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Diffusion of innovations

About: Diffusion of innovations is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2139 publications have been published within this topic receiving 191397 citations. The topic is also known as: diffusion of innovation & diffusion of innovations theory.


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Journal Article
TL;DR: Public sector innovation (PSI) is a subset of all innovation as discussed by the authors, which is the way to harness the creative potential of the human race in order to survive, to progress, and to prosper.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the state of public sector innovation (PSI) theory. Four authors, Rogers, Borins, Behn, and Glor and recent comparative governmental practices are chosen to represent a variety of approaches. This sample allows identification of both areas of consensus and of controversy in the field. Important disagreements remain about the defining parameters of PSI study and about the basic questions PSI studies should address.Keywords: public service innovation, theory, concepts, problems.IntroductionInnovation is a prime subject in our time. In business and government, it is held to be essential in the face of the massive and complex problems and the rapid pace of change in contemporary society. Innovation is thought to be the way to harness the creative potential of the human race in order to survive, to progress, and to prosper. A letter in the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir (26 April 2013) noted that the Latin and Greek words for stupidity referred to immobility, lethargy or inertia, so we might infer that the opposite of stupidity would be mobility, energy, adaptation.Public sector innovation (PSI) is a subset of all innovation. A Google search in July 2013, found references to 316 million publications, of which PSI constituted 4,4 million, or about 1.4 per cent of the whole, a small part, but a big absolute number. In the final edition of his masterwork on the diffusion of innovations, Rogers (2003: 45-46) identified nine disciplinary fields producing the greatest number of studies, of which "marketing and management" accounted for 16 per cent. This group did not appear to cover the public sector, but some of the others include subjects like city managers, public health and education. Publications on PSI thus appears rather marginal to the field of innovation studies.Having written a book on the diffusion of administrative innovations among Canadian governments twenty years ago (Gow, 1994), I was curious to learn how the field had evolved since then. I wanted to see how the subject itself had changed, what are the main theoretical approaches and what the outstanding unresolved issues. What follows is not a primer on all the contemporary theories of PSI. Instead, I have chosen five theorists and approaches in order to see what unites and what divides them. In part one, these authors and schools are presented briefly. In the second part, the contentious issues are examined with a view to exploring their potential for asking good questions.What to expect of a theoryThe very first step in considering this subject is to enquire what we mean by theory. The root meaning is not controversial: the Shorter Oxford Dictionary gives, among others, one that fits our case, "A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation of a group of facts or phenomena". The operative word is "explanation"; the familiar expression "descriptive theory" is an oxymoron.Theories use concepts to organize raw material into variables, abstract categories concerning causal variables (independent) and outcome variables (dependent). The common distinction is between deductive and inductive theories. In deductive theory, the hypotheses to be tested are drawn from postulates and principles that are held to be true while inductive theory builds up hypotheses from observation and adjusts them as experience dictates. Most social science is inductive, but there are important theoretical schools that are deductive. Both Marxism and Public Choice theories start from first principles and deduce their hypotheses. The theory of the class struggle, for example, made it very difficult for the leaders of the Communist countries to accept that working class protests against their governments could be genuine.Glor (2008: 3) recalls the advantages of inductive theory, since it is constantly adjusting itself to take account of new evidence. She also makes a distinction between substantive and formal theory. …

24 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: The results show three key factors affecting adoption are longing for materiality, technology confidence, and technology exploration, which have implications for the diffusion of innovations amongst the senior population and the development of services geared toward them.
Abstract: Introduction. This paper aims to understand the adoption of e-books and ereaders by persons aged sixty and above. This includes an investigation into where seniors are in the stages of e-book adoption. Method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in a midsize city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Analysis. Interviews were transcribed, and coded using grounded theory. Rogers's model of the innovation-decision process was used to inform the data analysis process. Results. The results show three key factors affecting adoption: longing for materiality, technology confidence, and technology exploration. While seniors are interested in e-books and e-readers, see many benefits to their use, and are curious about how they function, the majority perceive this technology as being primarily appropriate for younger generations. Conclusion. The findings have implications for our understanding of the diffusion of innovations amongst the senior population and the development of services geared toward them. E-books and e-readers are technologies that could prove beneficial, aiding with issues related to both portability and convenience. However, e-books do not allow for the sharing of books that this population is accustomed to, and many of them are still on the fence about fully adopting this tool into their reading practices.

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
22 Jan 2015-Zdm
TL;DR: Theoretical models and empirical findings from impact research are combined in order to be used as a theoretical framework for a qualitative impact analysis of a mathematics teacher professional development programme in Austria.
Abstract: This paper deals with a crucial topic: which factors influence the sustainability and scale-up of a professional development programme’s impact? Theoretical models and empirical findings from impact research (e.g. Zehetmeier and Krainer, ZDM Int J Math 43(6/7):875–887, 2011) and innovation research (e.g. Cobb and Smith, International handbook of mathematics teacher education, vol 3, pp 231–254, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, 2008; Rogers, Diffusion of innovations, Free Press, New York, 2003) are combined in order to be used as a theoretical framework for a qualitative impact analysis of a mathematics teacher professional development programme in Austria. The paper provides data from document analyses and interview series to describe as well as explain this programme’s various impacts on different levels within a case study setting. In particular, this study focuses on factors (e.g. networks, shared vision or mutual accountability) which are influencing the scale-up and sustainability of a professional development programme’s impact (e.g. on teachers’ knowledge, beliefs or practice). Finally, implications for upcoming professional development programmes are discussed.

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of literature on technology transfer and diffusion of innovations is presented, based on which models and propositions developed by scholars in various disciplines were analyzed, and the definitions and concepts frequently encountered in the literature were discussed to understand the process of technology transfer at various levels.
Abstract: This paper is based on the review of literature on technology transfer and diffusion of innovations. Models and propositions developed by scholars in various disciplines were analyzed. The definitions and concepts frequently encountered in the literature were discussed to understand the process of technology transfer at various levels. Problems of inter-organizational technology transfer were discussed at length.

24 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202310
202236
202172
202078
201977
201898