Chronicles of an Innovation: a Study of Factors Influencing the Adoption of a New Information System and Related Management Practices.

Abstract

This is a longitudinal study of factors influencing the adoption of a new information system and related management practices. The first chapter describes the theoretical foundations of the study, the selection of a research client, the development of the information system and training of management teams in its use, and its experimental introduction into the site. These developments are conceived of as the invention and diffusion of an innovation. The chapter then reports the results of the study and their subsequent interpretation by my colleagues. It concludes with a description of the site's decision to discontinue the system and my own resolve to investigate what had happened. The second chapter discusses the epistemology of concept development to compare and contrast theories of innovation adoption and planned change. This leads to a model of innovation adoption that is investigated through interviews, observations, records, and questionnaire data at the site. The rationale for reporting these data in two forms--as stories and as comparative analyses--is discussed through an analysis of the art and science of social research. The third chapter tells the "story" of innovation adoption in six of ten branches. The fourth chapter compares the relative import of the branch management team's (1) need to change, (2) openness and potential for change, (3) views of the innovation, (4) initial experiences with the system, and (5) overall views of the innovation as correlates of employee's ratings of the frequency and quality of use of the system six months and one year after its introduction. Taken together these chapters identify both the unique and common factors influencing adoption. The final chapter puts these findings in a larger context through models of the implementation and adoption of innovations and of the stages in the process of planned organizational change. It then recommends the development of a learning posture toward innovation and change and the collaboration of social scientists and organization members in change efforts. It concludes with some thoughts on coping with change.