Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Contextual studies of information technology diffusion offer an opportunity to understand both the production and diffusion of IT innovations. Using a case of mobile-TV in the United Kingdom, this paper uses actor network theory (ANT) to render context as the various cross-industry groups and technologies enrolled and translated into the construction and reinvention of the mobile-TV services. By focusing on the various cross-industry actors, context is recast as a dynamic environment composed of other actors’ behaviors, and no longer as a set of static factors. Implications for diffusion research and practice are discussed.

Contemporary issues such as increases in operational scope, connectivity, and dynamism in organizations have meant also a corresponding increase of complexity in producing everyday interaction. A simple task on the individual level can be approached as a part of complicated whole or even as adding to complexity on the organizational level. In this paper, we compare two strong metaphors for studying complex nonlinear interaction in heterogeneous networks: complexity theory and actor-network theory. Both examine sociotechnical phenomena as evolving in on going negotiations of participants within complex networks. Understanding complex networks can add to our understanding of relationships between social actors and technical artefacts, that is, of information systems in use. As an example, we introduce a study of work practices in intensive care. We argue that this work is carried out as multiple and interdependent interactions further generating complexity in a network of humans, technical artefacts, and other materials. In such socio-technical networks, work practices, new technology, and work processes are negotiated or made irreversible through the actions ofparticipants.

Technology vendors increasingly praised RFID technology to improve tracking and replenishment in supply chain management (). Many companies, especially retailers, announced plans for quick RFID adoption. Despite obvious technology advantages, RFID adoption made only little progress in today’s supply chains. This paper explores the discrepancy between RFID announcements and reality. From a literature review, the paper derives three theoretical concepts and ten associated factors of organizational technology adoption and diffusion. It then describes the RFID adoption by a fashion retailer that started with an RFID pilot and stretched the RFID roll-out process over several stages. In the description, the paper also briefly touches upon RFID diffusion in the fashion supply chain. Finally, the paper discusses to what extent each of the ten factors derived from the literature apply to RFID adoption and diffusion in the fashion industry. It discovers some factors, crucial for adoption and diffusion and others which play only a minor role. The paper closes with some conclusions and suggestions for further research.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a complex ICT application. Adoption by organizations has been relatively slow. This paper assesses the contribution that research into information systems adoption and diffusion can make to understanding and predicting the diffusion of RFID. The paper concludes that traditional research methods are inappropriate for such applications. Information systems stage research and diffusion research offer more promising models.

Given the important but largely unstudied role of contextual influences on the diffusion of innovations, theories and methodologies which take context into account are increasingly relevant. One such approach, the system of innovation approach (SIA), considers context as a network of organizations and groups involved in the production and diffusion of innovations. In addition to the focal innovation, these organizations and groups are influenced by other contexts, and so the further study of their diffusion settings extends the diffusion research agenda. To this end, we focus on a subset of the public programs involved in the diffusion of e-business innovations to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). E-business applications are complex innovations, and the need for outside assistance is especially significant for SMEs because they often lack the knowledge and resources to strategically adopt, modify, and use e-business applications. To understand how these programs influence e-business adoption, we used theories that examine the contexts around public program interventions in order to explain its form and outcome. The empirical findings suggest that many public programs fail to effectively deliver interventions because program personnel work in contexts that restrict their focus and ability to completely assess SME business needs.

By analyzing survey data from 1,211 firms across 14 industries in Shanghai, this study examines factors that influence information technology usage in Chinese firms applying a technology-organization-environment framework and institutional theory. This study provides an in-depth examination of governmental impact on Chinese firms’ IT adoption. Although government cannot directly influence firms’ IT adoption, it does so indirectly by influencing firms’ IT infrastructure construction and management. Firms’ IT infrastructure development and IT management decisions act as a mediator between government policies and firms’ IT adoption. Furthermore, firms adapt to governmental impact in distinct ways. The findings suggest that e-government approaches and government promotion policies have a significant impact on IT usage in manufacturing firms, in local firms, and in national-background firms.

The attention of software vendors has moved recently to SMEs (small- to medium-sized enterprises), offering them a vast range of enterprise systems (ES), which were formerly adopted by large firms only. From reviewing information technology innovation adoption literature, it can be argued that IT innovations are highly differentiated technologies for which there is not necessarily a single adoption model. Additionally, the question of why one SME adopts an ES while another does not is still understudied. This study intends to fill this gap by investigating the factors impacting SME adoption of ES. A qualitative approach was adopted in this study involving key decision makers in nine SMEs in the Northwest of England. The contribution of this study is twofold: it provides a framework that can be used as a theoretical basis for studying SME adoption of ES, and it empirically examines the impact of the factors within this framework on SME adoption of ES. The findings of this study confirm that factors impacting the adoption of ES are different from factors impacting SME adoption of other previously studied IT innovations. Contrary to large companies that are mainly affected by organizational factors, this study shows that SMEs are not only affected by environmental factors as previously established, but also affected by technological and organizational factors.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the diffusion of information technologies, applications, and systems in the Jordanian telecommunication industry. The paper introduces changes and challenges facing the public switched telephony network (PSTN) providers in Jordan and a number of strategies to face or even to exploit such changes and challenges to PSTN providers’ advantage.

This position paper examines the processes of creativity and innovation within the current context of virtual working. There is a discrepancy between innovation practice and support techniques: techniques are dominated by group activity, yet much of the work on instances of creativity indicate individual activity. There are considerable challenges in supporting creativity and innovation in virtual groups, however it is an area calling for innovation and the paper proposes where this innovation may take place.

Is never-ending innovation really the key to the ultimate success? Reading marketing and technological innovation literature, it is easy to get the impression that businesses today cannot survive without the continuously innovating processes and technology that new products are based upon. Yet, it seems that truly successful businesses know better. Asked about the rate of innovation and measuring innovation process success, the executive director of development in a successful manufacturing company responded: