Valuation of digital technologies : reaching beyond utility and efficiency in socio-technical systems of provision : a qualitative comparative case study from the Northern Italian smallholder farmers
Ladiana, Giorgia (2026)
Pro gradu -tutkielma
2026
School of Business and Management, Kauppatieteet
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2026060261580
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2026060261580
Tiivistelmä
The thesis examines how Northern Italian smallholder farmers evaluate digital technologies, with particular attention to blockchain, from their own perspective. The research addresses the lack of social research in supply chain literature and proposes new analytical lens and analysis.
The study develops its conceptual framework by drawing on Anderson’s expressive theory of value, Weber’s concept of social action, Bayliss and Fine’s idea of systems of provision, and Geels’ multi-level perspective in socio-technical systems. By combining these frameworks, digital technologies are defined as objects of valuation whose meaning and relevance is determined by farmers, the valuating subjects.
The research adopts a qualitative and interpretivist approach by incorporating evidence from seven on-site semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers in Lombardy. The data was analysed using a hybrid thematic analysis and paired case comparison analysis. The study demonstrates that farmers value digital technologies not only based on the extrinsic values and instrumental benefits, but also on the intrinsic ones. It argues that a continuum between extrinsic and intrinsic persist, which are in turn influenced by the broader Socio-Technical Systems of Provision. In turn, also the Socio-Technical Systems of Provisions shape farmers’ digital valuation. Data shows that for blockchain specifically, is perceived as potentially valuable but structurally irrelevant by farmers operating in direct-sales systems.
Building on the results, the study identifies a typology of three digital orientations: value, structure and resource oriented, which explain how farmers engage and value different technologies. This typology extends existing technology amplify the proposed conceptual framework and integrates valuation and Socio-Technical Systems of Provision as active factors, rather than contextual, in digital orientation.
The study contributes with a new conceptual framework for understanding digital valuation, responding to the calls for people-centric research agenda, and offers practical implications for technology developers, policymakers and agricultural organisations and institutions.
The study develops its conceptual framework by drawing on Anderson’s expressive theory of value, Weber’s concept of social action, Bayliss and Fine’s idea of systems of provision, and Geels’ multi-level perspective in socio-technical systems. By combining these frameworks, digital technologies are defined as objects of valuation whose meaning and relevance is determined by farmers, the valuating subjects.
The research adopts a qualitative and interpretivist approach by incorporating evidence from seven on-site semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers in Lombardy. The data was analysed using a hybrid thematic analysis and paired case comparison analysis. The study demonstrates that farmers value digital technologies not only based on the extrinsic values and instrumental benefits, but also on the intrinsic ones. It argues that a continuum between extrinsic and intrinsic persist, which are in turn influenced by the broader Socio-Technical Systems of Provision. In turn, also the Socio-Technical Systems of Provisions shape farmers’ digital valuation. Data shows that for blockchain specifically, is perceived as potentially valuable but structurally irrelevant by farmers operating in direct-sales systems.
Building on the results, the study identifies a typology of three digital orientations: value, structure and resource oriented, which explain how farmers engage and value different technologies. This typology extends existing technology amplify the proposed conceptual framework and integrates valuation and Socio-Technical Systems of Provision as active factors, rather than contextual, in digital orientation.
The study contributes with a new conceptual framework for understanding digital valuation, responding to the calls for people-centric research agenda, and offers practical implications for technology developers, policymakers and agricultural organisations and institutions.