Factors influencing the formation of a user's perceptions and use of a DSS software innovation
ACM SIGMIS Database - Special issue on adoption, diffusion, and infusion of IT
ACM SIGMIS Database - Special issue on adoption, diffusion, and infusion of IT
An empirical study of smart card technology
Information and Management
E-commerce adoption in small firms: a study of online share trading
Managing e-commerce and mobile computing technologies
CSCW '04 Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
It's all about attitude: revisiting the technology acceptance model
Decision Support Systems
Empirical Software Engineering
Agile improvement practices in software organizations
European Journal of Information Systems - Including a special section on business agility and diffusion of information technology
An investigation of factors that influence the duration of IT outsourcing relationships
Decision Support Systems
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Improve by improving software process improvers
International Journal of Business Information Systems
Realizing business value of agile IT applications: antecedents in the supply chain networks
Information Technology and Management
Information Systems Management
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
The Impact of ERP Implementation on Business Process Outcomes: A Factor-Based Study
Journal of Management Information Systems
Postimplementation Knowledge Transfers to Users and Information Technology Professionals
Journal of Management Information Systems
Journal of Management Information Systems
Proceedings of the ACM 2009 international conference on Supporting group work
Individual Adaptation to IT-Induced Change: The Role of Social Networks
Journal of Management Information Systems
Organizational Assimilation of Electronic Procurement Innovations
Journal of Management Information Systems
Information and Software Technology
Consultancies and capabilities in innovating with IT
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Learning processes in municipal broadband projects: An absorptive capacity perspective
Telecommunications Policy
Peer interaction effectively, yet infrequently, enables programmers to discover new tools
Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work
International Journal of Business Information Systems
A cross industry comparison of inter-organisational systems implementation activities
Electronic Commerce Research
Innovating mindfully with information technology
MIS Quarterly
Community learning in information technology innovation
MIS Quarterly
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
Adoption and Diffusion of Business Practice Innovations: An Evolutionary Analysis
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
Organizational adoption of open source software
Journal of Systems and Software
Simple indicators for tracking software process improvement progress
EuroSPI'06 Proceedings of the 13th European conference on Software Process Improvement
Are New IT-Enabled Investment Opportunities Diminishing for Firms?
Information Systems Research
Institutional Influences on Information Systems Security Innovations
Information Systems Research
Routinisation of B2B E-commerce by small firms: A process perspective
Information Systems Frontiers
International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems
Drivers of Organizational Participation in XML-based Industry Standardization Efforts
International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems
International Journal of IT Standards and Standardization Research
Incremental Experts: How Much Knowledge Does a Team Need?
International Journal of Knowledge Management
Investigating Web 2.0 Application Impacts on Knowledge Workers' Decisions and Performance
Information Resources Management Journal
Information Systems and e-Business Management
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Innovation researchers have known for sometime that a new information technology maybe widely acquired, but then only sparsely deployed among acquiring firms. When this happens, the observed pattern of cumulative adoptions will vary depending on which eventin the assimilation process (i.e., acquisition or deployment) is treated as the adoption event. Instead of mirroring one another, a widening gap-termed here an assimilation gap-will existbetween the cumulative adoption curves associated with the alternatively conceived adoption events. When a pronounced assimilation gap exists, the common practice of using cumulative purchases or acquisitions as the basis for diffusion modeling can present an illusory picture of the diffusion process-leading to potentially erroneous judgments about the robustness ofthe diffusion process already observed, and of the technology's future prospects. Researchers may draw inappropriate theoretical inferences about the forces driving diffusion. Practitioners may commit to a technology based on a belief that pervasive adoption is inevitable, when it is not. This study introduces the assimilation gap concept, and develops a general operational measure derived from the difference between the cumulative acquisition and deployment patterns. It describes how two characteristics-increasing returns to adoption and knowledge barriers impeding adoption-separately and in combination may serve to predispose a technology to exhibit a pronounced gap. It develops techniques for measuring assimilation gaps, for establishing whether two gaps are significantly different from each other, and for establishing whether a particular gap is absolutely large enough to be of substantive interest. Finally, it demonstrates these techniques in an analysis of adoption data for three prominent innovations in software process technology-relational database management systems (RDBs), general purpose fourth generation languages (4GLs), and computer aided software engineering tools (CASE). The analysis confirmed that assimilation gaps can be sensibly measured, and that their measured size is largely consistent with a priori expectations and recent research results. A very pronounced gap was found for CASE, while more moderate-though still significant-gaps were found for RDBs and 4GLs. These results have the immediate implication that, where the possibility of a substantial assimilation gap exists, the time of deployment should be captured instead of, or in addition to, time of acquisition as the basis for diffusion modeling. More generally, the results suggest that observers be guarded about concluding, based on sales data, that an innovation is destined to become widely used. In addition, by providing the ability to analyze and compare assimilation gaps, this study provides an analytic foundation for future research on why assimilation gaps occur, and what might be done to reduce them.