Reuban Gnana Asir

Hansa Lysander Manohar

Contribution of Trust Factor Towards IOT Diffusion -An Empirical Study Using Acceptance Model

Keywords: IOT, TAM, UTAUT, COVID, SEM, TRUST

The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to evolve amongst the recent technologies which has a huge growth potential in terms of deployments and usage. The revenues on IoT is already nearing three trillion US dollars by 2020 despite COVID turbulences and the peak scale is expected to be touched by 2022. Literature says there would be 50 billion+ devices consuming 2 Zettabytes of data bandwidth. While more research is ongoing on the technical coverage of IoT and its features, less attention is paid to the behavioral aspects about the perception and usage of the IoT services. This paper makes an empirical study towards the influence of Trust on the acceptance of IoT and the adoption of IoT Services, with an update on UTAUT model. With the survey from 100+ IoT users applied with SEM reveals the significance on the Trust on IoT Provider.

Introduction

Recent years and the prevailing COVID pandemic witnesses' breakthrough on the usage of IoT enabled devices and services. The roleplay of Trust on IoT services is significant as in the cases like mobile banking services [START_REF] Kumar Sharma | Examining the role of trust and quality dimensions in the actual usage of mobile banking services: An empirical investigation[END_REF]. As per the industry analyst source IDC, the installed base of IoT will increase to 212 billion+ devices approximately by this year, that includes up to 30 billion+ connected devices. IDC sees the growth is driven by the large amount of intelligent systems that are going to get installed and the data collections across consumer applications, Government Agencies and the Enterprise applications [START_REF] Idc | Worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) 2013-2020 Forecast: Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars[END_REF]. These types of applications can involve the electric vehicle and the smart house, in which appliances and services that provide notifications, security, energy saving, automation, telecommunications, computers and entertainment will be integrated into a single eco system with a shared user interface. Large investments are made across the globe, including India, towards the IoT research and implementation in various forms as smart projects [START_REF] Reuban Gnana Asir | Internet of things and India's Readiness[END_REF] While there are plenty of research on the technical evolution of IoT and its Services, very less study is done on the behavioral aspects including perception and usage of IoT Services. Past studies have used TAM model towards assessing the perception of users for the acceptance and adoption [START_REF] Ranasinghe | Adding sense to the Internet of Things an architecture framework for smart objective systems[END_REF]. The UTAUT model is relatively better than TAM and other theoretical models and not that much deployed effectively [START_REF] Gao | A unified perspective on the factors influencing consumer acceptance of internet of things technology[END_REF]. This paper adopts a model based on UTAUT, arrive a prototype, and validate it using survey questionnaire and feedback multiple respondents.

Literature Review

Although IoT is relatively new technology in this decade, let's review the literature part of what IoT technology covers, its segments of architecture layers and the prevailing demand on the adoption of IoT. As this paper aims to make a behavioral study, lets use the Acceptance Models that are widely used, TAM and UTAUT.

IoT Technology

IoT infrastructure is segmented into 4 layers namely, Sensing, Communication, Management and Application layers. The vision of IoT is perceived in 2 ways-'Thing' centric and 'Internet' centric. Internet services are focus in the Internet centric architecture. The center stage is captured by the smart objects in the object centric architecture [START_REF] Gubbi | Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future Directions[END_REF] [START_REF] Alharbi | Trust and Acceptance of Cloud Computing: Revised UTAUT Model[END_REF]. A conceptual framework of integrating the applications and ubiquitous sensing devices are shown in Fig. 1. In order to get the real computation power of ubiquitous sensing and cloud, its clubbed in this framework to work together and reap the power of both frameworks. The sensor firms were invited to join the networking layer and provide their services towards the tuning of the software to become more effective. The AI part is achieved by the mining techniques available in market, which uses existing tools to manipulate the data which has been collected.

TAM

There are quite some theoretical models that are proposed to understand the factors that has a potential influence towards the acceptance of information technologies [8][9]. In these studies, TAM is very key model that gets into the behavior towards the adoption of Information Technology. Goal of TAM is towards discovering the influence caused by external variables on the internal beliefs, attitudes and intentions [START_REF] Marchewka | An application of the UTAUT model for understanding student perceptions using course management software[END_REF]. The conceptual model of TAM is shown in Fig. 4 [START_REF]Nippie[END_REF]. As per TAM, the primary determinants of the Information Technology adoption in organizations and individuals are based on the ease of use and the usefulness. These acts as the basis for Attitude towards any system. This attitude towards a system identifies the use intention and the use behavior. Perceived ease of use means to what extent the respondent feels that using a system is not complex and will not consume mental efforts. Perceived usefulness is the extent to which the respondent feels that his or her job performance would get enhanced. [START_REF] Davis | Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and user acceptance of information technology[END_REF] Lot of researchers were using TAM to validate the acceptance and adoption towards new technology. This mode was used by several studies including cloud computing, electronic governance, mobile learning, electronic learning.

2.3

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT):

Plenty of theories and models exist to understand the Information Technology (IT) acceptance behavior, like TAM, Diffusion of Innovation (DOI),Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), each focusing various factor of user's acceptance, there needs to be a model that is comprehensive one to facilitate studies on the understanding of user acceptance for any new technology.

UTAUT model proposed by Venkatesh et al [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF] towards the acceptance of adoption of any new technology that integrates the findings of these earlier studies. As per this model, it includes four critical antecedents, which are Facilitating conditions, Effort expectancy, social Influence and Performance expectancy. These variables affect the behavioral intention and the actual behavior.

Gender, experience, age and voluntariness are found to moderate the above relationships. These relationships were validated by various researches including Weerakkody V et al [START_REF] Weerakkody | Examining the influence of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption: An empirical investigation[END_REF] in the adoption of electronic government, Lian [START_REF] Lian | Critical factors for cloud based e-invoice service adoption in Taiwan: An empirical study[END_REF] in the adoption of cloud-based e-services and Wang [START_REF]Interactive decision aids for consumer decision making in e-commerce: The influence of perceived strategy restrictiveness[END_REF] in the interactive decision aids for consumer adoption. Similarities from other theories and models are accommodated as part of the key variables of UTAUT. For example, the Perceived Usefulness in TAM is like the Performance Expectancy in UTAUT. Table 1 shows the core variables of UTAUT, where we see Venkatesh et al [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF] has combined the previous modes of technology adoption to arrive UTAUT design. Thus, we see UTAUT model is designed specifically to study and investigate the acceptance of users with respect to the new Technology Adoption. It has higher explanatory power than earlier models like TAM and suited for understanding the acceptance of IoT services [START_REF] Mohammad Al-Momani | Modeling the adoption of internet of things services: A conceptual framework[END_REF] 3

Critical Review

IoT is a recent evolution and there are limited researches done in this topic, while lot of research are ongoing and expected to get more light in the coming days and months. The research to identify the factors that influences the acceptance and adoption of IoT services by consumers are ongoing in several instances. According to Gao. L et al [START_REF] Gao | A unified perspective on the factors influencing consumer acceptance of internet of things technology[END_REF], Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Behavioral Control and Perceived Enjoyment Social Influence have a significant effect on the use of IoT. This is their finding based on the research done on 368 respondents in China.

