A Socio-Technical Study of the Adoption of Internet Technology in Banking, Re-Interpreted as an Innovation Using Innovation Translation

Theoretical Framework

It has been suggested that “… explaining human behavior in all its complexity is a difficult task” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 179). Further to this we will argue that the main complexity in understanding Internet technology adoption behaviour, or the lack of it, within the context of the banking industry in Oman (a non-adopter) and Australia (an adopter) is that this involves people such as bank managers and customers, and that people behave in very different ways.

Innovation can be defined as: “the alteration of what is established; something newly introduced” (Oxford, 1973) or “introducing new things or methods” (Macquarie Library, 1981). Whereas invention refers to creating and building new artefacts or the discovery of new ideas, innovation involves making use of these artefacts or ideas in commercial or organisational practice. (Maguire, Kazlauskas, & Weir, 1994). Just because a new technology has been made available does not mean that it can be assumed that organisations or individuals will want to adopt or use it, and even if an organisation does adopt a new innovation, it cannot be assumed that its employees will be prepared to use it. In deriving a framework for the original study, four existing research frameworks were considered: The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovations.