Dimensions of national culture and corporate adoption of IT infrastructure

Abstract

Corporate adoption of information technology (IT) infrastructure is a critical management issue that may be affected by national culture. Prior research has shown that dimensions of national culture affect development of national IT infrastructure as well as adoption and impact of IT applications. This study explores the impact of two dimensions of national culture (uncertainty avoidance and power distance) on the adoption of a type of IT infrastructure (frame relay). A multinational survey was carried out, and it yielded useable responses from 153 businesses from 24 countries. The results demonstrated that businesses from higher uncertainty avoidance countries were less likely to adopt frame relay. A one-point increase in Hofstede's [15] uncertainty avoidance index for the country of incorporation was associated with a 3% lower likelihood of adopting frame relay. Power distance was not significantly correlated with adoption of frame relay. These results highlight the relevance of dimensions of national culture as factors affecting corporate adoption of IT infrastructure. Implications for practice and further research are presented.