Technology Adoption and Diffusion Research Papers (original) (raw)

This study aims to investigate the adoption effects of digital business on hotel performance among Small-and-Medium-Sized-Hotels (SMHs) in Malaysia. The methodology of this study is a multiple case study with six SMHs in Malaysia. A conceptual framework was developed to capture elements from extant digital business adoption literature that are defined in the research questions. Methodologically, the study provides an interpretive evaluation of digital business development in a developing country for the Malaysia context. Strategies for improving digital business development in the SMHs are presented, as well as the implication of the research findings. The findings of this study will benefit the Malaysian hotel industries by providing critical information to management to assist in deciding whether SMHs should strategically invest in adopting digital business and technology or not and in determining specific areas of focus for digital business development.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a set of technologies, processes and policies enabling multiple stakeholders to collaboratively design, construct and operate a facility.
There are numerous challenges attributed to BIM adoption by industry and academia. These represent a number of knowledge gaps each warranting a focused investigation by domain researchers. This study does not isolate a single gap to address but espouses a holistic view of the knowledge problem at hand. It contributes to the discussion a set of conceptual constructs that clarify the knowledge structures underlying the BIM domain. It also introduces a number of practicable knowledge tools to facilitate BIM learning, assessment and performance improvement.
This study is delivered through complementary papers and appendices to answer two primary research questions. The first explores the knowledge structures underlying the BIM domain whilst the second probes how these knowledge structures can be used to facilitate the measurement and improvement of BIM performance across the construction industry.
To address the first question, the study identifies conceptual clusters underlying the BIM domain, develops descriptive taxonomies of these clusters, exposes some of their conceptual relationships, and then delivers a representative BIM framework. The BIM framework is composed of three-axes which represent the main knowledge structures underlying the BIM domain and support the development of functional conceptual models.
To address the second question, BIM framework structures are extended through additional concepts and tools to facilitate BIM performance assessment and development of individuals, organizations and teams. These additional concepts include competency sets, assessment workflows and measurement tools which can be used to assess and improve the BIM performance of industry stakeholders.
In addressing these research questions, a pragmatic approach to research design based on available literature and applicable theories has been adopted. By combining several research strategies, paradigms and methods, this study (1) generates several new conceptual structures (e.g. frameworks, models and taxonomies) which collectively clarify the knowledge structures underlying the BIM domain; and (2) develops a set of workflows and tools that facilitate BIM assessment, learning and performance improvement.
This study delivers an extendable knowledge structure upon which to build a host of BIM performance improvement initiatives and tools. As a set of complementary papers and appendices, the study presents a rich, unified yet multi-layered environment of conceptual constructs and practicable tools; supported by a common framework, a domain ontology and simplified visual representations. Individually, each paper introduces a new framework part or solidifies a previous one. Collectively, the papers form a cohesive knowledge engine that generates assessment systems, learning modules and performance improvement tools.

- by Bilal Succar and +1
- •
- Management Information Systems, Knowledge Models, Construction Management, Performance Based Assessment (Education)

The notion of the change caused by smelting and melting technology during the 5th and 4th Millennium in the
Levant is not well understood. Chronological errors and socio-economic misconceptions have been shrouding a clear
view on the sequence of events and their interregional consequences. Surprisingly complex metallurgy started already in
the middle of the 5th Millennium BC and caused changes in social distinction, exchange systems and ideology. Other
technologies were not directly affected, but on the contrary, lithic technique and ceramic styles show great elaboration.
In a comparative approach the archaeological record of the Levant is compared to that of Southeastern Europe, and
several structural similarities are discussed. It is argued, that the chronological parallelism is an argument against an
autochthonous technical evaluation of the Balkan Peninsula, and that the social systems of both areas must have had
similarities, which made the new cast metal artefacts very attractive.

