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Toward More Rigorous Blockchain Research: Recommendations for Writing Blockchain Case Studies

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Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Use Cases

Part of the book series: Progress in IS ((PROIS))

Abstract

About a decade ago the fundamental operating principle of the Blockchain was introduced. It took several years before the technology gained widespread recognition in industry and academic communities outside of the computer science sphere. Since then many academic communities have taken up the topic, but so far no well-defined research agenda has emerged: research topics are scattered and rigorous approaches are scarce. More often than not, use cases implemented by industry apply a trial and error approach and there exists a dearth of theory-based academic papers on the topic following robust methodologies. Being a nascent research topic, case studies on Blockchain applications are a suitable approach to systematically transfer industry experience into research agendas which benefit both theory development and testing as well as design science research. In this paper I offer guidelines and suggestions on how to design and structure Blockchain case studies to create value for academia and the industry. More specifically, I describe Blockchain characteristics and challenges, present existing Blockchain case studies, and discuss various types of case study research and how they can be useful for industry and academic research. I conclude with a framework and a checklist for Blockchain case study research.

Originally published as Treiblmaier, H. (2019) “Toward More Rigorous Blockchain Research: Recommendations for Writing Blockchain Case Studies”, Frontiers in Blockchain, Vol. 2, Article 3, pp. 1–15, https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2019.00003.

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  1. Department of International Management, Modul University Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Horst Treiblmaier

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  1. Department of International Management, Modul University Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Horst Treiblmaier

  2. Department of Enterprise and Technology, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland

    Trevor Clohessy

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Treiblmaier, H. (2020). Toward More Rigorous Blockchain Research: Recommendations for Writing Blockchain Case Studies. In: Treiblmaier, H., Clohessy, T. (eds) Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Use Cases. Progress in IS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44337-5_1

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