Lifestyles and the use of new media technology in urban China

Research in adoption of new mediatechnologies for social identity and its relationship to lifestyle has received little attention. The purpose of thisstudy is to link consumers’ lifestyle orientation and media use to the adoption behavior of new media technologies in urban China. Key findings indicate that (1) lifestyles significantly affect innovativeness; (2) the upscale socioecono-mic profile of earlier adopters was consistent with early research; and (3) adoption of certain new media technologies appeared to project certain social identities such as ‘life expansionists’, ‘sophisticated and fashionable’,and ‘pleasurable and enjoyable’. The results have important implications for marketing managers and media planners.     

Policy orientations and technology choices in standards wars

Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) exhibit a variety of policy orientations toward the conflicting interests of technology developers and adopters. In this paper, we analyze a model that incorporates the technology choices of SSOs in standards wars and royalty determinations made by the developers of essential technologies. We show that both policy orientations toward developers relative to adopters and coordinated standard setting by SSOs that issue competing standards may result in a more-than-optimal number of essential technologies. Furthermore, we examine how SSOs’ technology choices may be affected by both network effects in standard adoption and coalition formation among developers.     

Strategic Internet application trends in supply chain management

The Internet is evolving as a powerful force in the new marketplace where the nexus of competition has changed from individual firms to efficient supply chain networks both between firms and within industries. This study explores Internet adoption patterns and operational applications in US supply chain networks. The data reveal that the integration of the Internet into supply chain management applications has increased and has moved away from indiscriminate application of novel Internet technologies towards becoming a focused endeavor with precise expectations and measurable goals. Specifically, the study finds that Internet usage within supply chains is maturing as evidenced by enhanced and increased productivity, reduced costs and increased profit for participating firms.     

Enhanced job satisfaction under tighter technological control: The paradoxical outcomes of digitalisation

Via a multiple case study of work in microfinance institutions in India, this paper reports on the experiences of field officers and branch managers following work digitalisation. It identifies and explains an intriguing post-digitalisation paradox of reported increased job satisfaction and tighter technological control diminishing branch managers' work-life balance. The paradox draws attention to the significance of context in workers' experiences of mobile digital technologies (MDTs) and contradicts previous studies on workers' positive experiences of adopting MDTs: the workers in this study did not experience greater autonomy or flexibility but reported enhanced employment security and status. The paper also adds to literature on employment relations following work digitalisation by revealing powerful enforcement of technological control, with ‘WhatsApp’ identified as a key managerial tool used for surveillance and discipline, and worker resistance at the margins.     

Technologies in caregiving: professionals’ strategies for engaging with new technology

This article explores the adoption of new technology in organisations that provide senior citizen care. Inspired by Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, we study how technology reduces complexity by identifying client needs and ensuring predictability in service delivery. However, how technologies are adopted in practice is not determined by technology since it is also structured by care-workers' continuous decision-making. Against this backdrop, we explore how technologies alter the conditions for decision-making in two settings of elderly care, and we describe how care workers seek to adapt technologies to their practical needs as well as conception of care ethics. Developing a systems theory approach, the article eschews a priori assumptions of technological constraint on care-workers’ professional autonomy, offering a more open-ended exploration of diversified strategies for coping with new technology. Our case studies show that employees develop diversified strategies for technology adoption, including both non-usage, heated resistance, excessive embrace, and creative adaption.     

Ratcheting Up: Linked Technology Adoption in Supply Chains

It is generally assumed that a firm will adopt complementary technologies simultaneously. Apparel industry data indicate that, because of the close links between suppliers and retailers, there was a ratchet-up adoption of complementary information technologies. The consequence was that a rapid regime shift occurred without explicit coordination or planning. One implication is that the study of technology adoption may need to be more widely conceptualized to incorporate the relationships between upstream manufacturers and downstream retailers.     

The adoption of radical manufacturing technologies and firm survival

The emergence of dramatically innovative, or radical, new manufacturing technologies can force pivotal and life‐threatening decisions for industry competitors. These technologies can represent a huge cost for adopting firms, but may also offer the chance to achieve competitive advantage through superior manufacturing. While prior research has considered a range of production process decisions (e.g., JIT, mass customization) and outcomes for end‐product technologies, little attention has been given to adoption decisions relative to core manufacturing technologies. This study examines an industry's adoption of major manufacturing technologies over several decades and demonstrates that two groups of contingencies related to adoption (e.g., timing and cumulative effects) have a significant impact on firm performance. Based on a sample of over 1,000 firms, the results provide insights into the effects of adoption timing and ‘manufacturing technology bundles’ on firm survival. We also find that adoption of manufacturing technologies prior to the inflection point of the estimated Bass diffusion curve for each technology leads to significant reduction in firm mortality. Thus, we are able to demonstrate the ability of the Bass model to predict the survival outcomes of firms facing manufacturing technology adoption decisions. The strategic implications of these pivotal decisions are considered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Never Forget Where You're Coming from: The Role of Existing Products in Adoptions of Substituting Technologies

