The adoption of discontinuous technologies in the time of Covid-19: criticisms for micro family businesses.

The Covid-19 emergency has imposed on companies a new way of working through technologies that have ensured business activity. This article analyzes the dynamics of the adoption of technology in micro family businesses at the time of Covid-19, focusing on the phase in which the decision is made to adopt a technology. In particular, it analyzes the influence of the family on the adoption of discontinuous technologies. The sample studied was constituted by fifteen micro-enterprises from southern Italy. In particular, all the companies included in the research are part of Coldiretti, the largest association that represents and assists Italian farms. The companies studied were examined with a qualitative analysis conducted between March and June 2020 through semi-structured telephone interviews due to problems related to the coronavirus pandemic. The present research identifies the micro-level factors affecting the decision to adopt discontinuous technology in order to detect more clearly how innovation in the context of the family business takes place in a different and distinctive way. This study also illustrates some practical implications derived from the model developed and provides useful indications for future studies.