As per the research done on 2000 customers in US, by Acquity Group [START_REF] Group | The Internet of Things : the continuation of the internet[END_REF] focusing the concerns of customers to adopt IoT, the results indicated that the usefulness, awareness of the technology, security, privacy and price (cost).

With the literature study done by Evans [START_REF] Alolayan | Do I Really Have to Accept Smart Fridges ? An study[END_REF] noted that lack of regulations, messaging design, slow technology adoption rate, privacy, issues with interoperability, consumer perception, data collection, cost of implementation and impactful use of big data were the barriers that affects the acceptance of IoT Services. Study done by Abu et al [START_REF] Evans | Barriers to Successful Implementation of the Internet of Things in Marketing Strategy[END_REF] in Malaysia Small Medium Enterprises reveals that the ease of use, attitude, usefulness are the factors that drives the adoption of technology.

The research done by Kin et al [START_REF] Abu | Modified of UTAUT theory in adoption of technology for Malaysia Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in food industry[END_REF] with 363 students on the acceptance model for smart watches revealed that quality, perceived usefulness, appeal, cost, user attitude and intention to use were the main factors driving wearable technology.

On the study done on the adoption to third party application with 269 students by Han et al [START_REF] Vanmechelen | Trust Factors for the Usage of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Sized Craft Enterprises[END_REF] in US revealed that user's trust on the security applications and the technology awareness has a greater role on adoption intention. Significant observation is that, trust plays the mediator role in the security apps.

The research done by Saad T Alharbi on the Trust and Acceptance of Cloud computing [START_REF] Han | User' S Adoption of Free Third-Party Security Apps[END_REF] trust establishment was noted as one of the main barriers to adopt cloud services and applications. Hence Trust was added as a main construct that directly affects the user's behavior intention to adopt cloud services.

Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Development

The conceptual framework is made on continuation with the study and research findings as discussed in previous sections. As most researchers have applied UTAUT model successfully for the technology adoption topics from smart watches, smart refrigerators till cloud computing, this paper also re-uses the UTAUT model. As per the research on cloud computing [START_REF] Mayer | An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust[END_REF] where trust has evolved as major construct, this research includes it as a construct on top of UTAUT model. Hence the framework of this model is revised as below.

Performance Expectancy

Performance Expectancy refers to the degree to which an individual perceives that using the system will help them to attain gains in job performance [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF]. This study has adapted the performance expectancy and defined as the degree to which IOT users find it useful in their lifestyle, enables to accomplish their tasks quickly, increases their chances of better life and productivity H1: Performance Expectancy will have a positive and significant impact on Behavioral Intention to use IoT enabled products and services.

Effort Expectancy

Effort Expectancy refers to the degree associated with the use of the system [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF]. This study has adapted effort expectancy and referred it to the easiness of using IoT, learning to operate is easy, interaction with IoT is clear and understandable and it is easy for user to be skillful to use IoT enabled products and services.

H2: Effort Expectancy will have positive and significant impact on Behavioral Intention to use IoT enabled products and services.

Social Influence

Social Influence refers to the degree to which an individual perceives how others believe that we use the system [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF]. This study has adapted the social influence and referred it to the people whom influence my behavior, people I think important feels, I should use IoT. Also, my colleagues, the place of work, work administration is supporting the use of IoT enabled products and services.

H3: Social Influence will have positive and significant impact on Behavioral Intention to use IoT enabled products and services.

Facilitating Conditions

Facilitating Conditions refers to the degree to which an individual believes that organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system [START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF]. This study has adapted the facilitating conditions and referred it the availability of necessary resources, knowledge, availability of alternate technologies for non-compatible cases and the people support to assist in the journey of IoT.

H4: Facilitating Conditions will have positive and significant impact on Use behavior

Trust

Trust refers to the "willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party" [START_REF] Mayer | An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust[END_REF].

When the IoT concept was still new, researchers are trying to conduct qualitative studies on discovering the factors that influence to adopt this technology.

The factors that contribute to the construct Trust, as per Saad Alharbi [START_REF] Alharbi | Trust and Acceptance of Cloud Computing: A Revised UTAUT Model[END_REF] were reviewed and re-purposed as following: Trust is evolved as an important factor in the Cloud Computing Adoption Studies done by multiple researches including Sharma et al [START_REF] Kumar Sharma | Predicting motivators of cloud computing adoption: A developing country perspective[END_REF]. In this research, the factors contributing to Trust on IoT Provider refers to the security, control, service continuity, reputation, policy compliance, transparency and accreditation of the IoT provider.

H5: Trust will have a positive and significant impact on Behavioral Intention to use IoT enabled products and services.

5

Research Methodology

Variable Measurement

The survey items used to measure IoT user's perception is adopted from literature study and expert's opinion. The survey questionnaire was developed and reviewed with 5 experts who contribute to IoT projects within Nokia. The experts feedback helped in enriching the readability of survey questions from the perspective of IoT users, to assess actual usage. The survey questionnaire used the 7-point Likert measurement scale, scaling from 1 = "strongly disagree' to 7 = "strongly agree".

Data Collection

The survey questionnaire was distributed initially to 10 IoT Software Engineers as a pilot and then the following modes of data collection were used to capture survey feedback. The survey instrument is used with 60 IoT Users in paper (hard copy) format, then the networking sites using Google Forms and Amazon Mech Turk to capture the data across the globe. Due to the limited audience on IoT users, the respondent's numbers did not see a major raise and got limited to 100+ responses.

Data Analysis and Results

Let's have a look into the findings and results, we obtain from the survey. PLS regression technique generalizes and combines features from Principle Component Analysis and multiple regressions. PLS readily handles both formative and reflective constructs [START_REF] Joseph | Multivariate Data Analysis -A Global perspective[END_REF]. PLS regression predicts or analyses a set of dependent variables; from a set of independent variables or predictors. PLS requires a minimum sample size, 10 times greater than the construct or the number of independent constructs directly impacting on dependent construct. Hence the samples size of 80 and above is a balance using PLS study [START_REF] Roca | The importance of perceived trust, security and privacy in online trading systems[END_REF].

Respondents Profile

As IoT is new field of research, the questionnaire was distributed to the people who possess IoT knowledge. The response was captured from 100+ respondents spread across globe. After sorting the feedback with the complete ones, 83 responses were seen complete and used for further analysis. Multi collinearity is the behavior of predicting a variable using multiple regression techniques. The Variation Influence Factor (VIF) is used as a measure of multi collinearity phenomenon. VIF >5 indicates the existence of multi collinearity problem.The check on Multi collinearity is done using SmartPLS -Collinearity Statistics and following is the results. Since the VIF is <3, this data does not suffer multi collinearity problems.