This study was carried out in Ilungu ward Mbeya Rural district, Tanzania to assess adoption of improved agricultural technologies for Irish potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) among farmers. Specific objectives were identification of improved agricultural technologies for Irish potatoes farming disseminated in the area; to determine extent of adoption of these technologies; and identification of factors influencing adoption. Study design was a crosssectional survey in two randomly selected villages from the ward in which 60 households were involved. Quantitative data from household heads were collected in the area using a structured questionnaire. In-depth interviews with extension officers were also carried out to obtain relevant data for the study. Results indicate that a range of improved agricultural technologies (eight technologies) have been disseminated in the area by extension agents. Extent of adoption among farmers varied with type of technology. Seeding rate, timely sowing and fungicide application were the highly adopted technologies. Each of these technologies was adopted by at least 80% of surveyed households. Improved varieties and pesticide application were used by 58% and 51% of the surveyed households, respectively and hence moderately adopted technologies. Least adopted technologies were recommended chemical fertilizer application rate as well as folial/booster fertilizer application which were used by nearly one-third of surveyed households, and recommended spacing which was not used by any of the surveyed households. Assessed by number of technologies adopted (overall adoption), results indicate half of surveyed households to have adopted not more than three out of eight of improved agricultural technologies for Irish potatoes disseminated in the area, reflecting poor overall adoption by a significant portion of surveyed households. Results for Multiple Linear Regression Analysis indicated that increased household income, being a male or married by a household head, increased farming experience, access to credit and extension services were positively and significantly associated with overall adoption. Based on these results recommendations for improving adoption have been indicated.

- by Baltazar Namwata
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion, Technology Adoption

There is exhaustive literature on technology adoption rates and the relationship between technology adoption and relevant socioeconomic and policy variables. Yet adoption estimates derived from the application of standard techniques such as the probit and tobit yield biased estimates. This paper applies the modern evaluation technique: the counterfactual outcome framework to data from about 400 households in Malawi to assess the patterns of diffusion and adoption of improved pigeonpea varieties and their determinants. We find the sample adoption rate of improved varieties to be 14 % while the potential adoption rate if the improved varieties were widely disseminated is estimated at 41 %. The adoption gap resulting from the incomplete exposure to the improved pigeonpea is 27 %. Moreover, adoption is also found to be high among female-headed households, older farmers and those with access to credit. The findings suggest that for increased adoption, there is need for increased involvement of extension workers is the dissemination of information about improved pigeonpea varieties, a robust pigeonpea seed system to increase seed availability to farmers as well as the need for improved access to credit.

- by Franklin Simtowe
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion

Social Media is a term commonly used to describe a group of individual web based services that have grown beyond the provisioning of the capability to connect, network or blog. The popular social networking services have evolved into a ‘platform’ by incorporating a multitude of functionalities through an array of applications to attract millions of users. This has created a favourable environment for businesses to exploit the benefit of having access to millions of social media users by using it as a business support tool. Studies indicate that social media services are being used by businesses for engaging with the general public, enhancing customer interaction, and for crisis communications. Whilst there are many businesses who have adopted social media, others have either rejected the idea or are still unsure about how to proceed. This paper analyses the functionality of selected social media services in order to explore how Australian banks use such services strategically. It reports findings from a longitudinal study of Australian bank use of four popular social media services: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube.

According to a recent study, the #TestingAutomation consumer survey, commissioned in 2018 by Thatcham Research, 71% of drivers around the world believe they can purchase a self-driving car right now, while 11% would be tempted to have a brief nap while using current ‘Highway Assist’ systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control (Thatcham Research 2018). In reality, autonomous (i.e. driverless) cars are not yet on the market and still in an exploratory testing phase (Ro and Ha 2019); however, most major car manufacturers are developing vehicles with some level of automated driving capability (Hardman et al. 2019). AV technology is considered to have a major impact on the transportation system and to substantially affect road safety, mobility, traffic congestion, and energy use (Anderson et al., 2016; Sener et al. 2019; Xu et al. 2018). As AV technology is gaining increasing attention among car manufacturers, technology companies, policymakers, and the general public (Xu et al. 2018), researchers in different disciplines have also started to focus their attention on examining consumers’ attitudes and perceptions of AV technologies and the factors that shape the potential adoption of conditional and/or full automated vehicles. There is consensus that the literature on consumers’ adoption behavior towards AV is still limited (Hardman et al. 2019; Leicht et al. 2018; Shabanpour et al. 2018; Xu et al. 2018). In this article, we explore consumers’ psychological drivers behind AV acceptance as part of a larger research project on automation. Prior research (Walker et al. 2018) suggests that people with an on-road driving experience with a semi-autonomous car (SAE Level 2) obtain a more realistic understanding of AV technology. In this study, we analyze how an on-road experience with a Level 2 semi-autonomous vehicle influences drivers’ trust beliefs and acceptance of autonomous cars.

