This study explored some of the critical success factors at the individual level for usage of PWS (Personal Web Server) systems. I tested core assumptions from Diffusion of Innovations theory for willingness to use new technology, and use some key concepts from the Technology Acceptance Model to reinforce DOI. I employed concepts of an empirically tested, valid, and reliable scale to measure willingness to use. The literature seems to indicate that information technologies are nearly always crucial to corporate strategy and performance. But there are still great chasms between the recognition of problems and the successful implementation of solutions. Therefore discovering what determines successful attitudes toward usage of such technologies at the individual level is critical to firm performance. There already exists an abundance of literature regarding information technology and various aspects of organizational performance. What was lacking was an analysis of how IT innovations are most productively adopted at the individual level, and how recognition of the critical success factors to usage of these technologies affects attitudes toward using them prior to adoption. In a global and increasingly fast-paced business environment, willingness to use IT innovations and the speed with which they are adopted can significantly affect competitive advantage. This was a theory building and explanatory study with the expressed intent to better understand the individual determinants of the success or failure of an IT innovation at the individual level. I studied PWS systems by employing independent variables of complexity, relative advantage, and trialability from Rogers, and using Davis's behavioral intent to predict willingness to use. The three attributes from Rogers were selected as the most face valid constructs, and Roger's rate of adoption outcome variable was excluded because it was deemed too time sensitive. Rogers's constructs of relative advantage and complexity have been demonstrated to be theoretically the same as Davis's perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. I believe that the use of these variables effectively explained willingness to use at the individual level in a new way, which in turn is instructive toward organizational attitudes toward innovation. My findings showed that Relative Advantage, Complexity, and Trialability were all predictors of Willingness to Use a new technology. These findings as well as the interesting interactions of some of the independent variables should prove useful to those who seek to understand these phenomena within the crucial context of pre-acquisition of information systems. The intent was to explain Willingness to Use at the individual level in a new way, which in turn is instructive toward organizational attitudes toward innovation. It is my hope that the results of this research will be instructive to researchers, empiricists, and practitioners who are interested in pre-adoptive intents and behaviors.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Awaiting adoption is a social problem in America that affects thousands of children as well as families, agencies, communities, the mission of the child welfare system, and society at large. In 2014, over 101,000 children were awaiting adoption in the United States. On average, waiting children have been in out-of-home care for approximately three years. One phenomenon that plagues waiting children and their opportunity for adoption is the disruption of their pre-adoptive placements or the change in a waiting child's placement prior to a finalized adoption. Despite unique placement and permanency needs, waiting children and their foster parents are seldom recognized as unique cohorts. Thus, little is known about the experience of pre-adoptive placement disruption. The status of waiting children, foster care and adoption history and policy, and literature and theory relevant to pre-adoptive placement disruption are discussed. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis were used to investigate the research question: What is the experience of pre-adoptive placement disruption for pre-adoptive foster parents? Eleven foster parents participated in nine interviews. Participants were licensed through public or private child welfare agencies. The majority of participants were married, Caucasian, and had adopted from foster care. Important findings emerged from the experiences participants shared. Pre-adoptive placement disruption is characterized by "compound loss" including both the loss of the child and the loss of purpose. Participants experienced the disruption like a broken social contract and attributed the disruption to the child welfare system or the children's perpetrators. Disruption experiences resulted in lasting effects including changes to the profiles of the children participants would foster or adopt in the future, pre-adoptive status, and advocacy efforts. Resolve emerged as a critical factor for participants to approach foster and pre-adoptive care in new ways. Vulnerability, isolation, and ambivalence emerged as essential elements of living through disruption. Findings suggest the importance of assessing pre-adoptive parents' motivations and expectations, validating their experiences, acknowledging their losses, and practicing with transparency and competency. Implications exist for child welfare and social work practice and education. Additional research is needed regarding barriers and supports of adoption from foster care.