martins, 2021. "The Impacts of Emerging Technologies on Accountants’ Role and Skills: Connecting to Open Innovation—A Systematic Literature Review," JOItmC, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-27, June.
    8. Schlecht, Laura & Schneider, Sabrina & Buchwald, Arne, 2021. "The prospective value creation potential of Blockchain in business models: A delphi study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    9. Khalid Ahmed Al-Ansari & Ahmet Faruk Aysan, 2021. "More than ten years of Blockchain creation: How did we use the technology and which direction is the research heading? [Plus de dix ans de création Blockchain : Comment avons-nous utilisé la techno," Working Papers hal-03343048, HAL.
    10. Vincenzo Varriale & Antonello Cammarano & Francesca Michelino & Mauro Caputo, 2020. "The Unknown Potential of Blockchain for Sustainable Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    11. Kouhizadeh, Mahtab & Saberi, Sara & Sarkis, Joseph, 2021. "Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    12. Francesco Mercuri & Gaetano della Corte & Federica Ricci, 2021. "Blockchain Technology and Sustainable Business Models: A Case Study of Devoleum," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    13. Jonathan Jan Pieters & Alinda Kokkinou & Ton Kollenburg, 2022. "Understanding Blockchain Technology Adoption by Non-experts: an Application of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, March.
    14. Dutta, Pankaj & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Somani, Surabhi & Butala, Richa, 2020. "Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    15. Yunmei Liu & Shuai Zhang & Min Chen & Yenchun Wu & Zhengxian Chen, 2021. "The Sustainable Development of Financial Topic Detection and Trend Prediction by Data Mining," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Sharma, Luv & Olson, John & Guha, Abhijit & McDougal, Lori, 2021. "How blockchain will transform the healthcare ecosystem," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 673-682.
    17. Michael Kend & Lan Anh Nguyen, 2020. "Big Data Analytics and Other Emerging Technologies: The Impact on the Australian Audit and Assurance Profession," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 30(4), pages 269-282, December.
    18. Su, Dan & Zhang, Lijun & Peng, Hua & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Tirkolaee, Erfan Babaee, 2023. "Technical challenges of blockchain technology for sustainable manufacturing paradigm in Industry 4.0 era using a fuzzy decision support system," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    19. Sun, Yi & Jiang, Shiqing & Jia, Wanjiao & Wang, Yu, 2022. "Blockchain as a cutting-edge technology impacting business: A systematic literature review perspective," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(10).
    20. Kimani, Danson & Adams, Kweku & Attah-Boakye, Rexford & Ullah, Subhan & Frecknall-Hughes, Jane & Kim, Ja, 2020. "Blockchain, business and the fourth industrial revolution: Whence, whither, wherefore and how?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:131:y:2021:i:c:p:598-609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.