- by Sven Tuzovic
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- Automobile, Marketing Strategy, Customer Behaviour, Business and Management

The Internet has the potential to fundamentally change the structure of marketing channels, but only if consumers choose to adopt electronic channels. Thus, this paper aims to develop a more nuanced understanding of consumer channel choices. Specifically, it contends that it is important to examine consumers' intent to adopt electronic channels, not as a monolithic decision, but as a choice they make at each of four stages in the purchase process: requirements determination, vendor selection, purchase, and after-sales service. 1 Ritu Agarwal was the accepting senior editor for this paper. Ron Thompson was the associate editor. George Marakas and Paul Hendriks served as reviewers. An additional reviewers chose to remain anonymous.

- by Elena Karahanna
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- Information Systems, Diffusion of Innovations, Adoption, Technology Acceptance

Farmers invest much money for their cultivations but they failed recover their cost due to not having latest agricultural information. Mobile applications are maintained by local agencies to enhance information richness of farmers. However, the farmers do not use those applications. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the factors affecting for the usage of mobile applications among farmers in agriculture in Bulathsinhala area. The administrative questionnaire was developed getting help from previous studies and data were collected from 100 respondents who had smart phones using purposive sampling technique. The respondents were farmers who engaged with Land, Mud and Animal farming. The results revealed that Education and Knowledge, Social & Family Factors and Economic Condition had a significance relationship with usage of mobile application. According to Pearson correlation, Facilitating Conditions is also statistically significant to use mobile application by farmers but using regression rejects it. Famers must be educated to use agricultural applications, as well as agricultural societies must share the cost of those applications.

- by Munasinghe PG and +1
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- Information Systems, Information Technology, Technology Adoption and Diffusion

The research on the relationship between environmental sustainability, Information Technology, and Information Systems under the terms of Green IT and Green IS has grown exponentially during the last five years specifically in IS research community. We have applied the systematic literature review to understand and summarize the existing research related to the field with the aim of understating better the research field, categorizing the studies and identifying some research opportunities and gaps for future research. Our systematic literature review highlighted the need of research in some topics. This review summarizes the state of available information related to Green IT and Green IS studies.

- by Mohammad Dalvi Esfahani and +1
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- Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, Social Sciences, Social Media

The study of consumer's attitudes toward technology represents one of the main challenges for the marketing area. Hence, technology readiness emerges as fundamental construct which is measured by the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) (Parasuraman and Colby 2001). Before the TRI can be used as a measure of technology readiness on an international basis, it is necessary to assess its validity in different countries. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the applicability of TRI in the Brazilian context through a competing models strategy. The findings suggested that alternative hypothesis represents the best fitting-model.

Consumer behavior in e-commerce platforms is one of the extensively researched area. Numerous studies in this field assessed consumer online shopping behavior from various aspects. However, literature review showed that most of the conducted studies do not carry out market segmentation analysis while accessing shopping behavior of online consumers. Therefore, the general conclusions made by these studies about consumer attitude, behavior, and decision-making process might not reflect actual behaviors of different consumer segments. In contrast to previous studies, this study initially carried out psychographic market segmentation analysis and found four different online consumer segments. Later, shopping behavior of each determined segment was assessed by using the developed behavior evaluation model. Findings of this study provide important information to e-retailers about the behavioral characteristics of each consumer segment. E-retailers can utilize this study findings to effectively allocate their marketing resources and design more successful marketing mix for each consumer segment.

