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.

Emotional and Informational Social Support: Exploring Contrasting Influences on Human Resource Management Innovation

Abstract: INTRODUCTION Previous research has chiefly studied the emotional aspect of social support and limited its role to coping assistance, which is defined as actions taken by significant others to help individuals deal with stressful events. This positive effect of social support has been demonstrated in numerous studies in the areas of medicine and health (Dormann & Zapf, 1999; Uchino, Cacioppo, & KiecoltGlaser, 1996). However, relatively few studies have investigated the effect(s) of social support in the work environment. In this vein, some studies have shown that social support helps to reduce stress and the ancillary effects of stress in the workplace (Jonge, et al, 2001; Ducharme & Martin, 2000). This study proposes that the benefits of social support may go well beyond coping. When people have problems they often seek help from other people. We examine both emotional and informational social support in the investigation of the interpersonal aspects of organizational innovation, specifically human resource management innovations. LITERATURE REVIEW McIntosh (1991) defines general social support as the resources a person receives, actual or perceived, that increase the sense of well being of the receiver. This definition assumes people must rely on one another to meet certain needs. Similarly, Shumaker and Brownell, (1984) defined social support as an exchange of resources by two individuals, a giver and a receiver, to increase the well being of the receiver. House (1981) delineated two types of social support, or supportive behaviors, as emotional and informational support. Emotional support is defined as behaviors that show care for the employees and their work (House, 1981). Listening, providing empathy, and showing concern are acts of emotional support. Conversely, informational support means providing a person with information that can be used to handle personal and environmental problems (House, 1981). Informational support, unlike instrumental support, involves providing employees with information that they can use to help themselves (House, 1981). Examples of informational support include advice, guidance, suggestions, directives and information. The relevance of the source and types of support is dependent upon the persons involved and the kind of support required by them. The interpersonal aspects of organizational innovation have been mainly ignored in the literature. The Academy of Management Journal's (1996) special issue on innovations and organizations curiously had no articles addressing the behavioral aspects of innovation. Most research on innovation has focused on the adoption or diffusion of innovations (Abrahamson, 1991; Abrahamson & Rosenkopf, 1993; Rogers, 1962; 1995). Rogers (1962) defined the diffusion process as the spread of a new idea from the initial awareness of an innovation to its adoption by users. However, the essence of the diffusion process is the human interaction in which one person communicates a new idea to another person. When faced with problems, people turn to others as one of their sources for information. People are influenced by their relationships with others; therefore the social relationship between people may be instrumental in the decision that is made. This relationship should also influence decisions that are consequently made about the innovation. The theory of problem solving behavior (Tallman, Gray, & Stafford, 1993) addresses the process of problem solving by explaining how a person becomes aware of a problem, and addressing when and why people choose certain actions to solve a problem. Thus, the theory of problem solving behavior also differentiates between coping with a problem and solving it. Although not all innovations are the result of pending problems, this research is limited to those innovations resulting from decision-makers' uncertainty regarding how to resolve problems. …

Modeling adoptions and the stages of the diffusion of innovations

Abstract: Understanding the dynamics underlying the diffusion of new ideas or technology in a society is an important task with implications for sciences such sociology and economics, as well as important business applications, especially in marketing. In this article, we take a first step in this direction, by studying the problem of how to model, in a simple and useful abstraction, the complex process of innovation diffusion. Our unique input is a database of adoptions $$\mathbb {D}$$D, which is a relation (User,Item,Time) where a tuple $${\left\langle u, i, t\right\rangle } \in \mathbb {D}$$u,i,tźD indicates that the user u adopted the item i at time t. For our aim, we propose a stochastic model which decomposes a diffusion trace (i.e., the sequence of adoptions of the same item i) in an ordered sequence of stages, where each stage is intuitively built around two dimensions: users and relative speed at which adoptions happen. Each stage is characterized by a specific rate of adoption and it involves different users to different extent, while the sequentiality in the diffusion is guaranteed by constraining the transition probabilities among stages. An empirical evaluation on synthetic and real-world adoption datasets shows the effectiveness of the proposed framework in summarizing the adoption process, enabling several analysis tasks such as the identification of adopter categories, clustering and characterization of diffusion traces, and prediction of which users will adopt an item in the next future.

Difusi inovasi dalam program pembelajaran jarak jauh di yayasan trampil indonesia

Abstract: This research aimed to describe the difussion of innovations conducted by TRAMPIL Indonesia Foundation in their “Learn and Teach” Program. The program was held to facilitate primary and early childhood education teachers in various places in Indonesia who have difficulty accessing higher education.This program used a combination method in the form of face to face meeting, web conferencing, and learning management system in order to maximize learning outcomes, even though the participants of the program were at remote locations and had different cultural backgrounds. This research was a descriptive qualitative research, using observation and interview as the method of collecting data. The diffusion of innovations here was seen from the innovation of using information and communication technology for long distance learning, the communication channel through interpersonal and group communication, the time of difusion as long as three years, an the penetration through social system such as school and religion institusi. The superiority of this diffusion of innovations was its success for the penetration of new technologies in the underdeveloped regions. The technology brought by TRAMPIL was a cutting-edge technology and even had not been widely used in urban areas. But with a good approach via proper communication channel and social system, this innovation could be received in a relatively short time.

Theory Development: A Bridge between Practice and Research.

Abstract: Theory development is an intentional process by which marriage and family counselors may bridge the gap between research and practice. The theory building process includes inductive and deductive forms of reasoning, qualitative and quantitative approaches to knowledge development, and diffusion of innovations. Grounded theory provides an accessible method for bridging the gap. Theoretical orientation development is a lifelong process involving the interaction of personal and professional influences in theory selection and elaboration. Examination of personal values and values implicit in theories afford opportunities for ongoing professional development.