Role of value compatibility in IT adoption
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Research article
Role of value compatibility in IT adoption Deborah Bunker, Karl-Heinz Kautz, Anne Luu Thanh Nguyen School of Information Systems, Technology & Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Correspondence: D Bunker, School of Information Systems, Technology & Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Tel: þ 61 2 9385 4255; Fax: þ 61 2 9662 4061; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract Compatibility has been recognised as an important element in the adoption of IT innovations in organisations but as a concept it has been generally limited to technical or functional factors. Compatibility is also significant, however, with regard to value compatibility between the organisation, and the adopted IT innovation. We propose a framework to determine value compatibility analysing the organisation’s and information system’s structure, practices and culture, and explore the value compatibility of an organisation with its adopted self-service computer-based information system. A case study was conducted to determine the congruence of an organisation’s value and IT value compatibility. This study found that there was a high correspondence in the organisational structure and practice dimensions; however, there were organisational culture disparities. The cultural disparities reflected the self-service acceptance and training issues experienced by the case organisation. These findings add insight into the problems experienced with value compatibility and the adoption of the information systems, and show the potential use of the proposed framework in the detection of such problems. Journal of Information Technology (2007) 22, 69–78. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000092 Keywords: value compatibility; IT innovation
Introduction he idea that innovations may be compatible or incompatible with an organisation’s existing (information) systems or resources has been long advocated in the innovation literature (Rogers, 1995). His definition of compatibility highlights the traditional view of the concept: ‘compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An innovation can be compatible or incompatible: with socio-cultural values and beliefs, with previously introduced ideas, or with clients needs for innovations’ (224). The incompatibility of the potential adopters’ cultural values with the innovation will hinder the adoption process, and there is the belief that the higher the compatibility of an idea, the lower the uncertainty felt by the potential adopters (Rogers, 1995). Among those who have researched organisational values and have found that they influence the successful adoption of IT innovations are Orlikowski (1992) and Zammuto and O’Connor (1992). The traditional view of compatibility has, however, been criticised by Tornatzky and Klein (1982) as being too broad. In their meta-anal
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