Prior research has provided valuable insights into how and why employees make a decision about the adoption and use of information technologies (ITs) in the workplace. From an organizational point of view, however, the more important issue is how managers make informed decisions about interventions that can lead to greater acceptance and effective utilization of IT. There is limited research in the IT implementation literature that deals with the role of interventions to aid such managerial decision making. Particularly, there is a need to understand how various interventions can influence the known determinants of IT adoption and use. To address this gap in the literature, we draw from the vast body of research on the technology acceptance model (TAM), particularly the work on the determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and: (i) develop a comprehensive nomological network (integrated model) of the determinants of individual level (IT) adoption and use; (ii) empirically test the proposed integrated model; and (iii) present a research agenda focused on potential pre- and postimplementation interventions that can enhance employees' adoption and use of IT. Our findings and research agenda have important implications for managerial decision making on IT implementation in organizations.

Public e-procurement is the use of electronic means for publishing, processing, exchanging and storing all the information related to institutional purchases in public organizations. It requires complex technological tools which must comply with legal and organizational constraints. We present in this article an analysis of French public purchase procedures and a state of the art concerning available platforms for public eprocurement in France. This analysis is the basis of a critical evaluation of the selected platforms.

- by Imed Boughzala
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- Public Administration, Electronic publishing, Procurement, E Government

This paper investigates the outcomes of e-learning systems adoption and use by conceptualizing three elearning systems adoption outcome constructs namely perceived learning assistance, perceived community building assistance and perceived academic performance. Utilizing these constructs, the paper proposes a research model for assessing the possible outcomes of e-learning systems adoption and use. The study collected longitudinal survey data from 249 university students participating in hybrid courses using a popular learning management system, Moodle. Partial least squares (PLS) approach was then used to test the research model. The findings suggest that beliefs about perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and how an elearning system is used influence students' perceived learning assistance and perceived community building assistance. In turn, perceived learning assistance and perceived community building assistance influence the students' perceived academic performance.

The effect of Personal Information Technology Innovativeness on the use of novel technologies based on the works of Agarwal and Karahanna, (2000)

The main focus of the study was to determine the extent of participation of women in the food for work program as well as to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the women and their participation. The study was conducted in Kapasia Upazila of Gazipur district. Data were collected by using pre-tested interview schedule. One hundred and ten respondent women were selected using simple random sampling method. Findings of the study reveal that more than three-fifth (62.72%) of the respondent women belonged medium participation category in food for work program. Women's participation was highest in clearing (57.27%) in metal road maintenance whereas 41.2 percent in grass placement in case of mud road maintenance. Results also indicate that women had lower participation in all activities of both metal and mud road preparation compared to this men counterpart. Correlation analysis evince that education and training exposure of the respondent women had positive significant and age had negative significant relationship with their participation.

- by Foyez Ahmed
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion

Determinants of adoption of wet-and dry-season improved rice varieties in Cambodia were analyzed. Selection pattern and intensity of information sources, and barriers to adopt agricultural technologies by rice farmers were examined. Probit model was used to analyze household survey data, covering 24 provinces, 48 districts, 95 communes and 192 villages. The results show that farmers use a combination of information sources to meet their needs indicating that any single source does not satisfy all the farmers' information needs. The most used information sources were farm radio and television, followed by farm extension meetings/workshops. Frequent service providers for both male and female farmers were NGOs, local commune/village office and local extension service centers. The frequently-mentioned barriers to adopting new farm technologies are lack of technical knowledge/skills and technological incompatibility-farmers stated that technologies were not suitable to their farms. This may mean either that the technology is not climatically fit or it is labor-intensive, costly or not suitable to smallholder farmers. Other frequently mentioned barriers were unavailability of credit to invest in new technology and access to market information. Adopters and non-adopters were significantly different in educational levels, access to improved seeds, and contact with extension agents. The study highlights how the farmer's age, educational level, family size, and extension-related variables influenced the farmer's behavior in selecting wet-and dry-season rice varieties. Use of seed from their own harvest showed a negative effect on adoption, suggesting that access to seed from reliable sources will benefit the farmers by increasing production and income. Incorporating researchers' and extension officials' message in television and radio programs, and implementing educational learning programs may be the policy alternatives to enhance adoption and rice productivity in Cambodia.

