O Brasil tem posição de destaque na produção agrícola mundial. A adoção de tecnologias que permitam preservar os recursos naturais e produzir alimento em quantidade e com qualidade é importante para o desenvolvimento do agronegócio. Dentre as tecnologias, destaca-se a Agricultura de Precisão – AP. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a adoção da AP e os fatores relacionados a tal decisão dos produtores rurais no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Com este propósito, foram coletados dados através do envio de questionário para produtores rurais usuários da AP. A análise descritiva dos dados permitiu caracterizar os adotantes e a adoção das ferramentas de AP entre os produtores rurais, enquanto a análise fatorial seguida de regressão linear múltipla foram empregadas para verificar a percepção dos adotantes quanto aos atributos tecnológicos da AP. Os resultados mostram o crescimento da adoção da AP e que o tempo médio de adoção é de 4,3 anos. Os adotantes de AP possuem grau de escolaridade elevado, utilizam diversas fontes de informação, têm a renda predominantemente agrícola e cultivam grandes áreas de terra. As ferramentas de AP mais adotadas no cultivo de grãos (soja, milho e trigo) são a amostra de solo georreferenciada (ASG), a aplicação em taxa variada de corretivos e fertilizantes (ATV) e o sistema de direcionamento de barra de luz (BLZ). Constatou-se que a adoção da AP é altamente dependente da terceirização de serviços de AP. O número de ferramentas de AP adotadas está positivamente associado ao tamanho da área cultivada, anos de experiência com AP, renda agrícola e investimento em AP. Os atributos tecnológicos da AP – vantagem relativa, visibilidade, compatibilidade e experimentação – determinam 48% da satisfação do adotante de AP, sendo o fator de maior potencial explicativo a vantagem relativa da tecnologia. Evidenciado o crescimento recente da adoção da AP entre os produtores rurais no Brasil, emergem oportunidades de pesquisas que venham a contribuir com a indústria e instituições de fomento na difusão da AP. / Brazil plays an important role in world agricultural production. The adoption of technologies which allow the increase of food production with improving quality in addition to natural resources conservation is important for agribusiness development, and Precision Agriculture – PA stands out as an option to aid the achievement of these goals. The aim of this work was to investigate the Adoption of PA, as well as the factors related to its adoption by farmers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. With this purpose, an online survey was sent to PA adopters. Descriptive analysis allowed the characterization of the PA adopters and the identification of the most adopted PA tools, while factor analysis followed by multiple linear regression were used in order to verify users’ perception regarding PA technology attributes. The results show a PA adoption growth and an average time of adoption of 4.3 years. PA adopters have a high level of formal education, use several sources of information, have a predominantly agricultural income and cultivate large areas. The most adopted PA tools used for growing soybeans, maize and wheat are grid soil sampling, variable rate application and lightbar guidance. It was noted that PA adoption is highly dependent on PA services. The number of PA tools adopted is positive associated with the size of cultivated areas, years of PA use, agricultural income and investments in PA. PA technology attributes – relative advantage, observability, compatibility and trialability – determine 48% of the PA adopters’ satisfaction, being relative advantage of technology the factor of greatest explicative potential. The recent growth of PA adoption by Brazilian farmers shows emerging opportunities for research development which may contribute with industry and government institutions on PF diffusion.

Following the studies of technology trajectories, Christiansen (1997) coined the concept of disruptive innovation to shed more light on the pattern of discontinuous innovations which were introducing new performance values to the market and mostly led to create a new market. Following his studies there have been a huge amount of scholars who have tried to elucidate the concept of disruptive innovations from different points of views. Among all of these studies, there are few researches about the dynamic of disruptive innovations diffusion in the market while most of the studies have focused on the concept itself. According to Porter (2008) the dynamic of market competition has been totally changed over the past decade and survivance of incumbents in the market mostly depends on their capability to innovate disruptively and keep their dominancy by radical or incremental improvements. Considering the desire of incumbents to set a dominant position in today’s fast growing markets, getting the ultimate benefits of disruptive innovations has become a disputable issue. Therefore, focusing on the dynamic of disruptive innovations, this research tries to elucidate the way that market leaders take an unknown potential disruptive innovation out of its dark corner during its infancy time, raise it and disrupt the mainstream market relying on it to establish a new market. Focusing on the dynamic of innovation diffusion, this research has chosen the high-tech medical market of Iran as the main target of empirical field work. Novelty of this concept in medical markets and also appropriateness of invasive cardiovascular devices business in terms of great amount of disruptive innovation, make this case study appropriate for the purpose of this research. Therefore conducting a longitude case study of Iranian invasive cardiovascular market during the past 10 years, this research conducts 30 semi-structured interviews with the key decision makers of the four main incumbents of Iranian invasive cardiovascular market about launching new innovations including: Johnson and Johnson (Cordis), Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. The findings of these interviews are supported by the results of archival researches for more validity and reliability. Finally these findings will get compared with the conceptual framework of research in the discussion chapter to modify the existing literatures and in some cases add some new theoretical notions to them. The main contribution of this research is to identify the accelerating factors of disruptive innovation diffusion from, strategic, technological and cultural points of views. These findings can help practitioners to accelerate the diffusion rate of their disruptive innovations to disrupt the market earlier than the others and set their dominant position in the market as a market leader. Also it will provide an opportunity for the other scholars to build on more about the concept of disruptive innovation diffusion.

