Inhibiting factors in digital supply chain implementation: Technology, organization, and environment framework study of the stilt-house industry in Tomohon City

Abstract

Digital transformation has reshaped supply chain management, yet adoption among small, traditional enterprises remains uneven. This study analyzes the factors inhibiting Digital Supply Chain (DSC) implementation among stilt-house (rumah panggung) producers in Tomohon City, a wood-based craft industry of cultural significance in North Sulawesi. A qualitative exploratory case study was analyzed through the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. Data came from eight informants (four owners, two employees, one timber supplier, one customer), selected purposively, through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation, and were analyzed with the Miles–Huberman–Saldaña interactive model, with source and technique triangulation. DSC implementation remains simple and not integrated: electric machinery in production, smartphones in marketing, and phone calls and WhatsApp in procurement operate as isolated applications. Barriers appear in all three TOE contexts: cost, limited electrical infrastructure, and unavailable equipment (technology); comfort with conventional systems despite adequate basic competence (organization); and supplier distance and unmet expectations of government support (environment). Informants consistently reported benefits from the technology in use, so barriers constrain the depth and integration of adoption rather than negate its value. The case also suggests, as an interpretation, that some manual work (e.g., hand-carving) persists as valued craft practice rather than an unmet digital need, qualifying deficit-based readings of traditional industries.