Technology-enabled capabilities in road freight transportation systems: A multi-method study

Illuminating the road ahead: unlocking the potential of ICTs for enhanced data visibility in road transportation

“…Dong et al, 2021;Wang and Sarkis, 2021). However, Callefi et al (2022) proposed a novel strategy to analyze the role of technologies in road freight transportation, embracing the study of technology-enabled capabilities in their multi-method research.…”

“…This capabilities-based approach is based on the consolidated RVB theory, which brings essential insights into the relationship between resources and capabilities (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993). The relevance of this analysis approach for freight transportation is highlighted by Callefi et al (2022), who identified that most freight transportation capabilities are not enabled by individual ICT but by sets of ICTs, such as IoT systems. In this regard, it is possible to verify that when discussing technology-enabled capabilities, it is possible to more adequately address which technology or which sets of technologies should be adopted to enable a given capability for the one freight company.…”

“…In this regard, it is possible to verify that when discussing technology-enabled capabilities, it is possible to more adequately address which technology or which sets of technologies should be adopted to enable a given capability for the one freight company. Furthermore, while Callefi et al (2022) engage with the concept of capabilities, identifying eight specifically related to transportation information, their study has certain limitations. Notably, it lacks an emphasis on data visibility, confines its analysis of capabilities to a theoretical realm, and omits any discussion on the interrelationships among these capabilities.…”

“…The final contribution is that our study was beyond the theoretical approach by Callefi et al (2022). While the mentioned authors identified which technologies enabled certain capabilities, our study approached an empirical assessment of cause-effect relationships between the capabilities.…”

“…In this context, capabilities refer to a particular ability or competency enabled by one or more technologies. This importance of ICTs is directly related to the capabilities enabled by such technologies, among them cargo status data reliability, data privacy, and smart freight (Callefi et al ., 2022). This perspective aligns with the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, originally articulated by Amit and Schoemaker (1993), which posits that resources and capabilities are indispensable to organizational success.…”