- by Raju Ghimire
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion, Improved rice varieties

En los últimos años, la irrupción de las nuevas tecnologías y la llegada del mundo digital se han extendido de una manera imparable, afectando a todos los ámbitos de la sociedad. La disciplina histórica no ha sido ajena a esta revolución y se ha visto alterada en múltiples aspectos: baste señalar la facilidad de acceso a los archivos, propiciada por la digitalización de los documentos; la aparición de nuevas herramientas de difusión, como los blogs, las redes sociales o las revistas digitales; y las nuevas modalidades de enseñanza online, que permiten crear un nuevo diálogo entre profesores y alumnos.

- by Néstor F Marqués and +1
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- History, Archaeology, Roman History, Cultural Heritage

Ten years after the publication of their first model and based on the evaluation of the many contributions to it, DeLone and McLean proposed an updated IS Success Model (DeLone and McLean 2003). This chapter gives an overview of the... more

Ten years after the publication of their first model and based on the evaluation of the many contributions to it, DeLone and
McLean proposed an updated IS Success Model (DeLone and McLean 2003). This chapter gives an overview of the current state of research on the IS Success Model

-Análisis crítico y comparativo de la adopción en el derecho peruano y el derecho anglosajón-

- by Fabrizio Falcón
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- Civil Engineering, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Law

From the works of Nelson, Todd and Wixom, (2005). R. Ryan Nelson, Peter A. Todd and Barbara H. Wixom Operationalising the system quality factors (information quality, service quality, system quality constrcuts) in IS Success Model (ISSM)... more

From the works of Nelson, Todd and Wixom, (2005).
R. Ryan Nelson, Peter A. Todd and Barbara H. Wixom
Operationalising the system quality factors (information quality, service quality, system quality constrcuts) in IS Success Model (ISSM) Delone and Mclean (2003).

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright

- by Silvana Trimi and +1
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- Cross-Cultural Studies, Technology Adoption and Diffusion

State government has been moving from manual and paper-based processes to digital services. However, digital divide, declining trust in technology, and low IT/IS adoption rates by public sector employees are important challenges for successful delivery of e-government services to citizens. Previous studies in the area of IT/IS adoption and e-government have mainly focused on citizens. This paper examines IT/IS adoption by employees rather than citizens and the focus is on non-market environment and state government agencies. A research model has been proposed based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and technology acceptance model (TAM) which has been extended to include digital divide related constructs and trust in technology. To test the proposed model, a survey was conducted among early adopters of Office 365 at Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in Springfield and Chicago. The paper contributes to research on IT/IS adoption in public sector. The findings also provide insightful design and practical implications for successful IT/IS deployment in public sector.

The use of Learning Management Systems and Content Management Systems is rising among tertiary institutions in the United States. This paper explores some LMS/CMS systems and their affordances, looks at general guidelines for consideration before and after adoption, and
synthesizes the experiences of implementation at three universities.

This article assesses the use of social media in union communications based on an international survey with 149 unions affiliated with UNI Global Union. High expectations of union modernisation, leadership and pressures from members are likely to drive the agenda of social media within unions. However, the actual use of different channels is based on organisational variables such as membership base and participation in communities of practice. Beliefs about the anticipated benefits and risks of social media were not found to be influential in these early assessments. Implications for union communication strategies are discussed.

A separate and distinct interaction with both the actual e-vendor and with its IT Web site interface is at the heart of online shopping. Previous research has established, accordingly, that online purchase intentions are the product of both consumer assessments of the IT itself^specifically its perceived usefulness and ease-of-use (TAM}-and trust in the e-vendor. But these perspectives have been examined independently by IS researchers. Integrating these two perspectives and examining the factors that build online trust in an environment that lacks the typical human interaction that often leads to trust in other circumstances advances our understanding of these constructs and their linkages to behavior.

New technology presents risk for many customers. They react differently toward this risk based on their innate characteristics, the wants and needs of their companies, and the behaviour of other buyers. The Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC) models how different groups of customers adopt to discontinuous innovation at different times. This model helps policy makers and technology developers build the best strategy for each phase of a product’s life.

