Selective Digitalisation as an Epistemic Filter: Artisanal Identity and the Tradition–Innovation Paradox in Kente and Sardinian Weaving SMEs

Heritage weaving small- and medium-sized enterprises (HWSMEs) pose challenges for research on SME digitalisation, including why they adopt and reject some digital technologies. The existing literature treats such reflection as a deficiency in skills, resources, or as a strategic position to protect intellectual assets. Relying on a comparative conceptual review and an integrative synthesis of secondary literature and theory, the study argues that artisanal identity is used as an evaluative criterion for adopting or rejecting digital technologies. A common case is that of the Kente weavers of Bonwire, Ghana, and the Sardinian weavers of Italy. Integration of behavioural reasoning indicates that the reasons for and against adopting digital technologies fall into three distinct zones. The first zone contains digital technologies that are readily adopted without much scrutiny. The second adaptation zone includes technologies evaluated either epistemically or defensively. In the third zone, digital technologies are categorically rejected due to their impact on the core of the business. With two main contributions to the literature on digital transformation in HWSMEs, we refine current knowledge by demonstrating that HWSMEs' adoption of digital technologies is driven by knowledge governance and organisational identities. This moves the explanation a step further by clarifying why these adoptions and rejections occur. The study also proposes a model that suggests that digitalisation in HWSMEs should be judged by whether technologies are adopted selectively as part of knowledge governance, rather than by the volume of uptake.