Technological Frames: A Qualitative Study on Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Abstract

This study aims to provide an insight for the concept of “frame” in general and “technological frame” in particular, which have gained considerable interest in management and organization studies. Additionally, it investigates the factors affecting technological frame construct, which is defined as people’s “assumptions, expectations and knowledge about the purpose, context, importance and role of technology’’ (Orlikowski and Gash, 1994). On the other hand, the importance of technology in the success of logistics and supply chain management has increased dramatically over the recent years in line with the emergence of new technologies. Based on this, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study, including semi-structured interviews with employees working in the logistics and supply chain management area. After content analysis, we found out that past experiences with technology, biases towards or against the new technology, personality, and technology knowledge and competence are the individual factors whereas  organizational culture, colleagues’ attitudes, making stakeholders participate in the process of establishment, understanding the differences between employees, managers, and other stakeholders,  and aligning them on a common goal, and providing training and on-time feedback to technology-related problems are the organizational factors affecting emotional and cognitive experiences of employees with a new technology they encounter at the workplace for the first time. Perhaps the most important finding of the study is that it has an affective dimension. Future research should provide further validation with research sample covering larger contexts.