Research On The IT/IS Growth Stages And Technology Adoption Of Chinese Enterprises

The research on IT/IS growth process has been aimed at discovering the generalrules and driving factors while organizations adopt and implement innovativeinformation technologies. In the light of data collected from Chinese companies in2002, we first re-assessed a classic theory in the IT/IS growth research area, namelyNolan's stages hypothesis. We found that the S-shaped aggregate IT/IS spendingcurve is not as closely related to organizational learning regarding IT/IS management,as implied in Nolan's model. Instead, aggregate IT/IS spending is related to the ITdiffusion process among the population of companies and could be utilized to studythe overall IT/IS growth process. Based on this finding, we re-considered the Chinesecompanies' IT application history over the Network Era from a perspective of ITdiffusion stages, and compared the different characteristics of different types ofcompanies. Furthermore, we carried on indepth studies on both the individual andaggregation levels of Chinese companies.At the individual level, we revealed the relationship between intre-firm diffusionand IT/IS management with a case study regarding a large company. Consequently,we proposed a model centering at the degrees of diffusion and permeation to studyfirm-level IT/IS growth process. With data collected in 2004 and 2005, we tested andproved the insightfulness of this model and evaluated the IT/IS application status andmanagement situation of Chinese companies. At the aggregation level, we analyzedDavis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a well known model for IT adoptionand diffusion which was based on behavior principles. We adapted this model from aperspective of organizational behavior and proposed a research model to study thecharacteristics of Chinese companies' IT/IS adoption. We also tested the model withsurvey data, while explaining some patterns in the adoption of various technologiesand systems in Chinese companies.From the theoretical perspective, the research of this paper developed the relatedwork in the MIS area, cleared some widely-debated ambiguities, and proposed arelatively integrated framework for IT/IS growth study. From the practicalperspective, we revealed and explained some patterns and rules in the IT/ISapplication of Chinese companies, which could be useful for future practice in IT/ISmanagement.