Abstract
PurposeDespite increasing interest in digital services and products, the emergence of digitalization in the logistics and supply chain (L&SC) industry has received little attention, in particular from organizational theorists. In response, taking an institutionalist view, the authors argue that the emergence and adoption of digitalization is a socially constructed phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachThis paper shows how actor-level frameshifts contribute to an emergence of an overarching “digitalization logic” in the L&SC industry at the field level. Building on a longitudinal analysis of field actors' frames and logics, the authors track the development of digitalization over the last 60 years in the L&SC sector.FindingsThe authors classify specific time periods by key field-configuring events, describe the relevant frameshifts in each time period and present a process that explains how and why digitalization has emerged, been adopted and manifested itself in the L&SC industry.Originality/valueThe findings of the study provide insights about the evolution of a digitalization logic and thus advance the institutional view on digitalization in the L&SC industry.
Highlights
Digitalization in the logistics and supply chain management (L&SC) industry is of increasing strategic importance for businesses as it impacts established paradigms, business models and industry boundaries (Barrett et al, 2015; Cichosz et al, 2020)
As described above, the results are presented in four steps: (1) the determination of the actors that affect or are affected by digitalization in L&SC, (2) the chronological identification of historical events, (3) the identification of key configuring events and (4) the discussion of the interrelations to display the process behind the emergence, the adoption and the manifestation of the digitalization logic
4.1 Key actors in logistics and supply chain’s digitalization As a first step, we identified the relevant actors that affect or are affected by the digitalization in the L&SC industry through the group discussions and the additional data from secondary sources
Summary
Digitalization in the logistics and supply chain management (L&SC) industry is of increasing strategic importance for businesses as it impacts established paradigms, business models and industry boundaries (Barrett et al, 2015; Cichosz et al, 2020). A mounting number of companies allocate resources to exploit digital opportunities that have the potential to transform societies, economies and organizations (Cichosz et al, 2020; Hribernik et al, 2020; Mikl et al, 2020b). Digitalization in L&SC seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one part, companies such as Amazon have fundamentally changed the L&SC landscape through digital products and services (Cohen, 2018; Liebmann, 2013), having embraced and pushed digitalization as a force of change, between institutions, organizations. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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