Measurement Model Result:

To see the model fitness, the PLS Algorithm is applied and found the results as below. Bootstrapping is a non-parametric procedure that allows testing the statistical significance of PLS co-efficient. This test of bootstrapping is done on the collected data and following is the result. Discussion and Implications

According to the results seen in previous sections, the Trust on IoT Provider is a significant construct that has a positive and significant impact on Behavioral Intention to use IoT enabled products and services. This variable is wisely leveraged by multiple operators in India and across the Globe, as we will see Reliance JIO being the largest mobile subscriber base in India is investing in Industry Revolution 4.0, focusing 'Make in India' strategy [30] . The second largest mobile subscriber base in India, Airtel is focusing on 'zero questions' with the focus of customer centricity [31]. These are significant steps to raise the Trust on IoT provider, evidently clear.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Nokia, College of Engineering Guindy, for giving us such an opportunity to carry out this research work and for providing us the requisite resources and infrastructure for carrying out the research. Special thanks to Mr. Madhu Kumar Krishnan, Mr. Dinesh Birlasekaran, Mr. Wilson Anandaraj from Nokia for being a mentor towards the research on IoT and my friend Mr. Kirubaharan from College of Engineering Guindy, for his valuable review comments.

Conclusion & Future Study

The research study findings indicate that the Trust on IoT Provider has a significant influence towards the Acceptance of Internet of Things Services. The study will be enhanced further to capture the findings from multiple respondents to achieve significant population. Recent researches including Yogesh Dwivedi et al [START_REF] Dwivedi | An Empirical Validation of a Unified Model of Electronic Government Adoption (UMEGA)[END_REF] Maciel M. Queiroz, Samuel Fosso Wamba et al [START_REF] Maciel | Blockchain adoption in operations and supply chain management: empirical evidence from an emerging economy[END_REF] evolve in a dimension without the moderators of UTAUT as the influence is not significant in IT evolution. This is also witnessed in the recent technology adoption patterns including the accelerations caused by COVID pandemic, in many facets including, Work From Home, Online Schools, Online Shopping, e-commerce, Digitalization, accelerated 5G [34][35] deployments across the globe including competitiveness, Government prioritizations.

Fig. 1

 1 Fig.1 IoT infrastructure from different layers

Fig. 4

 4 Fig.4 TAM, version 1, (Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw 1989)

Fig. 4

 4 Fig.4UTAUT[START_REF] Venkatesh | User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view[END_REF]

Fig. 5

 5 Fig.5 Research Model

Fig. 6

 6 Fig.6 Measurement Model ResultThe early signs indicate that Trust of IoT Provider seems to be a significant predictor of Behavioral Intention towards the adoption of IoT Services.

7

 7

Table . 1

 . The Core Variables of UTAUT

	Variables	Sources
	Performance Expectancy

Extrinsic Motivation (MM); Perceived Usefulness (TAM/TAM2/C-TAM-TPV) ; Relative Advantage (DOI); Job-Fit (MPCU) Effort Expectancy Complexity (MPCU/DOI); Perceived Easy to Use (TAM/TAM2) Social Influence Subjective Norm (TRA, TAM2, TPD/DTPB, C-TAM-TPD); Image (DOI); Social Factors (MPCU); Facilitating Conditions Facilitating Conditions (MPCU); Perceived Behavioural Control (TPB/DTPE, C-TAM-TPB); Compatibility (DOI)

Table . 2

 . The Factors contributing to construct Trust

Table . 4

 . Respondents Profile

	6.2	Multi Collinearity Test:

Table . 5

 . VIF Values.

Table . 8

 . Boot strapping resultsFrom this table, we see that the P-Value of Trust on IoT Provider is <0.05 and hence marks its significance.

  ,

	BootStrapping output	Original Sample (O) Sample Mean (M) Standard Deviation (STDEV) T Statistics (|O/STDEV|) P Values
	Eff Exp -> Behav Int	-0.155	0.059	0.207	0.753	0.452
	Fac Cond -> Behav Int	-0.061	-0.012	0.122	0.497	0.619
	Perf Exp -> Behav Int	-0.198	0.008	0.208	0.954	0.34
	Soc Inf -> Behav Int	0.071	0.072	0.129	0.553	0.58
	Trust Cont -> Behav Int	0.061	0.09	0.292	0.209	0.834
	Trust IoT Prov -> Behav Int	0.312	0.293	0.137	2.28	0.023
	Trust Sec -> Behav Int	-0.02	-0.083	0.267	0.076	0.939
	Trust Serv Cont -> Behav Int	-0.013	0.006	0.132	0.101	0.919


Dr Umesh Kothari

A Seetharaman

IMPACT OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ON RETAIL BANKING INDUSTRY IN THE UAE

Keywords: Digitization, Retail Banking, Strategy, Transformation, Technology, Customer Experience

The UAE's banking industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic in the region, and the largest financial center in the Middle East. The industry has been confronted with 'digital disruption', 'digitization' 'digital banking'. The key reasons for digitization in addition to competitiveness include improved banking efficiency, attracting and retaining customers, improving analytics, launching innovative services and enhancing customer experience. However, organizations struggle with the implementation of digitalization initiatives and fall behind in achieving their plans. There is very limited literature written on the research to study impact of digital transformation on the retail banking industry in the UAE. Moreover, it is based on secondary research. This study aims to identify the variables that drive digital transformation and study the impact of digital transformation in Retail Banking Industry in the UAE. The results of the study show that customer needs, technology, regulation, business processes, skills and competencies impact digital transformation and should support retail banks in developing a theory of digital transformation in their journey to excel in a competitive marketplace.

Introduction 1.1 Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation or disturbance is not a disengaged event yet is something that has occurred since 1990s with various interruptions happening crosswise over various kinds of industry fragments. [START_REF] Shrivastava | Digital Disruption is Redefining the Customer Experience: The Digital Transformation Approach of the Communications Service Providers[END_REF]) At first the music, photography and video were altogether upset by new participants and new players who were grasping computerized and digital innovation.

During the 2000s, another arrangement of enterprises began to be disturbed by digital revolution, such as Television, travel and enlistment. [START_REF] Isaksson | The impact of digitalization on the future of control and operations[END_REF]. A third surge of digital disruption has undergone especially with more changes in the retail industry post 2000s. The 2010s are undergoing a third wave of digital disruption. This can be attributed to the change in customer preferences to associate with brands. [START_REF] Valenduc | Digitalisation, between disruption and evolution[END_REF].

Digital Transformation -Retail Banking

Digitization is different from the customary strategies fundamentally because of new developments such as social media and use of internet. [START_REF] Andersson | Digitalisation Initiatives and Corporate Strategies: A Few Implications for Talent[END_REF] This has led to changes in a wide range of businesses such as cars industry. Finance and healthcare are the next industries that are going to change as part of this ongoing disruption. The retail banking system is facing challenges in its digital transformation journey. Inherited technology landscape, fostering agility, reducing time to market for new products and effectively using customer data to better engage customer and manage customer relationships make digitization in retail banking banks more of a necessity than a choice.

Digital Transformation -UAE

Over the years, the UAE has become known as the key financial hub for the Middle East and one of the world's leading financial centers. We have recently seen a renewed drive to move the country to a global innovation center with a number of exciting initiatives announced and embarked upon: Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and FinTech.

Research Questions

The primary aim of this study is to understand the digital transformation and its impact in UAEs Retail Banking industry via the following questions.

a. What do customers expect from a digital bank? b. What technology investments are needed by Banks to support digital transformation? c. Does digital transformation respond to the business process and vice versa? d. Does digital age reshape the organizational skills and competencies? e. Do regulatory and compliance impact digital bank?

Research Objectives

As a solution to the above research questions the study is aimed to answer the following research objectives. a. To explore customer needs and expectations from a digital bank b. To understand the role of technology as an enabler in Bank's digital transformation journey c. To diagnose the processes to be automated by digital banks d. To recognize the skills and competencies required by a digital bank to help the bank achieve its growth plans e. To study the regulatory and compliance requirements that could impact a digital bank

Scope of the study

Over the years, the UAE has become known as the key financial hub for the Middle East and one of the world's leading financial centers. There has been a renewed drive to move the country to a global innovation center with a number of exciting initiatives announced and embarked upon: Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and FinTech. In order to make in in-depth study, this qualitative research is confined to digital transformation in retail banking of UAE.

Literature Review

Digitization is modifying our daily lives in terms of how we interact with each other and handle personal data. Various organizations have essentially no other option but to adjust their customary styles and policies to digital auxiliary change (Deutsche Bank, 2014). Specially financial companies face with the paradigm 'digitalize or die'.

The banking industry plays an important role in the county's economic development-around 8% of GDP, and 13% of non-oil sector domestic product.

The Central Bank of the UAE promotes financial stability, resilience in the financial system and protects consumers through effective supervision that supports economic growth. The banking sector is overbanked, with a total of 49 Banks (22 national and 27 foreign banks) operating in the UAE in 2019 (UAE Central Bank Report, 2019) and a population of 9.7 million people (EIU, June 2019).

The literature review is structured according to the variables considered in this research. The dependent variable is impact of digital transformation on retail banking. The different independent variables are: (i) customer needs (ii) technology; (iii) business process; (iv) regulation; and (v) skills and competencies. The added value of this research paper lies in providing deeper understanding of the multiple aspects of digital transformation.

Customer Needs

One of the most critical areas that banks are trying to improve through digital banking is customer experience. The customer expectations are continuously being raised by the experience provided by hi-tech companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. Customers expect similar experiences from their financial services providers. As banking products get standardized, drivers of customer experience have changed, and consider 'service' as a key factor in selecting their financial services provider.

Banks in the UAE have begun to introduce different digital solutions in line with customer's needs to maximize customer experience.

• Emirates NBD offers new banking services through its digital channels to optimize operational efficiencies and enhance customer service.

• Mashreq provides mobile banking solutions through an application called Snapp to build on customer convenience and accessibility. • Standard Chartered offers a mobile application that prompts users with real time and personalized offers from retailers operating nearby. This interactive solution ensures improved customer experience with the Bank.

Banks are looking at new opportunities pertaining to changes in consumer demand, the continuing technology revolution and evolving staff requirements. Banks should continue to invest in digital and electronic tools for customers and related internal processes to compete in the marketplace. New players in the payment industry has led to new competition for Banks. Footfall levels in retail branches are expected to fall thereby forcing banks to respond with a whole new model of retail banking. (Neil Austin 2014).

Technology

While technology plays a pivotal role in supporting banks to achieve their goals, banks are hampered by inflexible, legacy technology infrastructures that are making change very challenging.

The banking industry is confronting a period of disruptive change. FinTech's have been able to drive change through speed, agility and insight without the burden of legacy systems. These disruptive innovators have challenged the practices followed by Banks and have provided customers with innovative, easy-to-access and easyto-use financial solutions that are more similar to those offered by Amazon and Apple than of a traditional banking experience. Banks are slow to respond to these changes as they face a dilemma between their well-established business models and to adapt to the rapidly evolving customer needs. The next-generation technology model that progressive banks are adopting is based on outsourcing and building relationships with strategic partners (Norman J. DeLuca 2016).

Customer Engagement and Fulfillment is making an impact in the financial services value chain. The digital wave will not necessarily be a tsunami for all businesses. Some are capable of adapting to the new environment and thus able to resist. They can change their operating methods and refocus their strategy. The financial services business is customer-facing, competitive, distribution-sensitive and turnaround-time sensitive. (Ajay [START_REF] Shukla | Impact of digitization transformation on financial markets[END_REF].

Banks need to be mindful of newer competition from fintech companies that have unbundled the value chain of banks by specializing in their different areas such as payments, money transfer. These new competitors are highly flexible and tend to have a low-cost structure. (E. [START_REF] Giaretta | Digital innovation and profitability. Evidence from European financial institutions[END_REF]. Lately, FinTech organizations and new businesses have participated in this change management process changing the banking business environment i.e. personal loans, web-based services, investment solutions in order to attract new clients along with unrivaled services and support to its existing customers.

Business processes

It appears that Banking institutions are still operating through physical branches which is expected to be visited less by customers in the future. Some banks in Sri Lanka have started to curb expanding their branch operations. As a strategy Banks are increasingly encouraging and promoting the use of digital non-channels by its customers. (H M Hennayake Bandara 2016).

One of the main benefits of process automation is that it gives banks a competitive advantage to customize product and service offerings in line with customer needs and expectations. It also decreases costs, errors thereby increasing reliability and building on customer trust (Magdalena Swacha-Lech 2017).

Regulation

Banks would subject to regulations, an area still not applicable to FinTech. However, a fully transformed bank through digital approaches could reasonably be expected when virtual cash gets true and will simplify the exchange. A strategy to blend customary banking practices with Fintech services could provide best results to the banking clients. [START_REF] Vasiljeva | Commercial Banks and Fintech Companies in the Digital Transformation: Challenges for the Future[END_REF] The recent advanced digital models pose new threats pertaining to digital security, consumer protection, operational stability and cheating. These risks are not addressed by the existing methods in the regulatory domain. Hence there is a need to enhance the regulatory structure to include these new threats accommodating digital innovation making the banking industry more robust for the future. Digital dangers and threats may not only create economic damage but also impact the customer's confidence in accepting new technologies even if they enhance customer experience especially due to safety and security issues. (José Manuel González-Páramo 2017).

The banking sector expends greater amount on Information and Technology compared to other industries. The sector grapples with issues related to compliance that is estimated to cost the sector more than $100 billion annually. The continuing issues of managing and analyzing data faced by banks could lead to the use of sub optimal technology solutions with low utility to address business objectives. Regulatory Technology in the current banking environment has more potential to achieve potential gains made through digital transformation with relatively less investments in resources. [START_REF] Butler | Understanding RegTech for Digital Regulatory Compliance[END_REF].

Skills and Competencies

The digital age is reshaping the way in which organizations, recruit, select and develop skills for a new generation of employees. An important challenge for organizations is to find the right balance and incentives to develop digital skills for Generation Y members that despite the fact that are professionally well equipped they lack the ability to become real business problem solvers and to generate profit for companies (Alina Daniela Mihalcea 2017).

Digitalization brings innovation, ease of working, new job opportunities and growth in the economy. It is not only important to have the digital tools available but also the knowledge and benefits to use them. The future of Indian Banking sector is transformative with the use of technology-based solutions to increase customer experience, cost optimization and manage organization risk (Bhagyashree N. Deshpande 2018).

Digital transformation requires highly trained people with specialized expertise. The challenge is to find a structure for these partnerships that will create a compelling value proposition so that the staff are motivated not just to stay but also to do their best work. (Kumar et al 2019).

