Resistance to industry technological change in communities of practice: The “ambivalent” case of radio amateurs
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 12 October 2012
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to contribute to the literature about the resistance to industry technological change in old technology‐based communities of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports an explanatory case study in order to achieve this purpose: the resistance to technological change of “hams”, the worldwide community of radio amateurs. The case study integrates primary and secondary data and information.
Findings
Change agents are critical actors in order to support the adoption of new technology into the community (but not the substitution of the old technology). These actors, in fact, work on the social and learning conditions affecting the process of diffusion of innovation within the “resisting” community.
Originality/value
The paper sheds light on the ambivalent responses to industry technological change in social systems by applying a specific multi‐level theoretical model of analysis about the limits to the diffusion of innovation within social systems.
Keywords
Citation
Schiavone, F. (2012), "Resistance to industry technological change in communities of practice: The “ambivalent” case of radio amateurs", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 784-797. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811211280564
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited