Overview

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Blockchain will bring about profound changes to business, and even to the nature of business itself. This technology will disrupt how enterprises are funded and managed, how they create value, and even how they perform basic functions like marketing and accounting. In this course you will learn how blockchain technology will penetrate into the structures of organizations. You will explore how blockchain will transform the roles of the C-Suite, and how a blockchain can be used to manage and protect intellectual property. You will be able to identify the different layers of the blockchain technology stack, and explain how these affect the governance of blockchain systems. As well, you will be able to identify seven qualities that a region in the world needs in order to attract technology startups and to build a vibrant blockchain ecosystem.

Syllabus

Decentralizing the Enterprise

The corporation represents a pillar of modern capitalism. With the rise of a global peer-to-peer platform for identity, trust, reputation, and transactions, we will be able to re-engineer deep structures of the firm for innovation and shared value creation. In this module, we explore blockchain’s role in decentralizing the enterprise and its implications on the roles and boundaries of the firm.

Blockchain Business Models

There are countless opportunities for blockchain to disrupt or displace traditional centralized business models. In this module, we explore how blockchain technology can support new business models through the inclusion of native payment systems, reputation systems, uncensorable content, trustless transactions, smart contracts, and autonomous agents.

Blockchain and the C-Suite

Because blockchain changes the deep structures and architecture of the firm, it will consequently transform our models of management and the roles of the C-Suite. Navigating the balance between blockchain’s hype and its true potential is a key responsibility of an organization’s management team. In this module, you will learn about some of the decisions and changes that business leaders can anticipate when considering how the future of blockchain will unfold within their business.

Blockchain Consortia

With companies across sectors seeking to harness the transformative potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), the blockchain ecosystem is an exemplar of new models of industry collaboration. Coopetition—the strategy of cooperating with competitors for defined purposes to cultivate a new economic ecosystem that benefits both—has become the new norm. In this module, you will learn what companies are trying to gain from consortia projects, and what industries and competitors need to accomplish to get to a win-win. You will discuss various design options, organizational models, and best practices for consortia projects, and will explore several examples of industry consortia that are at the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem.

Leadership for the Web3 Era

Blockchain alone is just a tool. In order for this technology to fulfill its long-term promise, humans must lead. Rather than relying on state-based institutions, blockchain must be primarily self-governed through collaborations of civil society, private sector, government, and stakeholders in non-state networks. In this module, we'll discuss some of the key issues, challenges, trade-offs, and future scenarios related to blockchain regulation. We'll discuss key distinctions between "regulation" and "governance," and explore the idea of blockchain governance networks, including how they can support blockchain stewardship at three levels: The platform level, the application level, and the ecosystem level. As well, you will learn about the conditions that are necessary for a blockchain-based hub of innovation to succeed.

Blueprint for a New Social Contract

As the digital revolution unfolds, it is driving profound changes in the global economy, labor markets, old institutions, and society as a whole. To realize the potential of the blockchain revolution, we need business leaders to come to the table as responsible and active participants in a new social contract for both their own long-term interests as well as in the interest of a healthy society and economy. In this module, you will explore possible directions for a new social contract—i.e. the agreements, laws, and behaviors that people, companies, civil society, and their governments adhere to. The aim of this module is not to provide a definitive strategy for instituting and enforcing a new social contract, but rather to catalyze investigation, debate, and action.