Research Methodology

Research Methodology helps to bridge an understanding gap in a structured and systematic manner [START_REF] Saunders | Research Methods for Business Students[END_REF]. Research Methodology is a science of studying the techniques based on which the researcher can decide what study is to be conducted. Besides it is a logical, productive and planned steps that help in a better understanding of a phenomena (Zikmund 2009).

Information for research was gathered from different sources of secondary data. Most data were collected from an online search of relevant indexed journals, industry reports and reference books. The research methodology details the existing core variables identified through an exhaustive literature survey. A simple direct relationship between five core variables -customer needs, technology, business process, skills and competencies and the impact on digital transformation is positioned in the research model.

Research framework

From the literature review exercise carried out a proposed research framework is developed as shown below. The impact of the digital transformation is the dependent variable. A study to understand the skills required by agile digital banks would benefit banks in the UAE. Moreover due to evolving customer needs and segments and increasing usage of digital tools in their day-to-day habits these customers expect the same from banks. Hence financial service institutions need to offer products and services to meet the requirements of the target segment.

Customer needs and their management are of great significance to customer service and satisfaction. There is a clear prerequisite to approach customer needs and expectations differently and proactively for professional services rendered by organizations as customer expectations are much more complex and hence it is necessary to understand different customer needs. (Butt, M. W., & Butt, U. J. 2020).

Banks need to adopt to new digital and advanced tools and techniques in the future. Speed of service and use of digital tools would be determined by the pace of implementation of laws and related frameworks [START_REF] Sajic | Digital Technologies in Transformation Of Classical Retail Bank Into Digital Bank[END_REF].

Further, banks in UAE should discover and implement Customer relationship management techniques to explore and scan new customers, acquire new customers, retain the existing customers and retrieve the defective customers. These tactics spark increased customer satisfaction by meeting their changing needs and expectations from a digital bank. Larsson, A., & Viitaoja, Y. ( 2017) highlights the perceived insecurity around what the bank assumed to know about its customer's proficiency and experiences and what customers appeared to actually know. By the application of CRM, bank managers should garner awareness and acceptance of digitalization among customers to fulfil customer needs and expectations. This step builds customer loyalty in digital banking.

Technology -Problems, Solutions, and implementation

When undertaking digital transformation many businesses do not want to abort their legacy systems. The decision makers often find it challenging to integrate new age technologies with existing legacy systems in a seamless manner They need to ensure that digital solutions are user-friendly and easy-to-use so that it will also help employees to carry out business activities without putting extra time and effort. [START_REF] Prasad | The dynamics of spectrum management: legacy, technology[END_REF]. This requites strengthening existing infrastructure by technology investment. (Nyadzayo, M. W., & Khajehzadeh, S.

2016).

Digitization in banks has become more of a necessity than a choice. The banking system faces many challenges in its digital transformation journey such as inherited technology landscape, fostering agility, reducing time to market for new products and effectively using customer data to better engage customer and manage customer relationships.

Banks could look at entering into strategic partnerships with fintech companies who specialize in different areas such as payments, money transfer. These partnerships would allow banks to capitalize on their expertise and resources since fintech companies have a low-cost structure. [START_REF] Shelepov | New and traditional multilateral development banks: Current and potential cooperation[END_REF].

Technology acceptance model helps to ascertain the behavioural intention to buy motivated by usefulness of the digital technology and its ease of use. Basing on systems life cycle of the digital technology and time required for learning or experience curve, digitalisation is inducted with the assurance of pay back period or Net Present value of investment decisions. This ensures the role of technology as an enabler in achieving sustainable journey of digital transmission. [START_REF] Marangunić | Technology acceptance model: a literature review from 1986 to 2013[END_REF].

Business Process -Problems, Solutions and implementation

While making a digital transformation strategy organization need to focus on digitizing conventional business process efficiently and flawlessly. An organization must undertake digital transformation by automating various business activities. It needs to automate the business processes in several phases. [START_REF] Marques | Which strategy should retail banks pursue relatively to marketing automation depending on the type of customer?[END_REF].

It is necessary that the banking institutions spend on implementing solutions that are new and digitally advanced. These could be related to payments gateway, data analytics and mechanization of processing service requests. Banks must consider offering services through online channels and must have back-end activities to support the same. [START_REF] Vasiljeva | Commercial Banks and Fintech Companies in the Digital Transformation: Challenges for the Future[END_REF]. Business process involves restructuring and regrouping bank resources namely men, machine, materials, methods and money.

Regrouping or restructuring of resources through cost and asset reduction to reverse declining sales and profit. Digitalization of public telecommunication services is primarily driven by technology developments within the Wide Area Networking market which could be used by speedier banking services. The few fundamental trends within this market are the advent of downsizing or right sizing. [START_REF] Chouhan | Application of transputer links and routers in telecommunication systems[END_REF]. Now, this dream of last decade of 20th century has become true in retail banking sector which is heading towards branchless banking by creation of automated digital banks.

Regulation -Problems, Solutions and implementation

Security issue appears to be a key concern for customers when there is talk of taking personal and financial information online. Customers do not want to risk their privacy when using banking services which can hamper digital transformation. [START_REF] Belás | Electronic banking security and customer satisfaction in commercial banks[END_REF].

Individuals voluntarily share a lot and different types of information on the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and rely on these sites as a primary communication medium of communication professionally and personally. In this process a large bunch of individual data is collected. Individuals voluntarily share personal information and a huge amount of identifiable material is gathered during the start of a business relationship. A key area of concern for social media operators is to safeguard and protect the data that is gathered from the customers and non-customers. (R. [START_REF] Narayanaswamy | A holistic study of privacy in social networking sites[END_REF].

Digital transformation must include a sophisticated security policy to protect the applications and data from various targeted security attacks. It must implement the latest data privacy regulations to collect and leverage customer data over a longer period. Organizations must address issues related to information security and data privacy. [START_REF] Bouyon | Consumer Credit, Digitalisation and Behavioural Economics: Are new protection rules needed?[END_REF].

The adoption of Information Security Systems is looked at as a quite complex task within organizations and should adopt Cyber Security standards with clear guidelines on Information Systems Security. [START_REF] Gamundani | A Digital Economy Technology Intergration Model Incorporating the Cyber Security Layer[END_REF]. Legislature is expected to evolve on an on-going basis in the interest of the individuals and organizations that use automated devices in their operations.

The current state of the market for cyber safety is information security market is puerile. In this scenario comprehensive tools and technologies may not be available in the market place. (Philip K. [START_REF] Kiilu | Factors Affecting Adoption of Information Security Management Systems: A Theoretical Review[END_REF]. Banks must also take into account the stringent regulations on prudent capital requirements and payment services.

Control arises due to inherent imperfections of things and people. Voluntary and governmental regulations play a pivotal role by applying the principles underlying Information Security Control Theory. The study by [START_REF] Anderson | Information security control theory: achieving a sustainable reconciliation between sharing and protecting the privacy of information[END_REF] focuses that Information Security Control Theory offers a good framework for the information security policy development process balancing the protection of information resources with the need for sharing information in many domains including banking industry. This also fulfils regulatory and compliance requirements that could impact a digital bank.

Skills and Competencies -Problems, Solutions and implementation

Banks need to adapt their existing service models to changing customer expectations and cost-awareness. It is believed that new ways of doing tasks through collaborative working would be required for companies that are undergoing a digital transformation program. [START_REF] Sanyal | Impact of training and development on the performance of employees-A comparative study on select banks in sultanate of Oman[END_REF].

