Antecedents and consequences of early adoption of emergent technologies : the IT revolution / Jeffery Reinking, Vicky Arnold, Steve G. Sutton

Researchers have lamented the lack of productivity gains during the third technological revolution. Initially, these concerns centered on the productivity paradox-the failure of emerging technology implementations to lead to productivity gains. More recently, researchers have suggested that our impatience has fueled such concerns; perhaps a protracted productivity paradox naturally occurs with significant technological revolutions and delays productivity gains for decades. This study focuses on theorizations of a protracted productivity paradox and investigates the antecedents and consequences of early adoption of emerging technology in the third technological revolution. The exploration considers whether characteristics of the third technological revolution follow a pattern consistent with the protracted productivity paradox set forth in the Model of Technology Diffusion in light of arguments that cycle time in the third technological revolution will be shorter given the rapid evolution of technology as reflected in Moore's law-microprocessor capability doubles every 24 months. The results do not support the shortened cycle expected, as firms that adopt technology early do not exhibit productivity gains in either the short term or long term despite experiencing performance gains throughout. However, results do support the theorized nature of early adopters in that both organizational slack and available slack are strong antecedents to a firm's early adoption of technology, and that early adoption leads to increased performance in both the short and long term.

Accountancy.