Exploring digital transformation and dynamic capabilities in agrifood SMEs

Abstract

The study explores digital transformation in agrifood small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through a framework of dynamic capabilities. The research question is addressed to identify unique firms’ capabilities to face the change in agrifood environments. The study adopts a qualitative approach and is based on in-depth interviews of 21 key respondents such as CEOs, owners, and managers of both public bodies and agrofirms in Sardinia (Italy). As new concepts, the study finds that distinctive dynamic capabilities are led by a sense of belonging in territorial value-oriented enterprises and collaboration among firms’ stakeholders, who feel as members of an extended family. It also shows that personal capabilities are associated with a gender domain and that digitalization reshapes not only organizational structures but also societal ones. The study aims to contribute theoretically and empirically through novel meanings of dynamic capabilities for digital transformation in the context of small and medium-sized agrofirms.

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