- by mark abouzeid
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- Organizational Change, International Business, Leadership, International Trade

In research about digital game-based learning, the likely negative perceptions of parents are often enlisted as a barrier toward the adoption of games in classroom settings. Teachers, students and policy makers appear to be influenced by what parents think about games in the classroom. Therefore, it is important to study these parental beliefs about games. The present research develops and validates a path model to explain and predict parental acceptation of video games in the classrooms of their
children. The hypothetical model was found reliable and valid, based on a survey of 858 parents with at least one child in secondary education. Overall, the results show that 59% of the variance in parents’ preference for video games can be explained by the model comprising hypotheses about learning opportunities, subjective norm, perceived negative effects of gaming, experience with video games, personal innovativeness, and gender.

It has become common practice for higher education institutions (HEIs) to replace existing computer systems, called legacy administrative information systems, with new ones to cope with the continuously changing demands in the context of education. At the top of these systems is enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that integrate HEIs' business processes, functions, and data to improve their overall productivity and effectiveness. However, many studies on ERP adoption have shown that organizations frequently face several barriers, and the failure rate is high. In addition, various research projects have concluded that, quite often, HEIs do not obtain the expected advantages from the adoption of the ERP system. This research aims to explore the factors that affect the behavioral adoption and acceptance of an ERP system in the context of HEIs. Based on works from literature and authors' observations of the PeopleSoft system (ERP system) implementation at Yanbu University...

The paper treats Kirkpatrick model as a technology construct and explains factors that hinder or help its diffusion.
Done as an Independent Study, the first author of this research is MS student, Saqlain Shah.

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology is used in numerous applications and offers a plethora of interesting potential new applications. However, this potential raises issues that require addressing to achieve its widespread acceptance by consumers. This paper investigates the factors that affect consumer acceptance of RFID technology. The purpose of this effort is to develop and test a theoretical model that contextualizes the technology acceptance model (TAM) within the context of RFID technology. The research model proposes that convenience, culture, privacy, regulation, and security are the principal factors influencing the consumers' acceptance of RFID. However, the results show that convenience, culture, and security are significant predictors. This study is the first in the RFID literature to use the TAM for explaining consumer acceptance of RFID technology. The findings suggest that: 1) higher perceived convenience of RFID technology leads to greater acceptance of this technology; 2) societal beliefs, value systems, norms, and/or behaviors influence the extent of consumer acceptance of RFID technology; and 3) higher perceived importance of and less willingness to sacrifice personal information security lead to lower intention to use RFID technology. Contextualization of TAM to RFID technology makes this study relevant to practitioners because the results can provide insight to organizations using or exploring the use of RFID technology.

- by Muhammad Hossain
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- RFID, RFID Security and Privacy, Technology Adoption and Diffusion

Agrivoltaic systems are a strategic and innovative approach to combine solar photovoltaic (PV)-based renewable energy generation with agricultural production. Recognizing the fundamental importance of farmer adoption in the successful diffusion of the agrivoltaic innovation, this study investigates agriculture sector experts' perceptions on the opportunities and barriers to dual land-use systems. Using in-depth, semistructured interviews, this study conducts a first study to identify challenges to farmer adoption of agrivoltaics and address them by responding to societal concerns. Results indicate that participants see potential benefits for themselves in combined solar and agriculture technology. The identified barriers to adoption of agrivoltaics, however, include: (i) desired certainty of long-term land productivity, (ii) market potential, (iii) just compensation and (iv) a need for predesigned system flexibility to accommodate different scales, types of operations, and changing farming practices. The identified concerns in this study can be used to refine the technology to increase adoption among farmers and to translate the potential of agrivoltaics to address the competition for land between solar PV and agriculture into changes in solar siting, farming practice, and land-use decision-making.

