Business organizations are reported to be investing a considerable proportion of their free capital in information systems (IS) and information technology (IT). However, it is also reported that as many as 50 percent of these undertakings lead to IS/IT solutions judged to be outright failures or deemed highly unsatisfactory. As the impressive amount of published research on IT innovation and diffusion has already shown, the development and use of IS/IT requires continuous innovation and diffusion processes among an organization's line employees, internal IT experts, and external support mechanisms (e.g., research centers, consultants, software houses, and vendors). Because of the alarmingly high IS/IT investment failure rate, however, one can easily assume that this published research on IT/IT innovation and diffusion is thus far fragmented, incomplete, and has not provided clear direction to effectively understanding technology innovation and diffusion issues. Part of the reason for the seeming disconnection between research and practice is simply that IT is continuing to develop at such a rapid pace. More and more information and complex relationships are being captured, stored, processed, and transmitted to ever larger numbers of knowledge workers within and between organizations.
Readers of this book should not expect to find an integrated and comprehensive approach to IT innovation and diffusion issues. The chapters represent the diverse and unique views of authors who approach the technology innovation and diffusion process from a wide variety of perspectives. Each offers a piece of the whole picture. Taken together, these chapters present the careful and insightful exploration of many variables affecting the innovation and diffusion process. Information Systems Innovation and Diffusion: Issues and Directions reports on state-of-the-art IS/IT innovation and diffusion research and presents innovation and diffusion theory-based guidelines to enable managers to take firmer control over the issues and processes that will increase the business value of IS/IT investments.