Banks need to develop digital skills in order to compete. While hiring is increasingly taking place by financial institutions from various external exhibitions and forums, less emphasis is given to interdisciplinary skills. This is important as functional knowledge is a minimal component of the overall skill requirement. Skills that support and transform automation to the organizational goals are critical. Moreover, people who are able to effectively use data and information to support business decisions would be demand by banks. (McKinsey 2016).

The digital competencies of the workforce and the ways in which technology are used in the workplace will continue to develop and change. Organizations need to explore the technological competencies by staff alongwith optimum benefits of deploying digital tools in achieving desired outcomes [START_REF] Amy | The digital workforce and the workplace of the future[END_REF].With the customer in mind new developments in integrated design thinking are being considered to build on customer service (Jukka [START_REF] Ojasalo | Service Logic Business Model Canvas[END_REF].

Digital literacy proclaims digital skills namely operational, technical and formal; information, cognition; digital communication; digital content creation; and strategic. These skills help the advancement of digitalization in several sectors. (Iordache, C.et al. 2017) This is more relevant for banking industry by recognizing the skills and competencies required by a digital bank to help the bank achieve its growth plans.

Research Implications

The study findings are based on qualitative research based on recent studies and validated secondary data. A metaanalysis of the study findings is provided and detailed for enhancing digital transformation within an organization. A new conceptual framework is provided and substantiated for digital transformation in retail banking in the UAE should help to apply a digital transformation theory as a holistic approach to move retail banks from traditional and simple digital efforts to managerial, cultural, procedural, technological and developmental changes of the overall bank.

Using a theory of change approach this study should derive a definition of digital transformation as an outcome variable and the necessary preconditions and activities to reach the outcome.

The research findings should help banks to determine the best answer to introduce digital transformation initiatives in UAE to satisfy customers and achieve growth objectives in the retail banking sector. This research would help to achieve a stability and consolidation digitalization in retail banking of UAE. Thus, this research contributes to banking practice.

Contribution of theory (Theory of Transformation)

A comprehensive theory of digital transformation involves four interlinked elements namely a theory of social reproduction, a theory of the gaps and contradictions of reproduction, a theory of trajectories of unintended social change, and a theory of transformative strategies. The first of these elements provides an account of social culture of UAE by the evolving customer needs and expectations in responsiveness with social system of UAE. The second shows how in spite of environmental, emerging new risks and legacy technologies there are possibilities of digital transformation to bridge the gaps that exist in achieving business objectives of retail banking in an optimum manner in UAE. The third specifies the possibilities of developing new skills and competencies to build an agile organization in its transformation in UAE. And finally, the fourth component of transformation attempts to provide direction on formulating clear strategies, innovation, aligning business processes to smoothen digital transformation in retail banking in UAE. In this connection, Michael Porter's generic strategies namely cost leadership and differentiation can be applied. These four theoretical agendas are interrelated while digitally transforming the retail banking in UAE.

Limitations and scope for future research

The literature studied is based on secondary data. Secondary data may be irrelevant as the data may have been collected at a time period which could be outdated. Hence the use of the information obtained may be restricted. Moreover, secondary data might be available but may not include all the required [START_REF] Sreejesh | Business Research Methods, An Applied Orientation[END_REF]. Secondary data has no control over its accuracy. Research conducted may be biased to support the vested interests of the source (Zikmund 2007).

There is a lot more to study and explore on this topic, especially on the different aspects that impact digital transformation among Retail Banks. In addition, further research could narrow the study down to retail banking in the UAE where customer data could be collected as secondary data is either not available or is highly confidential hence cannot be accessed. The future research can make use of primary data through surveys or interviews.

It appears that digital transformation needs to be further explored especially in the UAE and in the Retail Banking industry. The authors of the literature review exercise that have been studied digitalization in retail banking are in the developed world, emerging economies with limited studies pertaining to UAE.

The future research can make use of primary data through surveys or interviews. Limited research is carried out to correlate impact of the digital revolution within banking sectors and customer experience globally. Limitation to such empirical study is due to the slowness in the advancement of digital banking technology in this Asian region. Future survey could be carried out with a statistically robust sample (Viknesh Venkathaialam and Abdulkadir Shehu Abdulwahab 2017).

Conclusion

The varying dynamic demand of different customer segments that is attained to be met by banks appears to be a key challenge for financial institutions in their digitization plans. These needs range from obtaining an account balance on their mobiles to submitting a loan application to the bank through an on-line channel. Customers also prefer convenience related to payments or remittances made through the internet. In the midst of these needs of customers it is essential to consider those segments for whom a branch is preferred channel to interact with the bank and should be conveniently located. Customers believe that their needs would be addressed by financial institutions through digital tools like those adopted by companies in other industries.

In addition to the always developing customer requirements, Financial institutions are also facing stress from FinTech's to implement digital transformation approach alongwith technological advancements. It is therefore imperative that financial institutions to reexamine their business strategies and operating models. It is believed that these reviews would lead to adoption of advanced and emerging technologies.

In a data and information driven environment it is necessary for banks to focus on transparency to assure trust and reliability to its consumers. This may lead to an increase in competition among banks if consumers select products that meet their desired needs. Due to limitations of volume of data that the consumer would have to deal with through long applications and contracts resolving transparency concerns may not be simple for banks. [START_REF] Rhoen | Beyond consent: improving data protection through consumer protection law[END_REF] too, points out the importance of a logical application of consumer protection legislation that would addresses the requirements of regulatory bodies.

Agility is important for organization to ensure the right staff attitude, positive revenue and success in digital transformation. A phased approach could be adopted by financial institutions to align procedures and achieve the transformation agenda. The initial phase could be a hybrid one until digitization is achieved. Banks could execute modifications by introducing automation and advanced technologies and tools [START_REF] Sajic | Digital Technologies in Transformation Of Classical Retail Bank Into Digital Bank[END_REF].

Banks would need a set of processes that are aligned with digital interactions in order to compete successfully based on the expectations that have been set by all of the other digital brands. It is believed that the crucial activities could include customer on-boarding, request origination and value estimations. The digital transformation theory should support retail banks in the UAE to implement a comprehensive transformation program and thereby achieve their strategic goals to differentiate in the competitive Using a theory of change approach this study should derive a definition of digital transformation as an outcome variable and the necessary preconditions and activities to reach the outcome.

