Towards a Motivational Theory of Technology Implementation Processes

Managing the selection and implementation of information technology is a critically important activity, but significant gaps exist in our understanding of that process. This paper proposes an alternative research approach, in which the motivation to implement a system is the starting point for understanding subsequent adoption processes. The paper has three main components: first we justify the use of motivation as the key to understanding adoption activities and outcomes for bundled (divisible) technologies. We then illustrate the operation of our theory with simplified examples of interorganizational system implementations. Finally, we list key conceptual and methodological requirements for analyzing implementation processes using this method.