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1. Introduction
Business processes define how organizations conduct their work to achieve business objectives. Such processes can be analysed to identify opportunities for improving their performance and efficiency. When improving processes, the communication between involved stakeholders is facilitated by representing the processes by means of process models (Morgan, 2007). As such, process models are important for process improvements (Lindsay et al., 2003) and particularly when improving processes by utilizing capabilities of new technologies (Brynjolfsson and Mcafee, 2014), such as blockchain technology.
Blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin (Satoshi Nakamoto et al., 2008), has been positioned as a technology with potential to innovate business processes (Milani et al., 2016). Blockchain technology relies on the concept of a distributed ledger, where each participating node holds a copy of the ledger. Data are recorded, stored and secured via cryptographical algorithms to ensure tamperproof records, as opposed to relying on trusted third parties. Blockchain has two main applications. One is the decentralized execution of transactions that aims to remove the notion of a centralized authority. Cryptocurrencies are an example as they manage transactions within a trustless environments without the need of a centralized financial institutions (Valdeolmillos et al., 2020). Such solutions are commonly supported by public blockchains.
The other application is where blockchain is used to enable collaborative process execution and tracking among mutually distrustful entities. Such solutions are commonly supported by permissioned blockchains. The trustless architecture of blockchain systems holds potential for process redesign, particularly when cooperation is needed among mutually distrustful entities (Ladleif et al., 2019). Blockchain can be utilized for automating and innovating inter-organizational processes, rather than merely eliminating third parties. An example is the tracking of goods in a supply chain as implemented by, for instance Walmart (Kamath, 2018). Thus, blockchain can be viewed as a platform upon which a full-fledged business process is executed. With this viewpoint, the entire collaborative business process is modelled as a regular process with blockchain as a participant responsible for executing tasks. This approach is taken by Caterpillar (López-Pintado et al., 2019) and Lorikeet (Tran et al., 2018). Blockchain, thereby, becomes a participant that is included in business process models. Our work lies in this context.
History has shown that technology substitution per...