Discussion, Analysis and Outcome 7.1.1 Customer Needs -Problems, Solutions and implementation

	7.1
		Digital
		Transformation
	Customer	Technology	Business	Regulation	Skills and
	Needs		Process		Competencies
	Problems
	• Lack of understanding of customer requirements	• Legacy Systems • No strategic partnerships	Identification of types of processes to be automated	Emerging new risks	Lack of newer skills and competencies
	Objectives
	Explore	Understand	Diagnose	Study the	Recognize
	customer	the role of	the	regulatory	the skills
	needs and	technology	processes to	and	and
	expectations	as an	be	compliance	competencie
		enabler	automated	requirements	s required
	Solutions
	Desired level of realistic customer expectations -products, (in-branch and non-branch) and services	(FinTech) • Undertake new investments • Strategic partnership with non-banking players	Process (front end and back-end) automation, streamline processes, straight through processing	• Cybersecurit y • Consumer Protection • Fraud • Operational Continuity	• Review core competencie s • Design thinking, • Analytics • Agile
		Discussion Analysis and Outcome


Vineet Paliwal

Shalini Chandra

Suneel Sharma

Indian MSME's sustainable adoption of blockchain technology for supply chain management: A sociotechnical perspective

Keywords: Blockchain, Supply Chain Management, Adoption, Sustainability, Socio-technical theory, MSME

This article studies the adoption of blockchain technology in Indian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the context of innovations in supply chain management (SCM) using blockchain technology. Besides finance, SCM is one of the main areas where disruptive innovations based on blockchain technology are going to be deployed. Blockchain technology's unique proposition lies in the attributes of trust, transparency, traceability, immutability, and decentralization. MSME's form the backbone of the Indian economy. This article provides a socio-technical factors-based analysis of the adoption of blockchain technology in Indian MSME, particularly in a SCM context. Sustainability is an important variable that is expected to moderate the relationship between socio-technical factors and large-scale adoption. The relationships are tested via a survey of professionals in MSMEs in India who are both familiar with blockchain technology and sustainable SCM. This study shall offer a deeper understanding of the application of socio-technical systems theory for the adoption of blockchain technologies by MSMEs in India.

Introduction

The majority of the Indian population, comprising of 1.2 billion people, lives in rural India and the economic development of rural India requires connecting remote villages to local and global supply chains [START_REF] Schuetz | Blockchain, adoption, and financial inclusion in India: Research opportunities[END_REF]. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) contribute significantly to the Indian economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exports, and employment generation. Though MSME sector is extensively regarded as the instrument of growth in the industrial progress of India [START_REF]Challenges to MSME[END_REF], it comes with its unique challenges such as the absence of adequate and timely banking finance, limited capital and knowledge, non-availability of suitable technology, low production capacity, ineffective marketing strategy, constraints on modernization & expansions, non-availability of skilled labor at affordable cost, and follow up with various government agencies to resolve problems due to lack manpower and knowledge, outdated and incompatible technologies and many more challenges [START_REF]Challenges to MSME[END_REF]. This calls for the adoption of technologies that can facilitate the development of MSME and maximize business opportunities.

Blockchain technology, because of its unique traits and beneficial features, is suitable to overcome most of the challenges which MSME are currently facing. We believe that the extent to which the MSME will be willing to adopt this new innovative technology will depend on various socio-technical factors which revolve around people (such as availability of skilled labor and education), processes (such as enterprise strategy and market opportunities), and technology (such as technological infrastructure and technological capabilities). The behavioral adoption of blockchain and the drivers for its adoption in the context of Indian MSME supply chain remains sparsely investigated. Guided by theses rationales, taking socio-technical systems theory as the theoretical lens, our first research question is: #RQ1: What factors influence the adoption intention of blockchain technology by Indian MSMEs?

Sustainability of blockchain technology (technological sustainability) refers to the long-term viability of the technology in terms of social, economic, and environmental performance. Prior research has highlighted the key role of technological sustainability in influencing the socio-technical systems [START_REF] Savaget | The theoretical foundations of sociotechnical systems change for sustainability: A systematic literature review[END_REF]. Moreover, technological sustainability may facilitate MSMEs to stay competitive in the market [START_REF] Queiroz | Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA[END_REF]. We posit that technological sustainability would play a moderating role in influencing the relationships between people, process, and technology characteristics and intention to adopt blockchains. Thus, our second research question which we aim to answer is: #RQ2: Does the sustainability of blockchain technology influence the socio-technical characteristics to enable the adoption intention by Indian MSMEs?

2

Research model, theory and hypotheses Situating our arguments in the socio-technical theory, we suggest that people (social aspects of MSME employees), process (the aspect of blockchain technology processes as practiced by the MSMEs), and technology (technological aspects of blockchain technologies) will have a direct influence on adoption intention of blockchain technologies by MSMEs. Furthermore, sustainability will play a moderating role in explaining the relationship between socio-technical aspects and adoption intention (see Figure 1).

Socio-Technical Theory for Adoption of Blockchain Technology

This research is contextualized specifically to the adoption of blockchain technologies for supply chain management by the Indian MSMEs. MSMEs in India don't have a high level of technology orientation or technology budgets. Large software enterprises were previously not focusing on MSME's, and therefore, good solutions were costly. But these days, software as a service (SaaS) based solutions is made for MSME. This calls to look at the socio-technical aspects for adoption. Therefore, it is necessary to draw on the social and technical perspectives and its interaction with the sustainability to understand the adoption of blockchain by MSMEs.

Ehrenberg & King [START_REF] Ehrenberg | Blockchain in Context[END_REF] advocates the use of socio-technical theory (STT) to analyze blockchain technologies. STT notes the interaction between people and technology in any organizational development. It takes an ecological view and emphasizes the interaction between society's complex infrastructure and human behavior. STT thus underscores technology implementations as an ongoing social process, thereby reiterating the technological interaction system and social system [START_REF] Lee | Editor's Comments[END_REF]. STT is based on the key principles of human values, continuous improvement, social behaviors in addition to technical aspects of storage and control of information by people [START_REF] Cherns | The Principles of Sociotechnical Design[END_REF]. Thus, socio-technical refers to the accordance between the social and technical aspects of any organization. Prior research has employed STT for distinct studies such as the broad study of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) [START_REF] Kling | IT and Organizational Change in Digital Economies: A Socio-Technical Approach[END_REF], and the study of standard tool models vis-à-vis socio-technical models [START_REF] Kling | IT and Organizational Change in Digital Economies: A Socio-Technical Approach[END_REF]. Guided by these research directions, we base our conceptualization on socio-technical theory to conduct an empirical analysis of the adoption of blockchain technology by MSMEs. STT revolves around its three key dimensions of people, process, and technology, which we discuss in the following sections.

People is the first key dimension of STT. The two variables considered under this dimension are the self-efficacy and competitive pressure of the people (society in general) dealing with the blockchain technology.

Self-efficacy is defined as beliefs in one's capabilities to meet given situational demands. Self-efficacy predicts several important work-related outcomes like proficiency, attitude, and performance at the job. Compeau and Higgins [START_REF] Compeau | Computer self-efficacy: Development of a measure and initial test[END_REF] note that although information systems can increase organizational effectiveness, this does not always translate into utilization. They highlighted the key role of the self-efficacy of the people for the successful implementation of technology in any organization. Prior studies [START_REF] Compeau | Computer self-efficacy: Development of a measure and initial test[END_REF] have examined the role of self-efficacy of people for technology use. If the users learn and master the revolutionary technology such as blockchain, they can adopt it with ease. Hence, we hypothesize, H1: In the blockchain context, self-efficacy is positively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs. Competitive pressure is defined in terms of its effect on a firm's incentives to initiate any technological process innovation. Because blockchains are immutable and tamperproof, its secure and reliable features provide an edge over others to compete. MSMEs striving to compete with other enterprises may be influenced to adopt blockchain technologies because firms like to stay ahead in the competition [START_REF] Chandra | Exploring factors influencing organizational adoption of Augmented Reality in E-commerce: Empirical analysis using Technology-Organization-Environment model[END_REF]. Hence, we hypothesize, H2: In the blockchain context, competitive pressure is positively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs.

