Business Strategy and Blockchain Adoption

SYNOPSIS Firms invest heavily in information technology (IT) to gain a competitive advantage. Yet, the association between a firm’s business strategy and its propensity for new IT adoption is underexplored in the existing literature. Our study bridges that gap by examining the interplay between business strategy (prospector versus defender) and blockchain adoption as the representative corporate IT investment, offering practical insights for managers. Our findings reveal that firms characterized by decentralization, a penchant for risk-taking, and a more flexible approach to technological efficiency (i.e., prospector firms) are inclined to adopt blockchain. Additional channel analyses refine this result as well identify conditions where a subgroup of defender firms adopt blockchain. Study insights underscore the significance of alignment between business strategy and IT characteristics, while recognizing that IT solutions like blockchain are not one-size-fits-all. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources identified in the text.