Internet technology adoption as an organizational event: an exploratory study across industries

Abstract

In this exploratory study, Internet adoption decisions are examined from an organizational perspective. We postulate that when the technology considered for adoption demands a shift of paradigm, involves support of a corporate-wide infrastructure, and/or nascent skills of technology developers, individual-based technology adoption models may lack explanation power. This study identifies eight factors that may facilitate or inhibit technology adoption. Results from the interviews of top managers reveal that Internet technologies indeed demand the considerable deliberation in adoption decisions since Internet technologies requires a re-examination of existing business models and strategies. Yet, interestingly, this same technology was adopted with very different reasoning logic, ranging from using the Internet as an additional channel for promotion and advertisement to being pressured from competitors to adopt (the "we gotta have one, too" syndrome).