Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology IFIP - The International Federation for Information Processing IFIP was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, following the First World Computer Congress held in Paris the previous year. An umbrella organization for societies working in information processing, IFIP's aim is two-fold: to support information processing within its member countries and to encourage technology transfer to developing nations. As its mission statement clearly states, IFIP's mission is to be the leading, truly international, apolitical organization which encourages and assists in the development, exploitation and application of information technology for the benefit of all people. IFIP is a non-profitmaking organization, run almost solely by 2500 volunteers. It operates through a number of technical committees, which organize events and publications. IFIP's events range from an international congress to local seminars, but the most important are: • the IFIP World Computer Congress, held every second year; • open conferences; • working conferences. The flagship event is the IFIP World Computer Congress, at which both invited and contributed papers are presented. Contributed papers are rigorously refereed and the rejection rate is high. As with the Congress, participation in the open conferences is open to all and papers may be invited or submitted. Again, submitted papers are stringently refereed. The working conferences are structured differently. They are usually run by a working group and attendance is small and by invitation only. Their purpose is to create an atmosphere conducive to innovation and development. Refereeing is less rigorous and papers are subjected to extensive group discussion. Publications arising from lFIP events vary. The papers presented at the IFIP World Computer Congress and at open conferences are published as conference proceedings, while the results of the working conferences are often published as collections of selected and edited papers. Any national society whose primary activity is in information may apply to become a full member of IFIP, although full membership is restricted to one society per country. Full members are entitled to vote at the annual General Assembly, National societies preferring a less committed involvement may apply for associate or corresponding membership. Associate members enjoy the same benefits as full members, but without voting rights. Corresponding members are not represented in IFIP bodies. Affiliated membership is open to non-national societies, and individual and honorary membership schemes are also offered. Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology Proceedings of the first IFIP WG 8.6 working conference on the diffusion and adoption of information technology, Oslo, Norway, October 1995 Edited by Karlheinz Kautz Norwegian Computing Center Oslo Norway and Jan Pries-Heje Copenhagen Business School Frederiksberg Denmark I~ n I SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.v. First edition 1996 © 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Chaprnan & HalI in 1996 ISBN 978-1-4757-4977-9 ISBN 978-0-387-34982-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-34982-4 Apan from any fair dea ling for the purposes of research ar private study, ar criticism ar review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the Iicences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries conceming reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express ar implied, with regard 10 the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or Iiability for any errors ar omissions that may be made. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library @lPrinted on permanent acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 and ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1984 (Permanence of Paper). CONTENTS Part One Introductory Papers Research directions on diffusion and adoption of information technology K. Kautz and 1. Preis-Heje 3 2 The challenge of information technology transfer and diffusion P. Fowler 8 Part Two Research Papers 3 Adoption and implementation of IT: an evaluation of the applicability of Western strategic models to Chinese firms S.R. Elliot 15 4 A prototype knowledge-based tool for software engineering adoption and implementation P. Fowler, I. Garcia-Martin, N. luristo and L. Levine 32 5 The organisational politics of meetings and their technology - two case studies of video supported communication 1. Hughes, S. Kristoffersen, l. OB'rien and M. Rouncefield 52 6 Comparison and analysis of diffusion models H. laakkola 65 7 Information technology transfer and implementation: the introduction of an electronic mail system in a public service organization K. Kautz 83 8 On the diffusion of software technologies: technological frameworks and adoption profiles G. Leon 96 9 Implementation planning for information systems: promoting the transition with a communication strategy T. McMaster and R.T. Vidgen 117 10 Integrating diffusion of innovations and theory of reasoned action models to predict utilization of information technology by end-users G.c. Moore and I. Benb(lsat 132 II Interorganizational networks and the diffusion process: the case of networks not working M. Robertson, 1. Swan and S. Newell 147 12 Information technology adoption by small business: an empirical study 1.Y.L. Thong and C.S. Yap 160 13 Learning at work K. Thoresen 176 14 Information technology and organizational change: the role of context in moderating change enabled by technology M. Watad and S. Ospina 202 Index of contributors 221 Keyword index 222 PART ONE Introductory Papers 1 Research Directions on Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology Karlheinz Kautz Norwegian Computing Center P.O. Box 114 Blindern, N-0314 Oslo, Norway, Email: [email protected] Jan Pries-Heje Institute of Informatics and Management Accounting, Copenhagen Business School Howitzvej 60, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark.Email:[email protected] The IFIP WG 8.6 on diffusion, transfer, and implementation of information technology has held its first Working Conference on the theme of Adoption and Diffusion of IT at Leangkollen, Oslo in October 1995. In the working group the term information technology is used in its broadest sense spanning from traditional information systems, over modern communication technology to best practice routines in system development and software engineering. Information technology is playing an increasingly important role in many organisations, sectors and countries. The adoption and diffusion process takes place between one country and another, between research and development organisations, between commercial organisations and the open marked in general, as well as between different departments in one and the same organisation. However, there are still many problems in the practical adoption of the technology, and not often are the results expected by the use of IT achieved. This may be, among other reasons, due to inappropriate attention to the adoption process and associated change processes in communities aiming at the utilization of the technology. This volume contains twelve contributions which reflect different aspects of diffusion and adoption of information technology. As such, they give an initial overview over the diversity of work done in a subject area which implicitly has been a part of IT research for 20 years, but which only recently has gained attention as a field of interest on its own. When reviewing the contributions one major distinction immediately arises. Most of the work considers adoption and diffusion within or into organisations, either companies or public organisations and only few papers take another viewpoint, namely that of looking at adoption and diffusion either in sectors or between nations. In total we have identified five lines of work. The