A meta-analysis of relationships between organizational characteristics and IT innovation adoption in organizations

Adoption of Information Technology (IT) in organizations is influenced by a range of factors in the context of technology, organization, environment and individuals. Amongst others, the IT literature has identified several organizational factors that either facilitates or hinders innovation adoption in organizations. Studies examining the factors influencing IT adoption have produced inconsistent and contradictory outcomes. We performed a meta-analysis of ten organizational factors to determine the relative impact and the strength of these attributes on IT adoption. The study aggregated the findings of past research to evaluate the magnitude and the direction of the relationship between organizational factors and IT innovation adoption. Results showed organizational readiness to be the most significant attribute. We also found a moderately significant relationship between IT adoption and Information Systems (IS) department size. The study found weak significance with IS infrastructure, top management support, IT expertise, resources and organizational size. Formalization, centralization and product champion were found to be insignificant attributes for IT adoption. The study also examined stage of innovation, type of innovation, type of organization and size of organization as four moderator conditions that affect the relationship between organizational variables and IT adoption.