INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANISATION : A CASE STUDY OF THE ADOPTION PROCESS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Information technology, which is a merger of computing and telecommunication technologies, is being used increasingly in organisations. It is almost an indispensable tool in the workplace. The applications of information technology includes processing, storing and communication of information. Thus, the introduction of information technology into an organisation is wide-ranging and complex. This is a study of the adoption process of information technology by an organisation. It looked into the influence of technology- and organisation-related factors in the process of technological change. At the same time, the study also examined the interaction between the information technology and the organisation. This study is based on the experience of a large supermarket chain in adopting an information technology. This technology is a videotext system called Teleview. In this experience, Supertrade agreed with the Teleview vendor, Singapore Telecom (the telecommunication authority of Singapore), to participate in a trial use of the system for a period of two years. The use of this computer-based videotext system was for internal organisational communications like stock ordering, messaging and information bulletin. The analysis of the influence of technology and organisational factors in determining the outcome of the adoption process is based on the technological determinism vs. social choice debate which is a central concern of research on the social impact of information technology. The works of Braverman (1974), Wilkinson (1983), Buchanan and Boddy (1983) and McLoughlin and Clark (1988) are discussed and used to guide the theoretical approach of this study. The analysis of the interaction between information technology and organisation is guided by the understanding that information technology is a radical technology. Its use is extremely flexible and widely applicable. It possesses an "enabling" characteristic. This unique property of information technology have important implications for the organisation when it is introduced. These implications, like the need for certain skills and effective management of the change process, are discussed in the study. Various data collection methods, like survey, face-to-face interview, observation and document analysis, were used in this case study. The fieldwork covered a period of six months and the various analyses were based on data from this six-month period.