Developing Dynamic Capabilities for Smart Waste Technology Adoption : A Case Study of Stormossen

Abstract

In the Nordic countries, municipal waste management institutions are increasingly forced to adopt digitalization. Smart waste management solutions such as radio frequency identification systems (RFID), on-board scales for weighing vehicles, and information analysis systems offer significant potential in terms of improving efficiency, sustainability, and compliance. However, the competencies necessary for adopting such technology are poorly theorized, especially within multi-municipal publicly owned utility organizations. This study examines how municipal waste management organisations develop and exercise dynamic capabilities in response to technological change. Drawing on Teece's (2007) sensing–seizing–reconfiguring framework, the study investigates how these dimensions manifest during the pre-adoption phase of smart waste technology planning, through an abductive, qualitative single case study design. The case is Stormossen, a regional waste utility jointly owned by six municipalities in Western Finland. The organisation is currently planning the adoption of an integrated RFID and on-board weighing system ahead of a spring 2027 operational transition. Data were collected through five semi-structured interviews with organisational informants and analysed through thematic analysis structured around a Gioia-style data structure that links first-order concepts and second-order themes to the three aggregate dynamic capability dimensions. Findings reveal substantial sensing capabilities through environmental scanning, Nordic peer benchmarking, and EU regulatory monitoring; however, sensing remains concentrated at senior management level, creating information asymmetry with frontline staff. Seizing capabilities are constrained by the multi-municipal governance architecture, although a tiered decision-making structure preserves operational agility. Reconfiguring capabilities are primarily anticipatory: technical integration planning is well advanced, while frontline change management and rural connectivity planning require further development. The research extends dynamic capabilities theory to smart waste technology adoption in multi-municipal public utilities, providing a temporal model of capability development in the pre-adoption phase: sensing most advanced, seizing governance-constrained, reconfiguring anticipatory. Practically, it offers recommendations for governance-aware seizing, frontline engagement, phased piloting, and citizen-inclusive communication.