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.

Informal communication networks and the diffusion of innovations in UK construction projects: A research design

Abstract: The UK industry has been criticised for being slow to adopt construction process innovations. Research shows that the idiosyncrasies of participants, their roles in the system and the contextual differences between sections of the industry make this a highly complex problem. There is considerable evidence that informal social networks play a key role in diffusion of innovations. The aim is to identify informal communication networks of project participants and the role these play in the diffusion of construction innovations. The characteristics of this network will be analysed in order to understand how they can be used to accelerate innovation diffusion within and between projects. Social Network Analysis is used to determine informal communication routes. Control and experiment case study projects are used within two different organizations. This allows informal communication routes concerning innovations to be mapped, whilst testing if the informal routes can facilitate diffusion. Analysis will focus upon understanding the combination of informal strong and weak ties, and how these impede or facilitate the diffusion of the innovation. Initial work suggests the presence of an informal communication network. Actors within this informal network, and the organization's management are unaware of its' existence and their informal roles within it. Thus, the network remains an untapped medium regarding innovation diffusion. It is proposed that successful innovation diffusion is dependent upon understanding informal strong and weak ties, at project, organization and industry level.

The Bass diffusion model for communication technology globally and the economic factors that influence it

Abstract: Globally over the period 1995 to 2015 there has been an increase in the everyday use of mobile phones and the associated technologies that come with it, but this has led to a digital divide in skill and access levels to these technologies between developed and developing countries. This paper looks to expand on previous research as to the cause and pattern of the adoption rates for mobile users which is used to provide people with access to cellular technologies such as mobile voice communications, sms and internet services. A view of the adoption rate of internet usage will also be analysed in order to have a secondary technology to compare against. It was found that the percentage of the total population that is older than 14 increases the rate of adoption and generational changes in the underlying technology led to a decrease in adoption rates. It was also found that while the wealth of a country is useful for predicting the initial level of adoption rates, it was a poor predictor with regards to year on year changes in adoption rates. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za

Struggles for meaning and struggles for control: the diffusion of bandwagon technology in two institutional environments

Abstract: In this thesis, I examine the diffusion process for a complex medical technology, the PET scanner, in two different health care systems, one of which is more market-oriented (Switzerland) and the other more centrally managed by a public agency (Quebec) The research draws on institutional and socio-political theories of the diffusion of innovations to examine how institutional contexts affect processes of diffusion I find that diffusion proceeds more rapidly in Switzerland than in Quebec, but that processes in both jurisdictions are characterized by intense struggles among providers and between providers and public agencies I show that the institutional environment influences these processes by determining the patterns of material resources and authority available to actors in their struggles to strategically control the technology, and by constituting the discursive resources or institutional logics on which actors may legitimately draw in their struggles to give meaning to the technology in line with their interests and values This thesis illustrates how institutional structures and meanings manifest themselves in the context of specific decisions within an organizational field, and reveals the ways in which governance structures may be contested and realigned when they conflict with interests that are legitimized by dominant institutional logics It is argued that this form of contestation and readjustment at the margins constitutes one mechanism by which institutional frameworks are tested, stretched and reproduced or redefined

Foods for health: Involving organizations in planned change

Abstract: The development of effective strategies for planned change presents a challenge to an organization operating in a modern, complex society. A change agency often faces two barriers to the diffusion of innovations —the lack of direct contact with individual receivers on a daily basis, and limited and perhaps shrinking resources. Two strategies which help a change agency address these barriers are: a) the use of co‐change agencies in innovation development and b) the diffusion of innovations through other organizations at the system‐receiver level. The use and effectiveness of these modifications to the traditional diffusion model are illustrated in the development and diffusion of a health education program called Foods for Health.