The role of change agents in fostering sustainable service change in local business networks: the interplay of social capital, sensemaking and stewardship

This study introduces and empirically validates a multi-level sensemaking framework to explain how a change agent catalyze twin transition engagement and sustainable service change within local hospitality networks. Drawing on social capital, category-based sensemaking, and stewardship perspectives, we examine how a hoteliers’ association (as change agent) influences hotels in a tourist destination in northeast Italy to adopt a collective Business Intelligence Solution (BIS) integrating economic and environmental benchmarking. Findings indicate that the twin transition positively influences sustainable service change, but its activation depends strongly on intraorganizational sensemaking. Social capital, while supportive of sustainability more generally, is insufficient to promote digital engagement in the absence of shared local competencies. Stewardship values drive sustainability-oriented behavior but do not independently trigger digital adoption; external facilitation by a change agent is required.