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.