A multiple-case study on the impact of digitalization in the purchasing department: a socio-technical perspective

The study aims to analyse the impact of digitalization on purchasing. Starting from a preliminary analysis of activities and data characterizing the purchasing process developed by the research team, a multiple-case study approach is adopted to explore the impacts of digitalization on purchasing. The results show an organizational evolution at macro-, in terms of role within the organization, but also at micro-level, in terms of impact on people. The research thus contributes to add relevance to the sociotechnical perspective, already adopted to study the technological and organizational evolution induced by the introduction of new Industry 4.0 technologies.