Determinants of the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

A dressing delivery system comprising an adhesive-coated dressing, a release liner and a package are arranged such that the package acts as the means for applying the dressing to a skin area, with the opening of the package and the application of the dressing being accomplished in a single step.

Abstract

The paper aims at explaining empirically timing and intensity of a firm's adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) using a large sample of firms. The analysis is based on the rank and the epidemic model of technology adoption. The explanatory variables include many dimensions of anticipated benefits from and costs of technology adoption, what allows to capture the impact of uncertainty and adjustment costs. The analysis yields results pertaining to the timing and the intensity of ICT adoption (inter- and intra-firm diffusion). Notwithstanding some interesting differences, we find quite a robust pattern of explanation across the adoption variables used. An extended version of the approach explores the role of "New Workplace Organisation" (NWO) as a determinant of the adoption of ICT, as well as the reverse relationship, i.e. the impact of ICT on the adoption of NWO.