The burden of organizational learning surrounding software process innovations (SPIs)—and complex organizational technologies in general—creates a "knowledge barrier" that inhibits diffusion. Paul Attewell has suggested that many organizations will defer adoption until knowledge barriers have been sufficiently lowered; however, this leaves open the question of which organizations should be more likely to innovate, even in face of high knowledge barriers. It is proposed here that organizations will innovate in the presence of knowledge barriers when the burden of organizational learning is effectively lower, either because much of the required know-how already exists within the organization, or because such knowledge can be acquired more easily or more economically. Specifically, it is hypothesized that organizations will have a greater propensity to initiate and sustain the assimilation of SPIs when they have a greater scale of activities over which learning costs can be spread (learning-related scale), more extensive existing knowledge related to the focal innovation (related knowledge), and a greater diversity of technical knowledge and activities (diversity). An empirical study using data on the assimilation of object-oriented programming languages (OOPLs) by 608 IT organizations strongly confirmed the importance of the three hypothesized factors in explaining the assimilation of OOPLs.

Until recently little research had been undertaken into the process of eCommerce implementation, especially in relation to the implementation of business-to-business (B2B) relationships. Given the complexity of this process we have, in this paper, endeavoured to contribute to what we perceive as a gap in the body of theory surrounding the implementation process in the extant business-to-business literature. We describe the findings of a series of multiple case studies comprising ten major Australian eCommerce initiators. In addition to confirming our earlier finding of the importance of nontechnical factors for the success of the implementation process we also present, through our case studies, the various management and business issues associated with the success or otherwise of B2B eCommerce implementation.

Although the research on electronic commerce is plentiful, there is little empirical research related to Web-Based Shopping Systems (WBSS). This is especially so in global electronic commerce circumstances. WBSS are the fastest growing segment of digital economies and are perceived as driving forces of electronic commerce in terms of global markets and digital business. Using WBSS, organizations have new opportunities to successfully evolve their business as global marketers. This paper develops a model to assess the diffusion of WBSS. Factors that impact WBSS diffusion are identified and analyzed as the basis for empirical testing. A set of propositions is developed that allows operationalization of the model. The ultimate goal is to provide new theoretical insights and practical guidelines for organizations wishing to undertake WBSS. Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Web-Based Shopping Systems, Diffusion Framework

Wesley J. Johnston est professeur à l’Université de l’état de Georgie à Atlanta. Il enseigne le marketing

This paper builds upon innovation diffusion theory and tests a research model to validate five antecedents of collective adoption and use of seven collaborative information technologies (CITs). Analyses of data collected from 344 organizations in the US, Australia, and Hong Kong suggests that size (organization and IT function), centralization of decision-making, degree of integration, and infrastructure connectivity are significantly related to the adoption and use of CITs across all the three regions. Implications of these findings are discussed along with some directions for practice and research.

1. Intel and the World. China has emerged as not only a major market for Intel, but also as an integral part of the company’s worldwide manufacturing, R&D and venture capital efforts. This presentation will focus primarily on Intel China Labs and their relationships with both China’s academic community and Intel R&D labs in other countries. Intel is a global company: 60 % of its sales are outside the United States. The company manufactures in 7 nations and has R&D labs in 8 countries. In addition, the company has a multi-billion dollar venture capital portfolio that includes investments in numerous countries, including China. Research and development has always been a very important part of Intel, as shown in Figure 1. Today, Intel focuses its R&D activities in four key areas: Internet, Communication, Computing and Silicon Manufacturing. Intel has a worldwide R&D Network. Over 7,000 Scientists and Technologists are working in research centers located in many counties. The Internet has made the globalization of the company much easier. In R&D, for example, it is not uncommon for teams in the U.S., Israel and China to be working on different aspects of a product’s development and to be sharing data on a daily basis. 2. Intel China Labs Intel has established several R&D centers in China, especially in the 1990s. These R&D activities have become part of the global R&D network of Intel. In 1993, the Intel China Software Lab was established in Shanghai. In 1998, Intel launched its first China Research Center. In the year 2000, Intel opened three different research centers in China.

“Have you considered to write a Ph.D.? ” professor Niels Bjørn-Andersen asked me, at our very first meeting where we had a conversation about my possible future employment as a research assistant at the Department of Informatics at CBS. I was tempted to meet the challenge. Later on I realized that this challenge would become one of the major tests in my life so far. However, at this point in time it feels more like a triumph to have written a Ph.D. dissertation. I owe a great many thanks to all the people who helped me in the process. First of all I am indebted to the whole faculty and staff at the Department of Informatics. Everybody there has been outstanding in providing valuable help and support, especially professor Mogens Kühn Pedersen and professor Karlheinz Kautz have shown particular interest in my work. I am specially greateful to professor Niels Bjørn-Andersen who first challenged me to write the Ph.D., and in the same breath I must thank my supervisor associate professor Kim Viborg Andersen who patiently guided me through many to me unknown steps in the process. Particularly I will take this opportunity to thank Kim Viborg Andersen for his willingness to introduce me to the IS-research community. From the very beginning of the Ph.D. study Kim Viborg Andersen arranged an international advisory board. I am very indebted to the four people who kindly responded to Kim Viborg Andersens ’ invitation to join the board.

This paper describes work in progress studying factors affecting the use of information technology in Thai agricultural cooperatives. Factors in the internal and external environment of organizations are considered. Factors from the internal environment are divided into 2 groups: characteristics of managers of Thai agricultural cooperatives (i.e. attitude towards adoption of IT, IT knowledge, and innovation), and organizational characteristics (i.e. business size, organizational structure, and organizational culture). General factors from the external environment are political, economic, social, and infrastructure. Methodology and its development are also described.

One of the most important issues being addressed in organizations is the integration of systems to ensure the free flow of information from one department to another. The implementation of an integrated system throughout an organization has the potential of affecting the bottom line of the organization. While technology issues will present challenges, these will pale in comparison with the demands of shifting basic business processes and the corporate organization. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer a technology standard that value-chain partners can use as a platform for communication and interaction, something that was missing when enterprise software was all homegrown. This study examines organizations ’ innovation decision to build or buy an information system by analyzing the various components of the decision process.

Towards an outsourcing model for decision support