The adoption of technological product innovations has received considerable attention among academics and practitioners alike, although the circumstances in which a new technology seeks to replace an existing product have remained largely overlooked. Research into the adoption of substituting technologies should incorporate this perspective, which provides insights into how technology adoption depends on the existing situation. From this perspective, the authors investigate how consumers' emphasis on an existing product's attributes influences their adoption of a substituting innovation. Data obtained from 217 respondents indicates that consumers' liking of an existing product's attributes can prompt a negative affective reaction to the substituting technology. This negative affective reaction in turn may lead to less positive cognitive evaluations of the substituting technology and affect consumers' adoption intentions. This investigation complements existing research in two important ways: First, the results emphasize the importance of taking existing products into account when studying the adoption of substituting technologies. Second, this study adds to the sparse findings regarding the link between affect and cognition in technology adoption contexts.     

Impact of modern agricultural technologies on smallholder welfare: Evidence from Tanzania and Ethiopia

This paper evaluates the potential impact of adoption of improved legume technologies on rural household welfare measured by consumption expenditure in rural Ethiopia and Tanzania. The study utilizes cross-sectional farm household level data collected in 2008 from a randomly selected sample of 1313 households (700 in Ethiopia and 613 in Tanzania). The causal impact of technology adoption is estimated by utilizing endogenous switching regression. This helps us estimate the true welfare effect of technology adoption by controlling for the role of selection problem on production and adoption decisions. Our analysis reveals that adoption of improved agricultural technologies has a significant positive impact consumption expenditure (in per adult equivalent terms) in rural Ethiopia and Tanzania. This confirms the potential role of technology adoption in improving rural household welfare as higher consumption expenditure from improved technologies translate into lower poverty, higher food security and greater ability to withstand risk. An analysis of the determinants of adoption highlighted inadequate local supply of seed, access to information and perception about the new cultivars as key constraints for technology adoption.     

Technology adoption and value chains in developing countries: Evidence from dairy in India

Adoption of modern technologies in agriculture is crucial for improving productivity and welfare of poor farmers in developing countries. Not much is known about how value chains do (not) affect technology transfer and/or adoption in food chains in developing countries. We analyze farm-level technology adoption in the dairy chain in India, using unique survey data. The dairy chain in India is an important case because the Indian government has promoted development of the dairy sector for its potential for ‘pro-poor’ growth, and because value chain initiatives had strong effects on dairy farm technology in other countries with imperfect markets and growth in demand. We find that despite rapid growth in milk consumption and production, technology adoption in the form of better hygienic practices, better feed and improved livestock was mixed, and low for certain regions and technologies. So far, the role of value chains in the adoption of new technologies seems to be minor.     

Retailers' Adoption Decision of New Consumer Durables

In today's competitive environment, members of the market chain, such as retailers and suppliers, are becoming increasingly powerful. It has been established in the packaged goods area that the ability to get new products on the shelves' is an essential factor in the success of a new product. However, no research exists to date that relates variables investigated in packaged goods contexts to retailers' adoption decision of new consumer durables. The present study focused on the dimensions that influenced the new product adoption decision by 291 retailers of consumer durables by exploring the relative importance of 26 adoption criteria across seven product categories. The results largely supported previous findings but simultaneously extended that body of knowledge. For example, six dimensions characterized the new product adoption decision in our sample of Dutch retailers. We discuss implications of this study and provide directions for future research in this area.     

Adoption of improved maize varieties in Southern Ethiopia: Factors and strategy options

This paper identifies factors that influence the decision behavior of farmers in Southern Ethiopia in adopting improved maize varieties by estimating a logistic regression. Data for this study came from 222 farmers interviewed as part of a national adoption survey conducted in three selected maize growing administrative zones of Southern Ethiopia in 1998. The paper also assesses the impact of pure and mixed strategy options on the probability of adoption of improved maize varieties through simulation under different scenarios. As far as pure strategies are concerned, the credit strategy is more powerful than the others in terms of raising the probability of adoption. However, results from the analysis of pure versus mixed strategies imply that mixed strategies are no necessarily much better than pure strategies.     

The impact of cooperatives on agricultural technology adoption: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia

Using cross-sectional data and a propensity score matching technique, this paper investigates the impact of cooperatives on adoption of agricultural technologies. Our analysis indicates that cooperative members are more likely to be male-headed households, have better access to agricultural extension services, possess oxen, participate in off-farm work, and have leadership experience. We also found that geographic location and age of household head are strongly associated with cooperative membership. Our estimation results show that cooperative membership has a strong positive impact on fertilizer adoption. The impact on adoption of pesticides turns out to be statistically significant when only agricultural cooperatives are considered. Further analysis also suggests that cooperative membership has a heterogeneous impact on fertilizer adoption among its members. The results suggest that cooperatives can play an important role in accelerating the adoption of agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.     

