Exploring the Long Shadowof IT Innovation Adoption Decisionson IT Value

Abstract

Much research has been conducted to understand the value of IT innovations. However,research has examined such value primarily at the ex post stage, independently of the exante conditions that lead to adopting such innovations. This paper argues that there is along shadow cast by past adoption conditions and decisions over the present assessment ofvalue. We develop a conceptual framework that ties IT innovation value to the originalmotives underlying the adoption. The main premise is that the initial conditions that existat the adoption stage (ex ante) can be used to understand the emphasis that should beplaced on the different types of realized IT innovation value (ex post). Specifically, wedevelop a typology of four motivational forms of adoption that result from combining twodimensions of environmental uncertainty. We then develop propositions that relate eachform of adoption to different components of IT innovation value. This paper extends theextant IT value literature by providing an account of IT innovation value that is consistentwith the original motives of adoption. It also provides one way to integrate between the ITadoption and IT value streams, which hitherto have been treated separately.