Small firms as social formations : relationships as the unit of analysis for eBusiness adoption research

Existing research concerning the adoption of Electronic Business (eBusiness) by small firms has primarily investigated the factors influencing their adoption decisions, with firms being the unit of analysis. In addition, the research assumes that it is primarily small firm owners, employees, trading partners, eBusiness product/service providers, government and business networks which influence adoption. This paper argues that small firms can more accurately be characterised as social formations whereby family, friends and social networks most likely play a significant, often overlooked, role. On this basis the paper argues that future research should include relationships within and external to small firms as the unit of analysis, not just the firm. The paper concludes by examining whether the theories commonly used to explore small firm eBusiness adoption are suitable for relationship-based research.

Cultural factors behind the adoption of e-learning in Turkey

This paper aims to examine ways in which cultural factors shape the adoption and use of information technology for online teaching. This research focuses on influential early adopters in the tertiary education sector in Turkey who have become change-agents by inspiring small networks of their peers. The study examines the operation of trust and inspiration in networking and teamwork in the Asian academic environment. Findings from this research can assist individuals and institutions to better understand ways in which to optimize the online teaching and learning experience for staff.

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption - the German experience

The decision process that organisations utilise when evaluating technology investment opportunities is a complex and even political process; however, the correct decision can provide the organisation with considerable operational and competitive benefits. The research presented in this paper presents the findings of a postal survey of the benefits provided by technology investments to large German manufacturers. It was found that only where middle management generated the idea for the advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) investment was success in that investment significantly more likely. Respondents who established a project team to plan the technology proposal, regardless of the department which generated the ideas for technology investment, were not significantly associated with a greater likelihood for success.

The respondents typically took between 3 and 12 months before making the final decision to invest, irrespective of the department generating the idea for the AMT, and a further 6 months to implement the AMT. Respondents who utilised a discounted cashflow analysis took significantly longer to make the final decision to invest. The greatest number of manufacturing outcomes of significantly higher importance was identified for respondents where Engineering, IT or R&D generated the AMT ideas. It was also determined that the respondents most frequently considered AMT investments in computer hardware or software and technical training for process workers to be necessary at the time of considering the investment. Middle management were found to be significantly more concerned than managers on other levels about opposition of workers to the AMT, while the process workers were significantly more concerned about interruptions to the process during installation.

Sequential technology adoption with asymmetric firms

We analyse the incentives and welfare implications of costly technology adoption in a two-period duopoly model where firms have different amounts of capital. We also extend our framework to an open economy set-up and examine the relationship between trade and technology adoption. Our findings are as follows. First, no monotone relationship exists between the threshold cost of adoption and capital shares. Second, an unequal distribution of capital, despite lessening competition, can increase total surplus. Third, trade generally encourages adoption of modern technology unless the share of capital for the adopters is too low.

Traditional Australian media organisations adoption of the World Wide Web

The aim of this paper is it to identify whether Australian media companies moved online with a clear business model in mind or in an ad-hoc manner. In-depth interviews were conducted with four Interact media managers from two large Australian media organisations. All four had been involved in Web publishing from its early stages and had extensive knowledge of the development of Web publishing in the industry. The interviews focused on the period around the mid 1990's when the early development of the organisations' websites took place. We also review an analytical approach of examining narratives from research interviews developed by Davidson (Davidson 1997) and Mishler (Mishler1986a, 1986b).

The role of human resource management in moderating the relationship between organisational culture and TQM adoption

Culture has been considered as one of the factors that influences the TQM adoption process of organisations. Based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, we suggest that individualist organisations would find difficulties in adopting TQM, which tends to reflect a more collectivist than individualist culture. We, however, believe that individualist organisations can overcome this problem by establishing collectivist HRM policies by creating collectivistic TQM environment. This paper thus fills the gap between literature on culture, HRM and TQM. Notably, based upon the examination of the impact individualist versus collectivist culture have on HRM policies and TQM adoption, this paper proposes collectivist HRM policies as the significant moderating variable on the relationship between the culturally diverse members and the TQM adoption within the organisational context. Based upon the theoretical framework developed in this paper, implications for future research are outlined.