Process is the second key dimension of STT. It represents the strong glue that holds together the "People" and "Technology" variables in socio-technical analysis. Any digital transformation or business process re-engineering initiative that brings in new technology like "blockchain" will definitely bring in new technical features and change the interactional as well as collaborative behavior of people with technology. These new processes introduced may simplify previous processes. On the contrary, it may introduce more complex but powerful features for more people or stakeholders involved. These may inhibit people from adopting new technology. Guided by these rationales, we posit collaboration and complexity as two key factors within the dimension of the process.

Collaboration in supply chains works across multiple organizations. In order to create more value addition for the consumer and bring in more productivity, collaboration is of the utmost importance. Prior research has highlighted the key role of collaboration among partners with different goals and priorities for effective supply chain integration [START_REF] Kouhizadeh | Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers[END_REF]. Because blockchains are essentially decentralized, its adoption is likely to be influenced by the collaboration among its partners. Hence, we hypothesize, H3: In the blockchain context, collaboration is positively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs. Complexity refers to the complexity of technology implementation in the business processes of an organization. A high degree of complexity confuses users and causes them to have difficulty in implementing new business processes, which in turn adversely impacts its adoption decision. Since complexity can be a deterrent to successful implementation, followed by the use of innovation, it is usually negatively associated with adoption [START_REF] Bhattacharya | A conceptual framework of RFID Adoption in Retail Using TOE Framework[END_REF]. Blockchains, designed as a complex interplay of characteristics such as immutability and decentralization, may impede its adoption. Hence, we hypothesize, H4: In the blockchain context, complexity is negatively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs. Technology is the third dimension of STT. New technologies are often disruptive. We have used two variables, "Software Quality" and "Relative Advantage," to describe the key idea behind the use of technology. New technology must bring some relative advantage for it to justify its adoption. Also, the new technology should adhere to certain software quality standards. Software quality refers to the ISO 9126-1 software quality model. The model identifies six main quality characteristics, namely: Functionality, Reliability, Usability, Efficiency, Maintainability, Portability [START_REF]ISO 9216 Software Quality Characteristics[END_REF]. For the technology to be adopted and deployed across organizations and across various stakeholders of the supply chain, it is required that the blockchain technology-based software has long passed the Proof of Concept phase and has a high software quality based on the ISO 9126 metrics. H5: In the blockchain context, software quality is positively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs. Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is beneficial to the competition. The perceived benefits of blockchain will provide an incentive for technology adoption. Past research indicates a positive relationship between the perceived advantage of using the technology over competition (relative advantage) and the adoption of IS innovations. Blockchain technology brings unique benefits of traceability and trust. With these benefits, blockchain is likely to affect key supply chains management objectives such as cost, quality, and sustainability [START_REF] Kshetri | Blockchain's roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives[END_REF]. This leads us to our next hypothesis: H6: In the blockchain context, the relative advantage is positively associated with adoption intention by the MSMEs.

Sustainability

Sustainability stands on the three pillars of social, economic, and environmental performance. Social sustainability offered by blockchains like trust, transparency, equal opportunities to participate in the supply chain, and improved job opportunities raise the selfconfidence of the stakeholders [START_REF] Singh | Self-efficacy and workplace well-being: moderating role of sustainability practices[END_REF].Therefore, self-efficacy acts with boosted confidence at the individual level, which causes a greater effect on the adoption intention. Also, social sustainability implies that even though one remains aware of the competitive pressure, it does not turn into stress [START_REF] Singh | Self-efficacy and workplace well-being: moderating role of sustainability practices[END_REF]. Hence, stakeholders can take informed action according to the changing business environment. Therefore, social sustainability afforded by blockchains increases the chance of "competitive pressure," turning into a "great opportunity". Hence, we hypothesize, H7a: In the blockchain context, social sustainability positively moderates the relationship between self-efficacy of the MSMEs and their adoption intention such that the relationship becomes stronger for higher levels of social sustainability. H7b: In the blockchain context, social sustainability positively moderates the relationship between the competitive pressure of the MSMEs and their adoption intention such that the relationship becomes stronger for higher levels of social sustainability.

Economic sustainability implies that the initiative should be profitable so that it can continue without being a burden on an organization, company, or the government . Profitability is important for sustained operations of the initiative. Effective collaboration is an important means of raising the productivity. However, a complex process that may come with new technology implementation in the organization can create hiccups. When most IT implementations partially or completely fail, complexity is often the key reason behind failure. Therefore, economic sustainability offered by blockchains is expected to moderate the relationship between "process" (collaboration and complexity) and adoption intention.

H8a: In the blockchain context, economic sustainability positively moderates the relationship between the collaboration of the MSMEs and their adoption intention such that the relationship becomes stronger for higher levels of economic sustainability. H8b: In the blockchain context, economic sustainability negatively moderates the relationship between complexity and the adoption intention by MSMEs such that the relationship becomes weaker for higher levels of economic sustainability.

Environmental sustainability in the context of blockchains implies that the technology should be environment friendly. For example, if an initiative is creating pollution in disproportionate amounts, then scaling that initiative into something huge and global will neither be possible nor desirable. Such an initiative is likely to soon come under the governmental regulatory bodies scanner and be banned. Therefore, the quality of software and relative advantage afforded by blockchains will translate into adoption only when the roadmap of widescale adoption is clear in terms of environmental friendliness. H9a: In the blockchain context, environmental sustainability positively moderates the relationship between software quality and the adoption intention by MSMEs such that the relationship becomes stronger for higher levels of environmental sustainability. H9b: In the blockchain context, environmental sustainability positively moderates the relationship between relative advantage and the adoption intention by MSMEs such that the relationship becomes stronger for higher levels of environmental sustainability.

3

Proposed methodology and future work

We are using a survey methodology for data collection from MSMEs across India. We have used measures and scales based on past validated scales from existing literature. We adapted the scales to our research context. The questionnaires created the use of a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaires have been circulated online in Indian MSMEs and addressed to senior managers in those organizations. An online survey has been conducted, and the respondents were informed about the research ethics, which we are taking care of in this survey. The data collected initially was examined and found to have satisfactory factor structure and psychometric properties. We shall be doing a detailed analysis to test our proposed hypotheses so that the final results will be ready to share at IFIP WG8.6 Working Conference 2020.

Expected contribution

In this research, we have explored factors for the adoption of blockchain technologies in supply chain management by MSMEs in India based on the foundations of STT. This research-in-progress paper is expected to make several theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first empirical studies on blockchain technology adoption, which is guided by STT. In addition, this study highlights the key moderating role of sustainability with socio-technical features and for the adoption of blockchain technology. Future research can add new factors thereby extending the research model. From the viewpoint of the practitioners, the results of the study will be useful for MSMEs who need to focus on the right set of factors to create their technology roadmap and corporate strategy. A well-focused and implemented technology roadmap plan can lead to successful blockchain technology adoption to gain sustainable competitive advantage.

Figure 1 :

 1 Figure 1: Blockchain Adoption Model by MSMEs