- by Joshua Pearce and +2
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- Agronomy, Photovoltaics, Renewable Energy, Diffusion of Innovations

The strong competition from emerging economies suffered by Italian's textile and clothing industry has been promoting traceability initiatives as possible sources of brand distinction and competitive advantage. "Traccia" is one of these initiatives, where the coordinated efforts of local governments, certifications laboratories, a industry association, a university and companies aimed at the diffusion of a methodology for traceability that allows companies to add, to their products, informative labels reporting items' whole history. This paper analyzes the perspective emergence of the use of an RFId system for traceability from three different inter-related viewpoints: the firm level, the industry level and the external environment level. RFId adoption is then discussed on the base of the reciprocal influence a firm could have over the technology, its capabilities and the interorganizational environment. The study shows that the adoption of RFId systems is still dismissed despite the strong evidence of potential benefits and the sponsoring role of local authorities and industry associations.
Challenges are posed not only from structural factors (i.e., size, IT competences and commitment) but also from the issues related to the creation of an interoperable infrastructure, the development of the traceability nodes of coordination and the involvement of focal players as initiators and adopters of the system.

Objetivo: Con el presente artículo de investigación se busca analizar el impacto de la incursión de las TIC en la gestión de la información financiera en las empresas pymes comerciales y de servicios del municipio de Itagüí. Metodología: El diseño metodológico se fundamentó en una investigación de tipo no experimental, descriptiva y transversal con enfoque cuantitativo, realizada sobre la aplicación de un cuestionario administrado a la población objeto de estudio. Hallazgo: La incursión de las tecnologías de información y las comunicaciones (TIC) en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (Pymes) ha traído importantes cambios a la forma en la que administran la información financiera. Los principales hallazgos indican que el Internet y el teléfono móvil son las tecnologías de información más utilizadas para realizar las actividades laborales, con una frecuencia del 29% y 35% respectivamente. También, el 73% de las empresas considera un impacto positivo de la incursión de estas herramientas ya que el 87% cree que aportan en eficiencia, control, administración y seguridad en el momento de tomar decisiones. Conclusión: Aunque hay un gran avance en cuanto a la adopción de estas tecnologías para la gestión de la información financiera en las Pymes, todavía hay resistencia para su correcto uso y aprovechamiento, atribuido a factores identificados como la falta de capacitación, experiencia en el cargo desempeñado, estado de la tecnología y la seguridad. Palabras clave: Tecnología de la comunicación; Gestión de la información; Finanzas; Empresa.

- by Alejandro Valencia-Arias
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion, PyMEs, Finanzas

Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) extension by Venkatesh et al, (2012) into UTAUT 2.

This article discusses the octagonal-hilted swords which were developed in Bronze Age Central Europe but also occur in large numbers in Northern Europe. Furthermore it tries to explain this remarkable distribution and the adoption of foreign objects into the Nordic Bronze Age. The study of their forms, ornaments and technical details indicates that ordinary import or local imitation in the North are not sufficient explanations. Instead, a model for their distribution should comprise imports of swords with ornamentation in Central European tradition along with other, non-decorated swords, which were finished and decorated differently in Northern Europe. This led to reciprocal contacts and influences. Comparing the find circumstances of octagonal-hilted swords and indigenous solid-hilted swords in Northern Europe, there is no difference in interaction with these sword types. A short comparison with the foreign earliest swords and some Late Bronze Age swords in Northern Europe shows that there are also different ways of the adoption of foreign objects.

There are several constraints to the adoption of technologies and innovations by Australian farmers. Here an attempt has been made to define the major constraints to adoption. These are identified as: the extent to which the farmer finds the new technology complex and difficult to comprehend; how readily observable the outcomes of an adoption are; its financial cost; the farmer's beliefs and opinions towards the technology; the farmer's level of motivation; the farmer's perception of the relevance of the new technology; and the farmer's attitudes towards risk and change.

