Digitale disruptive Business-Innovationen: Rolle und Anwendungspotentiale der Blockchain-Technologie im digitalen Zeitalter. Vorteile und Herausforderungen für KMUs am Beispiel einer Fallstudie im Bereich Dokumentenmanagement

This thesis investigates the topic of digital disruptive innovations and focuses on blockchain, an emerging technology that experienced its first hype in 2015. The subject of this dissertation concentrates on its cutting-edge uses for SMEs. The objective is to bring blockchain closer to SMEs, to arouse their interest, and to demonstrate various possible applications.

This thesis examines the practical economic aspects of blockchain by implementing it in a real-world setting. The constantly growing number of scientific publications on blockchain reveals a general scarcity of well-founded functional analyses of use cases.

The implementation encompasses delineating the process steps, creating a digital strategy, evaluating the multiplier effect of blockchain, and its advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this thesis was to distinguish itself from the partly isolated theoretical study format by being able to substantiate or negate the theoretical explanations empirically. The portrayal of blockchain in an idealised manner, which is frequently criticised, was rigorously evaluated to prevent any potential distortion of its accurate perception.

End users, including managing directors, frequently possess limited technological comprehension and innovative expertise. In this regard, the objective was to attain a study that was as balanced as feasible, encompassing the technology itself and its users.

There is still a lack of clearly formulated business models in business model innovation (BMI). Innovative business models based on blockchain in various areas are scarce. In this thesis, a blockchain project was successfully implemented in document management, which has been little investigated to date, and data integrity within an SME. A case study encompassed three investigations: problem-centred interviews, blockchain software analysis, and customer emails. The theoretical advantages and disadvantages discussed were tested in practice, and new challenges were identified and addressed. The end-user was the focus of this study. Moreover, a decision tree was developed for potential business applications.

Blockchain will continue to evolve, and research should capture this transformation to bring it closer to practice.