SPLINTERING AND INERTIA IN NETWORK INDUSTRIES*

We analyse a stylised game of technology adoption with network effects and two new technologies. Potential adopters can adopt early, late or not at all. We show that one of the reasons for the failure of new technologies can be the presence of multiple incompatible variants of that technology. An adopter's individual incentives to adopt are lower with two technologies than with one. Turning to aggregate expected welfare, we find that two active technologies may be welfare‐improving.     

Access to ICT in rural and urban Thailand

This paper addresses the information and communication technology adoption decisions of Thai households. The findings suggest that household composition, education, wealth, and occupation are key factors determining information and communication technology adoption. The rural–urban gap of mobile phone adoption was negligible in 2009 after controlling for household characteristics, while the gaps for other information and communication technologies have persisted. Having a family member migrate to work elsewhere significantly increases the likelihood of mobile phone adoption.     

Pawn to Save a Chariot,or Drawbridge Into the Fort? Firms' Disclosure During Standard Setting and Complementary Technologies Within Ecosystems

Research summary: W ithin an ecosystem, standard setting coordinates development of complementary technologies across firms. But each firm can itself own multiple of these complementary technologies. We study how a firm's own complementary technologies influence its disclosure inclination during standard setting. We identify a tradeoff: disclosure increases value‐creation of the firm's non‐disclosed complementary technologies, but also heightens expropriation risk. Using data on the U.S. communications equipment industry 1991–2008, we show that the firm's complementary technologies increase its disclosure inclination when its technological areas are less crowded, but decrease such inclination when there are SSO members with strong expropriation abilities. Findings stress that disclosure involves but a piece of the firm's portfolio; a systemic perspective of the entire portfolio provides a more comprehensive picture of value‐creation during standard setting . Managerial summary: W hy should a firm disclose its key technology to participate in standard setting within an ecosystem? We urge managers to think beyond “disclosing to ensure compatibility with other firms' complementary technologies within the ecosystem” as a motivation, to also consider how disclosure affects the firm's own complementary technologies within its portfolio. Disclosure in one technological area makes the firm's nondisclosed complementary technologies in other areas more valuable to itself, especially with fewer rivals competing in these other areas. But disclosure also renders the firm susceptible to losing these complementary technologies to rivals, especially when rivals have strong expropriation abilities. Analyzing disclosure decisions by communication equipment firms, we show that this tradeoff is indeed a relevant consideration in managers' strategic calculations when participating in standard setting . Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

信息技术、交易成本与激励:论经济组织形式的中间化

基于交易成本理论的分析框架难以对信息技术作用下的经济组织变革趋势作出很好的解释．本文融合了资源基础观的相关观点，建立了一个新的分析框架，比较全面地分析了企业、中间组织和市场这三种经济组织形式。进一步的，通过考察信息技术应用的相关影响，我们得出了信息时代经济组织形式趋于“中间化”的结论。     

Quantum Artificial Intelligence: A “precautionary” U.S. approach?

Quantum Computing (QC) and Quantum Artificial Intelligence (QAI) are two powerful new technologies whose potential impacts are just starting to be appreciated. As important as they are likely to be, their implications are still little known. This article's purpose is an attempt to provide a policy space within which to begin fill that void.It presents a non-technical introduction to the concept of quantum mechanics in general, to the unique characteristics of sub-atomic particles, to quantum applications, and to QC and QAI in particular. The development of fully functioning quantum information technologies is in its early stages, but is being pursued aggressively. One of the most salient of these is Quantum Artificial Intelligence (QAI) – a fusion of QC and AI -- which some see as potentially threatening. There is little in established telecommunications or information policies to inform our approach to its capabilities.The article notes some of the challenges to development of quantum-based information technologies and considers the scope of global competition to the U.S. in this field, especially from China. It reviews the treatment of “Quantum Information Science” in U.S. policy. It describes the current policy environment and the range of new measures which might be available, if needed, to incorporate QAI into an overall information policy regime.In conclusion the article reviews the debate over adoption of the “precautionary principle” for QAI, an approach to policy when it must deal with weakly understood causes of potentially catastrophic or irreversible events. It sets out the arguments pro and con, and in the absence of an immediate resolution proposes adoption of a policy space in which stakeholders can address their salient concerns, without materially impairing technological progress and commercial viability.     

Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27

Despite the efforts devoted to the analysis of the digital divide over the last years, the regional evidence on this issue is still scarce. Within this context, the goals of this paper are twofold: (1) measuring the digital divide across the regions of the 27 Member States and within each country and (2) explaining the observed regional disparities. The analysis leads to identify Dutch regions as the Top-10 in ICT, while Greece and Bulgaria occupy the Bottom-10. Therefore, results show that the regional digital divide reflects to some extent the income gap. However, regional policy seems to be having some positive implications for technology adoption. In particular, the rural-versus-urban dimension of the digital gap appears to be less important than it is usually claimed to. Likewise, some evidence is found of the role of cultural and institutional factors in ICT adoption, an issue that has not been previously analyzed at the regional level.