- by Turlough Guerin
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- Technology, Environmental Management, Technology transfer, Agriculture

The literature on user innovation has not considered laggards – the last group of users to
adopt a product – as a source of new ideas for innovative products and services. In this
paper, we develop the Lag-User Method to investigate laggards’ role in the process of idea
generation and new product development (NPD) and so enable firms to gain access to their
insights. We study laggards for 4 years in three countries and apply the Lag-User Method
to different technologies, products, and services, thereby generating 62 innovative ideas
across a wide range of industries and sectors. These ideas are discussed with executives to
obtain managerial insights. Our studies reveal that laggards who generate new ideas (i.e.
lag-users) can enrich NPD. Being coached through the systematic Lag-User Method, they
can come up with radical, really new, or incremental innovations. Moreover, applying the
method increased laggards’ perception regarding their (a) understanding of innovation, (b)
perception that people can learn to innovate, (c) perception of their ability to develop new
products on their own, (d) confidence about their own new ideas, and (e) perception of
considering themselves capable of innovating. Thus, we propose that by involving lagusers
in idea generation and NPD process, both academia and firms can improve the
effectiveness of NPD, overcome barriers to adoption of innovations, cross the chasm, and
accelerate the diffusion of their new products or services.

- by Sara Jahanmir and +1
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- Diffusion of Innovations, New Product Development, Open Innovation, Adoption and Diffusion of innovations

Agricultural research has produced various technological packages for farmers to increase their productivity and profitability. Evidence available seems to suggest that adoption of these technologies among smallholders is limited. The acceptability index and the logit model have been used to study the determinants of maize technology adoption among smallholder farmers in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The results show that the adoption levels for improved maize varieties is good but adoption levels for fertilizer and the technological package are poor. The main determinants for maize technology adoption include the farmer characteristics, socio-economic, and institutional factors. Improvements in policy and implementation could enhance adoption rates.

This study investigated the level and determinants of garden coffee production technology package adoption in Ethiopia. The analysis was based on survey data collected from 293 garden coffee-growing households. The findings show that garden coffee production technology package adoption status in Dale districts was various across the smallholders' growers. The productivity of improved coffee varieties at farm plots was less than at research plots in Dale due to low coffee production technology package adoption. The use of improved coffee varieties, weed control practices, compost application, pruning practices, shade tree management, intercropping practices, and coffee seedling planting spacing is the main garden coffee production technology package practiced by smallholder coffee growers in Dale. Thus, the garden coffee production technology package adoption index score ranged from 0.43 to 1.00. Adoption index scores were categorized into high (0.71 to 1), medium (0.5 to 0.7) and Low (0.43 to 0.49) adopters. Only 57% of farmers reached high coffee production technology adoption status but the remaining 30% and 13% of garden coffee farmers attained medium and low adoption status. The mean adoption index score was found to be 0.66, which implies the overall adoption status was found under the medium technology adoption category. The maximum likelihood estimates of Tobit model result shows that gender of household head (-0.261), education level (0.09), the annual income of the household (0.003), farm size (0.031), availability of labor (0.155), credit facilities (0.087), coffee extension services (0.047) and farmer perception of improved coffee varieties (-0.024) were significant determinants of garden coffee production technology package in Dale district. Hence, for farmers to adopt new technology they must know it well. Adopting all components of the coffee production technology package simultaneously as recommended by the research center enhances coffee productivity at farm plots level. Moreover, building better coffee production extension services, institutional arrangement, and access to new technology information can possibly increase coffee production technology package adoption in Ethiopia.

- by Teshome Kassahun
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- Technology Adoption and Diffusion

This study investigates the perception of accountants and auditors on the impact of XBRL adoption in Malaysia. This study also examines the possible challenges and strategies for XBRL adoption success. Using questionnaire survey, this study show that the accountants and auditors perceived the impact of XBRL adoption would be on business decision-making, regulatory compliance, continuous reporting, financial reports availability and analysis, and continuous auditing. This study also shows that lack of accounting qualification and lack of training are among the challenges for XBRL adoption in Malaysia. The implication of this study is that the accountants and auditors need to be given exposure on XBRL taxonomies and voluntarily filing programs. This study provides understanding to the government, regulators and standard setters on strategizing the initiative programs on voluntarily adopting XBRL in future. This would reduce the negative perception on the challenges that might be faced by the accountants and auditors prior to XBRL adoption.

- by Azleen Ilias and +1
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- Information Technology, Technology Adoption and Diffusion