Overcoming the Data Transparency Trade-Off: Designing a Blockchain-Based Delivery Invoice System for the Construction Industry

Blockchain’s inherent characteristics render it a promising solution in collaborative supply chain networks. However, the technology still faces challenges in coopetition, as sharing business data on blockchains requires balancing the benefits of data transparency for process automation with concerns about exposing business information to competitors. This paper draws on design science research to iteratively design and develop a decentralized infrastructure that can address the coopetition aspects of digital delivery invoices in construction supply chains. As a result, design objectives and design principles are derived while experts thoroughly evaluate the prototype. Practical guidance for implementing digital delivery invoices is provided to enable coopetitive while secure data exchange. Our findings suggest that if construction companies want to prioritize network effects despite the growing complexity, they should establish channels and private data collections along with additional privacy-enhancing technologies to ensure secure data exchange across the entire supply chain.