Millions of people use mobile phone banking daily, and business leaders should understand the factors influencing mobile phone banking adoption among users. Based on the theory of technology acceptance model and the innovation diffusion theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between usefulness, ease of use, risk, cost, and mobile phone banking adoption in Burkina Faso. One hundred and six mobile phone banking users living in the city of Ouagadougou completed the online survey created to measure consumers understanding of mobile phone banking. Results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicated a statistically significant relationship between the predictor variables and mobile phone banking adoption, F(5,101) = 36.07, p < .001. Three of the predictors contributed significantly to the model, with usefulness recording the highest beta value (Ã? = .692), cost the next highest beta value (Ã? = .225), and ease of use the next highest beta value (Ã? = .173). The 4th predictor, risk, did not contribute significantly to the model, recording a negative beta value (Ã? = -.058). Results may enhance local business leaders' understanding of mobile phone banking adoption, which could result in more effective business strategies to increase the affordability, availability, and quality of mobile banking services for Burkina Faso residents. Development of the mobile phone banking industry could enable business leaders to foster access to affordable financial services for individuals and contribute to the development of Burkina Faso's local economy and trade.

Among ongoing concerns for firms is the need to remain relevant and competitive. To address these concerns, firms often turn to technology to meet rapidly changing consumer demands, to provide differentiated offerings and to increase firm efficiency and productivity. Thus, the decision-making process that leads to the adoption of new technology is of great importance to marketers. Grounded in the resource-based view of the firm, this dissertation examines absorptive capacity and technological opportunism as firm dynamic capabilities and their role in delivering successful, firm-level technology adoption decisions. This research also examines the moderating role of internal micro-politics on the technology adoption process. With a qualitative and quantitative approach, this dissertation develops and tests an empirical model of the firm-level adoption decision process and its outcomes. Theoretical and empirical evidence provided by this research offers insights into the firm-level technology adoption process that should be of value to both researchers and practitioners. Analyses show that firm absorptive capacity and technological opportunism are instrumental in shaping the firm’s perceptions of a transformational technology, which in turn positively influences overall satisfaction with the adopted technology. In contrast to theoretical support, results also show that the positive relationship between a firm’s dynamic capabilities and its perceptions of a technology’s characteristics is negatively influenced by the presence of micro-political strategies used to garner internal buy-in and support for the technology adoption decision. These findings indicate marketers of technology should utilize this knowledge to guide client firms through the technology adoption process based on evaluations of the client firm’s level of dynamic capabilities and micro-political environment. Further, managers seeking to enhance product or service offerings through technology adoption should seek to develop their dynamic capabilities that inform adoption decisions. Additionally, managers should carefully manage stakeholder relationships to minimize any negative influence micro-political strategies may have on the decision-making process. Study limitations and areas of future research are also discussed.

Efforts to improve university science education continue to emphasize the importance of active learning, including frequent formative assessment and timely feedback that helps students reach desired learning outcomes. Yet, nationwide, many instructors continue to use primarily lecture-based teaching methods, with limited use of formative assessment and feedback. Factors that affect instructor adoption and implementation of new teaching techniques include departmental norms, peer interaction, and classroom environment. In this work, a model of the impacts of departmental teaching and social norms and peer interactions on instructor innovation decision is presented. This model is then used to explore 1) instructor teaching-related interactions within a single biology department, assessing the conditions for innovation diffusion, and 2) instructor perceptions of norms and interactions in that department and their impact on decision-making. Finally, introductory biology instructors’ use of assessment and feedback techniques were characterized in a lecture hall and an active learning classroom to see how innovation adoption translates to specific assessment practice and investigate the impact of the active learning classroom. Results indicate that perceptions and practices vary widely, but that both peer interactions and active learning classrooms may have a positive impact on teaching innovation adoption and practices in a university biology department. In addition, the pattern of interactions within this department allows instructors of varying assessment experience to interact, making it potentially conducive to the spread of teaching ideas. The model and results presented here will assist in understanding the factors involved in instructor decision-making and can be leveraged to help promote the use of formative assessment and other evidence-based teaching practices.