first aims at identifying or specifying overall frameworks and models for the whole diffusion and adoption process. The second group deals with adoption and diffusion within organisations in a rather normative way. Although having sound theoretical and analytical basis, the main message is normative; recommendations are given to planners, change agents, managers etc. on how to make diffusion and adoption happen in an organisation. Representatives of the third direction are not focusing on the whole process, but on certain selected adoption and diffusion issues. They take a mainly theoretical and analytical 4 Part One Introductory Papers perspective, but the research methods used are quite different. One part of this work uses qualitative methods, such as case-studies, to make in-depth explorations and identification of important diffusion and adoption issues. The other part which we see as an group uses quantitative methods focusing on measuring and modelling the adoption and diffusion process. In the following a brief summary of all contributions will be provided. Frameworks and models General models and frameworks are used to predict the course of a diffusion and adoption process. The changes of success for such an endeavour are one important part of research within the field of technology transfer. Jaakkola discusses a collection of quantitative mathematical diffusion models which are used to describe the diffusion of a product by forecasting the number of potential adopters and users, and (if quantifiable) the benefits that the adopter community might gain from the technology. A major problem with mathematical models is that they do not cover the variables which describe the context of the diffusion. Another problem is that most of them assume a stable environment. Using the case of diffusion of mobile telephones Jaakkola shows one general predicament of the mathematical approach, namely that it often leads to a too optimistic prediction in the short term run and a too pessimistic one in a long term. However, it is argued that mathematical models are informative in a less precise way and that they can be a valuable supplement for other diffusion prediction approaches. Leon proposes such a approach. However, his framework aims not at forecasting the success of a technology in general, but is directed towards the diffusion of formal software development methods in software organisations. He suggests the use of so-called adoption profiles to analyse an organisation's conditions for adopting a technology. Ap rofile consists of contextual aspects like pressures which influence the transfer process, the formality of transfer processes, the adopters' attitudes and interdependency between providers and receptors; and technological aspects, like the adaptability, the maturity, the impact on work procedures, and the differences from technology already in use. Adoption profiles are then used to plan and choose actions to minimise the risk of failure when introducing technology. The value of the approach is demonstrated with two case studies. Normative recommendations From a sound theoretical basis two contributions present a very strong normative bias that offers advice and recommendations to change agents, managers and others who are engaged in technology transfer. A proposal which results in technical support for transfer activities is based on the idea that technology introduction has to be based on a systematic process. The problem for tool support lies in identifying the replicable parts. Comparetta, Fowler, Juristo and Levine present the prototype of a software tool and the base model that evolved during the tool's development process. The base model distinguishes three phases of technology transfer. These are planning and purchase, implementation and sustaining use. Eight key activities are supported by the tool: establish team, define desired process, establish current state, identify gap, develop solutions, pilot use of technology and evaluate result, roll out and ongoing use, wrap up and shut down transfer team.The prototype helps gather information about the starting conditions of a transfer project and supports the generation of an adoption plan by taking into account the tasks and sub- Research directions on diffusion and adoption of IT 5 tasks of a transfer endeavour. A different implementation planning model is proposed by McMaster and Vidgen. Again, also these authors stress the need for a planned project. However, they see implementation as a vital part of development. In contrast to Lien this means that implementation has to be taken into account from the very beginning of development work. The methods they use to plan the activities to handle the elusive, and partly unpredictable factors of human, not technical concern, are borrowed from the marketing research discipline. The key activity in their model is to take into account the needs of all involved stake holder groups. This means that, first of all, stakeholder groups have to be identified, then their interests have to be analysed, and the assumptions made by the analysts have to be compared in a gap analysis to the stakeholders' attitudes. As said before, interview techniques from marketing are proposed to perform these tasks. On this background the other crucial element of their model is developed: That is a communication strategy which will aid in explaining the introduction process to all involved. The benefits of such a strategy are demonstrated by a particular case, the introduction of a computer-based access control system for a car park. Organisational Issues Three contributions focus on one or more specific issues of the adoption and diffusion process. These specific issues which are viewed as being of major significance are very diverse, they span from learning to culture and politics. Thoresen claims that organisational adoption ofIT systems requires distribution, sharing and pooling of knowledge. To say it another way, successful adoption requires "Learning at work". Thoresen looks at how learning takes place in organisations, what resources are used, and what are the elements that can facilitate or hinder learning and thereby adoption of IT? Based on a qualitative interview-study and grounded theory analysis, she identifies several resources for learning. E.g. overlapping skills, expert users, meeting places, and continually overlapping groups. She also identifies several hindrances for successful learning/adoption such as division of work enforced by organisational boundaries, peripheral participation brought about by work pressure, IT -complexity, and the varying degree of IT -usefulness for different groups. Kautz also looks at organisational adoption of IT. However, Kautz uses an interpretive framework to understand what can influence the adoption and diffusion process. The framework focuses on three issues: (I) The content of the IT being introduced. (2) The context in which the introduction takes place, and (3) the cultural and political processes taking place as part of the introduction of IT in an organisation. Kautz uses the framework in a case-study on the introduction of email in a public sector organisation. Based on interviews and studies of documents he concludes that the use of the interpretive framework broadens the analysis that is needed before the introduction of IT. That has some value in itself because it may help minimize the risk of adoption-failure. Hughes, Kristoffersen, O'Brien and Rouncefield take up the issue of organisational politics that were also in Kautz's framework. Using two case-studies of the introduction of video-based communication systems Hughes, Kristoffersen, O'Brien and Rouncefield find that organi sational politics on the one hand can drive and encourage the exploration of new IT, but on the other hand (and at the same time) foster ways of organizing and managing work that conflicts with the adoption and implementation of the new IT.