---
title: "Outsourcing vertical integration: Distributed ledgers and the V-form organisation"
author: "Berg, C.; Davidson, S.; Potts, J."
date: "2018-11-11"
url: "https://chrisberg.org/2018/11/outsourcing-vertical-integration-distributed-ledgers-and-the-v-form-organisation/"
type: "Working papers"
published_in: "Working paper, SSRN"
doi: "10.2139/ssrn.3300506"
topics: "Blockchain and the digital economy"
---

# Outsourcing vertical integration: Distributed ledgers and the V-form organisation

*With Sinclair Davidson and Jason Potts*

**Abstract: **This paper introduces the V-form organisation, a new form of firm organisation where vertical integration is outsourced to a decentralised distributed ledger (a blockchain). V-form organisations rely on the coordination of a (trusted) third party. It looks specifically at two instances of V-form organisation being established on the IBM-Linux Foundation Hyperledger permissioned blockchain. The paper concludes with four recommendations for strategic management about how to adjust to a V-form world, and four recommendations for policymakers.

[Available at SSRN](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3300506)