Innovation adoption har etablerat sig i forskningslitteratur som den enskilda processen bestående av en serie olika etapper som man genomgår från att först höra om en produkt till att slutligen adoptera den (Rogers, 2003). Den gemensamma teorin i litteraturen för innovation adoption riktar sig till diffusionen av innovationen över tid och adoptionsprocessen som genomgår de olika s.k. “adopter groups”. Forskning belyser de osäkerheter som nya innovationer kan ha och utmaningarna med att adoptera sådana innovationer, samtidigt som man bortser från möjligheten att konceptualisera användandet av innovationen, och minska osäkerheten genom kommunikation av information som ingår i själva innovationen. Denna rapport kommer att lyfta denna klyfta i kunskap genom att bedöma inflytandet av adoptering av innovation genom att kommunicera värderingar.  Detta examensarbete baseras på litteraturstudier, kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskning samt generativa sessioner, som utgör ett komplementärt perspektiv och bidrar med kunskap och förståelse till varför, vad och hur människor adopterar innovationer samt dess konsekvenser för både företaget och dess kunder. Studien har identifierar flera kundsegment. Denna rapport visar också på möjligheterna med att minska på de upplevda osäkerheterna samtidigt som man kan öka inflytandet av adoptering av nya innovationer genom att kommunicera värderingar genom sammansättning av signaler som innehåller verbala och visuella s.k. “triggers”. Dessutom introducerar denna studie ett nytt sätt att påverka inflytandet av adoptionen av nya innovationer med avseende på tekniska tillämpningar och möjligheterna med att göra det på en mycket större skala, digitalt. / Innovation adoption has established itself in literature as the individual process which consists of series of stages one undergoes from first hearing about a product to finally adopting it (Rogers, 2003). The common theory in innovation adoption literature addresses the diffusion of innovation over time, and the adoption process it undergoes by various adopter groups. Research highlights the uncertainties novel innovations might possess and the challenges of adopting such innovations, disregarding the opportunity to conceptualize the usage of the innovation, and reduction of uncertainty through communication of information embodied in the innovation itself. This report will address this gap in knowledge by assessing the influence of innovation adoption through the communication of values. This thesis report is based on literature studies, qualitative and quantitative research and generative sessions, which serve as a complementary perspective and add knowledge and understanding about why, what and how people adopt innovations, and its implications for both the company and its customers. The study has revealed the identification of several customer segments. This report also shows the possibilities of reducing perceived uncertainties while enhancing the adoption of novel innovations by communicating values through the composition of signals containing verbal and visual triggers. Moreover, this study introduces a different way of influencing the adoption of novel innovations with regards to technological applications and the possibilities of doing so on a much larger scale, digitally.

This dissertation consists of three essays that study the role of information acquisition and processing in health decision-making. Each chapter underscores the ways in which new information shapes the choices of health providers and consumers. Understanding these responses sheds light on critical health policy problems, including the potential overuse of low-value health services, gaps between medical evidence and practice, and inequitable access to high-value health services. The first essay studies the role of a consumer’s family network in the formation of their risk perceptions. I assess whether people correctly interpret new risk information communicated through household health events and analyze how these responses impact household welfare. Individuals respond to new diagnoses in ways most consistent with individual reevaluations of health risk rather than other possible explanations. To assess welfare implications, I estimate a structural model of health choices in which individuals learn about risk after health events reveal information. I find that consumers over-respond to recent, salient health events by over-weighting their risks ex-post. This leads to individual and social welfare losses, and suggests that aiding consumers in interpreting health risk information should be an important aim of health literacy policies. The second essay explores how health providers respond to information about innovations in mental health treatments, paying particular attention to the heterogeneous adoption costs of different practices. I compare the impact of continuing education on takeup across innovations that incur learning costs (psychotherapy) and those that do not (psychopharmacology). I use a novel extension of an estimator proposed by Calvi et al. (2021) to estimate a dynamic treatment effect in the presence of classification error. Therapists respond more to education when learning costs are negligent, being about three percentage points more likely to write new prescriptions following a conference. The third essay assesses the tradeoff between adopting novel medical technologies and achieving health equity. I study the adoption of transcatheter valve replacement surgeries in Medicare patients; these surgeries disrupted the supply of medical interventions from cardiothoracic surgeons to interventional cardiologists. This transition led providers to adjust practice styles along two margins: medium-risk patients became more likely to receive surgery, and low-risk patients received fewer medical interventions overall. I incorporate these findings into a model of physician decision-making, showing that both the expansion of high-intensity intervention and the crowd-out of low-intensity treatment can be rationalized by the presence of technological spillovers. The model further highlights that crowd-out may be inequitably distributed across the patient population when treatment appropriateness is not directly observed. I validate these predictions in my setting, showing that technology adoption resulted in disproportionately high barriers to care for low-income patients.

This dissertation employed a two prong approach, whereby the survey and case study methods were used to investigate security issues regarding wireless networks. The survey portion draws together two previously unrelated research streams. Given the recent increased concern for security in the computing milieu, Innovation Diffusion Theory and security factor constructs were merged and synthesized to form a new instrument. This instrument is useful in an effort to understand what role security concerns play in the adoption and diffusion of technology. In development of the new instrument, 481 usable surveys were collected and analyzed. Factor analysis revealed favorable factor loadings in the data. Further analysis was then conducted utilizing multiple regression analysis. This analysis led to the discovery that the constructs of Susceptibility and Severity of Threat, Improvement Potential, and Visibility are significant predictors in regard to level of concern when using wireless networks. Case studies were conducted with a goal to gain a deep knowledge of IT professionals? concerns, attitudes, and best practices toward wireless security. To this end, seven IT professionals were personally interviewed regarding their perceptions and attitudes toward wireless security. In an effort to compare IT professional and end user opinions, 30 IT professionals also completed a paper based survey regarding their perceptions about security. Findings indicate that security professionals are very optimistic for the future of wireless computing. However, that optimism is tempered by a realization that there are a myriad of potential threats that might exploit weakness in wireless security. To determine differences and similarities between users? perspectives and managers? perspectives regarding wireless network security, the results from the survey and case study were synthesized. Most IT professionals (76.19%) reported that, all factors considered, they prefer to use wired networks as opposed to wireless networks; whereas, substantially fewer (44.86%) of the end user respondents reported that they preferred wired over wireless networks. Overall, results suggest that IT professionals are more concerned about security than are end users. However, a challenge remains to make administrators and users aware of the full effect of security threats present in the wireless computing paradigm.

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This undergraduate thesis discusses how a new type of workforce management system successfully can be developed from a socio-technical perspective for businesses in the home care service to adopt and benefit from the tool. To answer the question “How can companies that develop high-tech workforce management systems (WFM-systems) towards the home care sector use The technology adoption life cycle for the tool to go from innovation to industry standard?”. A qualitative method is used in the form of a case study. To collect the empirical material, semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from three different Swedish home companies services and a company that is developing a high-tech WFM-system for the home care sector. The substrate for the theory is based on how companies that develop high-tech WFM-systems can be inspired by The technology adoption life cycle to increase their competitiveness and avoid collapse due to the gaps that exist between different market segments and their varying needs.  Through analyzes of the collected empirical data, the authors of this thesis have concluded that the home care sector is facing a digital transformation where the implementation of high-tech WFM-systems is considered necessary. The reason behind this is that high-tech tools that use advanced algorithms for scheduling can improve resource management, while reducing costs and travel times. In order for the implementation to achieve the desired effect, these tools need to be developed in accordance with a socio-technical perspective where both home care businesses and technically able developers work together to create tools that have a positive impact on the future of the industry. / I denna uppsats diskuteras hur en ny typ av workforce management system framgångsrikt kan utvecklas utifrån ett sociotekniskt perspektiv för att verksamheter inom hemtjänsten ska anamma och dra nytta av verktyget. För att svara på frågeställningen “Hur kan verksamheter som utvecklar högteknologiska workforce management systems (WFM-system) mot hemtjänsten använda The Technology Adoption Life Cycle för att verktyget ska gå från innovation till branschstandard?” används en kvalitativ metod i form av en fallstudie. För att samla in det empiriska materialet genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från tre olika svenska hemtjänstverksamheter och ett företag som utvecklar ett högteknologiskt WFM-system mot hemtjänsten. Underlaget för teorin bygger på hur verksamheter som utvecklar högteknologiska WFM-system kan inspireras av The Technology Adoption Life Cycle för att öka sin konkurrenskraft och undvika att gå under på grund av de klyftor som finns mellan olika marknadssegment och deras varierande behov.  Genom analyser av den insamlade empirin har författarna av denna uppsats dragit slutsatsen att hemtjänsten står inför en digital transformation där implementeringen av nya högteknologiska WFM-system anses nödvändigt. Anledningen är då nya högteknologiska verktyg som använder smarta algoritmer för att schemalägga förbättrar resurshanteringen, samtidigt som kostnader och de sammanlagda restiderna minskar. För att implementationen ska skapa önskad effekt behöver verktyg utvecklas i enlighet med ett sociotekniskt perspektiv där likväl hemtjänstverksamheter och tekniskt kunniga utvecklare samarbetar för att skapa verktyg som har en positiv inverkan på branschens framtid.