| One feature of the current information age is the use of computing and other information technologies in work settings. In particular, a new type of technology, called an intellectual technology, has emerged, requiring that the user of adopter take an active role in developing the functionality of the technology.;The goals of the current research were to develop an empirically-grounded model of the adoption process for intellectual technologies, and to identify the variables which have the strongest effects on that process. To accomplish these goals, the adoption of end-user computing applications was studied in five intact departments from three different corporations. Data were collected through a series of five in-depth interviews with each study participant, direct observation of the department's activities, and examination of already-existing documents related to the department's computer use.;Based on the computing applications in use in these five departments, a five-stage model of the adoption process was developed. The five stages are: Resource Acquisition, in which staff, hardware, software and training are acquired; Application Development, in which specific procedures for using a specific hardware/software combination are developed to perform a specific function; Adoption/Renewal, in which the application is adopted by a person other than the developer and/or additional resources are acquired; Routinization/Enhancement, in which the application becomes part of the department's standard operating procedure and/or is enhanced in some way; and External Adoption, in which the application is adopted by someone outside the developer's department.;The results of this study also indicate that the manager's approach to computing, the availability of slack time, the accessibility of hardware/software, and computer expertise within the end-use department have strong effects on the adoption of end-user computing applications. In addition to the implications that these findings have for managers in end-user departments, this study has three implications for researchers: it has clarified the definition of intellectual technologies, proposed a new model of the adoption process that is relevant to intellectual technologies, and developed a method for coding events occurring in an ongoing process. |
