Resistance to industry technological change in communities of practice : The “ambivalent” case of radio amateurs

Purpose – This paper seeks to contribute to the literature about the resistance to industry technological change in old technology‐based communities of practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports an explanatory case study in order to achieve this purpose: the resistance to technological change of “hams”, the worldwide community of radio amateurs. The case study integrates primary and secondary data and information. Findings – Change agents are critical actors in order to support the adoption of new technology into the community (but not the substitution of the old technology). These actors, in fact, work on the social and learning conditions affecting the process of diffusion of innovation within the “resisting” community. Originality/value – The paper sheds light on the ambivalent responses to industry technological change in social systems by applying a specific multi‐level theoretical model of analysis about the limits to the diffusion of innovation within social systems.