There are three novel contributions to research and practice in the areas of OSS adoption and general ICT adoption arising from this research. The contributions are summarised in Table 7.1 and will now be discussed in detail. The discussion highlights each contribution and discusses its relevance, arguing for the novelty and originality of the contribution from research and practice perspectives.
The first contribution in Table 7.1 is the empirical research model. This is an original contribution because this study appears to be first to develop an empirical theory of OSS adoption by UK SMEs (see Figure 6.1 and Table 6.1). This is a novel contribution that fills a knowledge gap in the emerging research area of OSS adoption and the IS field in general.
The following discussion presents contexts for this contribution, providing support for our claim of novelty and originality.
There is a general demand for theories in the IS field partly because theories enable researchers to better analyse, explore and understand existing and emerging research issues and their interrelationships in theory and practice (Holck et al. 2004). Thus, studies focused on theorybuilding, such as this exploratory study, contribute by filling knowledge gaps in the IS research field. The need to fill knowledge gaps is also relevant for this particular area of IS research because OSS adoption research is an emerging area (Agerfalk et al. 2006; Dedrick and West 2003; Fitzgerald and Kenny 2003; Holck et al. 2005; Larsen et al. 2004; Overby et al. 2006).
OSS adoption research is still in its infancy (Fitzgerald and Kenny 2003; Holck et al. 2005;
Larsen et al. 2004; Overby et al. 2006) and there appears to be very few proven theories to support the exploration and understanding of OSS adoption. Also, research on OSS adoption by UK SMEs seems largely to have been ignored, suggesting that there has been little or no focus on this research gap.
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Table 7.1 Research Contributions
Contribution Relevance Scope Evidence
Empirical research model Fills a gap in the general demand for
However, theories are important for developing valid analysis, exploration and better understanding of research issues and their interrelationships (Benbasat and Moore 1992;
Riemenschneider and McKinney 1999; Dedrick and West 2003; Rhodes and Courneya 2004;
Taylor and Todd 1995a, 1995b). Therefore, the OSS adoption theory developed in this study is relevant, as shown in this study, for undertaking a structural and widelyvalid analysis of factors, leading to a better understanding of such factors and their influence on the adoption of OSS.
The relevance of this contribution has implications from a theory perspective because researchers may apply the empirical model for the evaluation of OSS adoption, or similar research problem of ICT adoption. This perspective suggests that the empirical model can be used in subsequent research to survey a population and identify significant factors influencing the adoption of OSS within that population. The model also provides a reference framework for developing an exploratory and interpretivist, or confirmatory and positivist, data collection instrument for an OSS or similar ICT adoption field study.
There are also implications for the contribution from a practice perspective because SMEs and other practitioners may apply the empirical model as a reference for developing policies which guide the adoption of OSS in their organisation. This perspective leads to two important examples of the relevance of the empirical model: (1) it can be applied in developing an evaluation instrument for predicting the criticalsuccessfactors influencing OSS adoption in an organisation; and (2) it provides a reference model for discussing and understanding the factors and their influence on the adoption of OSS within an organisation.
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The second contribution in Table 7.1 is the conceptual model. We argue that the conceptual model (see Figure 3.1) represents an original contribution that fills a gap in the developing research area of OSS adoption and the IS research field in general. The conceptual model was developed based on a structured analysis that drew on valuable lessons from multiple disciplines within the IS research field. The innovative use of an augmentation approach to draw on knowledge from multiple research areas has enabled us to extend our scope of awareness and conceptualisation of factors influencing the adoption of OSS by SMEs. The context of this contribution will now be discussed further to justify our claim for its novelty and originality.
The IS discipline is a dynamic research field and many of its studies and theories are still in their infancy. OSS adoption is one such research area (Dedrick and West 2003; Fitzgerald and Agerfalk 2005; Fitzgerald and Kenny 2003; Fugetta 2003; Glynn et al. 2005; Holck et al.
2005; Larsen et al. 2004). Although there are more mature research studies in other areas of ICT adoption, lessons from such areas seem to have been mostly ignored in recent studies on OSS adoption. Because knowledge was drawn from multiple areas of ICT adoption research, the conceptual model developed in this study introduces new knowledge to the developing area of OSS adoption research. Such conceptual models are important for many reasons including: conducting a structured analysis of issues relevant to an emergent research phenomenon; developing valid explanations of the relationships between concepts of a research phenomenon; and identifying the most relevant issues within a complex research phenomenon (Daniel and Grimshaw 2002; Dedrick and West 2004; Levy and Powell 2003;
Sadowki et al. 2003; Wu and Wu 2005). Based on this discussion and our experience from this research study, we argue that researchers developing conceptual frameworks of OSS adoption can benefit from extending the scope of their analysis of the literature by using valuable lessons from other areas of ICT adoption research.
Having discussed the general context of conceptual model as a novel contribution from this study, the contribution extends to its implication for theory and practice. From a theory perspective, the conceptual model developed provides researchers with a framework for analysing issues relevant to OSS, or other similar ICT adoption. In this context, the model provides a strong theoretical foundation for exploring and explaining the relationships between factors and concepts relevant to the adoption of OSS or other ICT. Although the conceptual factors in the conceptual model (in Figure 3.1) lack validity, a limitation of its relevance from a practice perspective, the factors and underlying theoretical framework still
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provide a useful structuredmodel for explaining, and therefore better understanding, an organisational context of OSS adoption.
Table 7.1 shows that the third research contribution is the framework for analysis and selection of ICT adoption models. This is a novel contribution because most IS studies appear to ignore the importance of applying theoretical foundations in the research design (Chang 1998; Mathieson et al. 2001; Venkatesh and Balal 2006; Venkatesh and Davis 2000;
Venkatesh et al. 2003; Wu and Wu 2005). In the area of OSS adoption research, few studies (for example, Dedrick and West 2003) have explored and implemented concepts from proven theories associated with ICT adoption. Although theories in the IS field are still developing, the lack of use of existing theories can be argued to be a reason for the limited validity and generalisability, and therefore, the lack of common understanding in the area of OSS adoption research. The following discussions on the context of this contribution presents further justification for this argument.
Theories are important for conceptualising research phenomenon (Dedrick and West 2003;
Taylor and Todd 1995b), enabling the association of existing or known and emerging knowledge, and therefore allow us to identify generalisability of existing knowledge over an emerging field of study. Theories, when applied appropriately, enhance the validity of research findings (Benbasat and Moore 1992; Eisenhardt 1989; Galliers and Land 1987; Yin 1994), which can lead to higher confidence in the subsequent theoretical or practical utilization of such findings. Therefore, the selection and application of the most suitable theory to a research problem is relevant for high quality research. As mentioned earlier, there are few mature theories in the IS field. The lack of adequate understanding and the complexity of existing and emerging theories may be reasons why it is difficult for researchers to understand and apply such theories. Hence, an evaluation and selection framework that eases the selection of appropriate theory is important and represents a relevant contribution to the research area.
The framework in Table 3.1 is applicable to the evaluation and selection of proven ICT adoption theories that help to explore and understand OSS, or other ICT adoption. The framework allows for the consideration of the degree of complexity and subjectivity of research phenomena as selection criteria. Although the framework in Table 3.1 features mostly proven models of adoption, its flexible structure allows for the extension of its capability by the addition of other models relevant to particular research problems and contexts.
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