In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process. Maersk intends for stakeholders throughout the supply chain to utilize the platform, including its competitors. Blockchain, made famous through cryptocurrency, will power part of the project. Executives at Maersk believe that blockchain technology can provide much needed transparency to the global supply chain. Maersk plans to launch the blockchain trade platform as an independent joint venture with IBM. The team at Maersk wonders if this joint venture is the right organization to operate the blockchain project. What challenges will the project face?
Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; shipping; Shipping Line; trade; Bitcoin; digitization; container shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Technology Platform; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry;
Citation:
Lal, Rajiv, and Scott Johnson. "Maersk: Betting on Blockchain." Harvard Business School Case 518-089, April 2018. (Revised July 2018.) View Details