‘Information communication technology’ innovation in a non-high technology sector: achieving competitive advantage in the shipping industry

The global marketplace is resulting in an ever-increasing networked and digitalised landscape where organisations compete as integrated supply chains. This paper explores the impact that the digital networked environment has on the traditional shipping services industry. The research contribution has four aspects: (1) most research efforts focus on high technology sectors; this research emphasises the need for information communication technology (ICT) adoption in a non-high technology sector; (2) the research highlights the importance of ICT in achieving competitive advantage in the complex environment of shipping; (3) complexity principles are applied to the discussion on ICT; and (4) the link between ICT and the development of dynamic capabilities is created.