Story Technology Adoption

How does technology become standard? What influences organisations to take particular directions? Implementation of a technology requires that the people actually use the technology. What factors affect whether people adopt information systems like Enterprise resource planning systems? Issues such as culture and power will be involved. But also, the employee needs to perceive the information system as useful to their job, as enabling them to meet their goals. Additionally that technology must be usable. If the effort to learn a system is too much, the employees we're trying to serve will resist using the system, use it in an inefficient way, or find ways round it. But the adoption of information systems is also a social construction, based on people communicating the value of an information system to each other and showing how it would be in other people's interests to use the particular system.

Question 1: Technology adoption models are generally quantitative models, validated through questionnaires and statistical analysis. Fred Davis' Technology Adoption Model, which appeared in MIS Quarterly in 1989 has been much quoted an applied across a range of information systems. Describe the TAM, and the theories it is based on. How is TAM used in research? Explain how surveys may be used to measure TAM. Give some examples of how it has been extended. What are the problems and limits of TAM? Does it have any practical use in information system management? Illustrate with a case study of its application to information systems adoption. Suggest some alternative technology adoption models.

TAM in the Telemedicine industry: Legris, P., Ingham, J, and Collerette, P. (2003) Why do people use information technology?A critical review of the technology acceptance model. Information and Management, 43(1) 191-204.

Literature review of information technology adoption models at the firm level.

Question 2: Actor Network Theory: Actor network theory, developed by Bruno Latour, focusses on the social network in which technology is adopted, and, distinctively treats technology as objects in the social network. Originally formulated to explain how scientific theories come to be accepted, it has been applied to look at the acceptance of information systems. Explain the main concepts of actor network theory (ANT) and its background. Define the main terms and start with an example outside information systems. Review the use of ANT in information systems, identifying the types of information system it has been applied to. Describe a case study of the application of ANT to an information systems implementation. What are the limitations of ANT? What is the justification for treating technology as an actor? Does it have practical use in information systems management?

Ole Hanseth, MargunnAanestad, Marc Berg, (2004) "Guest editors' introduction: Actor-network theory and information systems. What's so special?", Information Technology & People, Vol. 17 Iss: 2, pp. 116 - 123

Sunyoung Cho, Lars Mathiassen and Agneta Nilsson (2008) Contextual dynamics during health information systems implementation: an event-based actor-network approach European Journal of Information Systems 17, 614-630.

Question 3: Diffusion of Innovations:Diffusion research centers on the conditions which increase or decrease the likelihood that a new idea, product, or practice will be adopted by members of a given culture. Diffusion of innovation theory predicts that media as well as interpersonal contacts provide information and influence opinion and judgment. Studying how innovation occurs, E.M. Rogers (1995) argued that it consists of four stages: invention, diffusion (or communication) through the social system, time and consequences. The information flows through networks. The nature of networks and the roles opinion leaders play in them determine the likelihood that the innovation will be adopted. Innovation diffusion research has attempted to explain the variables that influence how and why users adopt a new information medium, such as the Internet. How can we apply this theory in the adoption of new technologies, the adoption of an information system by an individual - or an organisation? What can we learn for the information system, the individuals? Find a case study and describe the main concepts based on the case