Purpose: Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology and is a technological paradigm that is revolutionizing the healthcare industry all over the world. The purpose of our thesis is to investigate the phenomenon of IoT adoption in the healthcare industry in the context of a developing country to find out the barriers and how the industry is trying to overcome them. As the second highest population with a landmark of topping the table of developing country list, India has significant potential to bring interest in the IoT adoption in healthcare. Our unit of analysis is a hospital in India. Method: To reach our research, we have chosen a qualitative research approach and systematic combining method as our research strategy, which will facilitate us to narrow down the findings of the phenomenon by using a back and forth process. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with participants of the case hospital as part of the data collection process. Finding and Analysis: The first part of the empirical finding is analyzed by the thematic analysis tool, which we have used for the data analysis. This enabled us to interpret the themes in our own way going back to data collected and previous literature references. The study helped us identify some of the main factors affecting IoT adoption in the hospital, categorized under three different sections: technological, organizational, and environmental. The findings indicate that IoT adoption barriers in hospital are categorized as per our tentative framework with theoretical frame reference in the literature review part. Adoption challenges were found mainly centred on technological acceptance, complexity, organizational behaviour, lack of expertise and infrastructure, lack of stringent regulations and standard and finally, the security and privacy concerns. They have initiated a well organizational structure with experts, providing rigorous training for key staff and visionary leadership to facilitate the adoption process.

Background:  Industry 4.0 technologies are expected to play an important role in the near future. Among these, blockchain technology is in the spotlight and recognized to be revolutionary within the agri-food industry and its supply chains. However, the technology and its adoption is in an early phase and involves several challenges for agri-food organizations. Given its nascent nature, academic research is scarce and a need for research of blockchain technology adoption in different contexts has been identified.  Purpose:  The purpose of this thesis is therefore to analyze the reasoning behind Swedish agri-food organizations’ decisions to adopt or reject blockchain technology as well as their approach to its adoption in their supply chains.  Method:  A qualitative research design with an inductive approach was applied, where the primary data was gathered through 9 semi-structured interviews with agri-food organizations and experienced individuals within the field.  Conclusion:  The findings show that trustworthiness is the main goal and driver of blockchain technology adoption and identified several secondary reasons for adoption. The research also specifies challenges which act as reasons for rejection as well as two-edged critical factors affecting adoption decisions. Further, Swedish agri-food organizations were recognized to be in an immature adoption phase and hence two main approaches to blockchain adoption, proactive and pending, were determined. Based on these findings, the BAP framework visualizing the blockchain adoption process was developed.

New technologies are constantly introduced in our everyday life. Societies and people have reaped great benefits from integrating information technology into a plethora of societal and commercial functions. However, innovations are not unconditionally accepted by users. Since digital innovations constantly are introduced to aid us, there is an interest in understanding what factors would either influence us or make us prone to adopt new technologies. The main research question is to identify the key influences, both positive and negative, within technology adoption. The scope was limited to Scandinavian supermarkets and the technology of adoption intention was the Smart Cart; a seamless approach to make your shopping experience easier. Through a value-based acceptance model (VAM), a quantitative survey was conducted to explore consumers, attitudes towards Smart Cart through the factors perceived usefulness (PU), perceived enjoyment (PE), perceived privacy risk (PPR) and perceived difficulty to use (PDU), in relation to the perceived value (PV) of the product which can eventually lead to intention to adopt and use(IAU). The findings showed that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) demonstrated a strong positive correlation to potential users’ perceived value (PV) of Smart Cart while perceived privacy risk (PPR) showed a weak negative and perceived difficulty to use (PDU) showed a medium-strong positive correlation to potential consumers’ perceived value (PV) of the product. Potential consumers’ perception of Smart Cart’s value (PV) showed a strong positive correlation with intention to adopt and use (IAU).

Manufacturers have been hesitant to adopt Internet of things (IoT) due to a lack of understanding about the innovate characteristics, technology, organizational and environmental factors related to IoT adoption and how their organizations can apply IoT correctly. This quantitative, correlational study used a combination of diffusion of innovation theory and technology–organization–environment framework as the foundation to examine if a relationship exists between relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, technology readiness, top management support, firm size, competitive pressure, and regulatory support and IT leaders' intent to adopt IoT in U.S. manufacturing organizations. A sample of 168 information technology (IT) leaders from the U.S. manufacturing sectors was used. Multiple regression analysis indicated significant relationships between the intent to adopt IoT by IT leaders of manufacturing organizations and only 3 of the 8 independent variables: technology readiness, top management support, and competitive pressure. The model was able to predict approximately 44% of the variation of IT leaders' intent to adopt IoT. The results of this study might help IT leaders in the U.S. manufacturing sectors understand the factors that influence IoT adoption. The findings from this study might contribute to positive social change by contributing to economic growth that results from increased efficiency gained from the adoption of IoT in key business areas.

In this research, we detail the development of a novel, easy-to-use system to facilitate electronic patient falls reporting within a long-term residential care facility (LTRCF) using off-the-shelf technology that can be inexpensively implemented in a wide variety of settings. We report the results of four complimentary system evaluation measures that take into consideration varied organizational stakeholders’ perspectives: 1) System-level benefits and costs, 2) System usability, via scenario-based use cases, 3) A holistic assessment of users’ physical, cognitive, and marcoergonomic (work system) challenges in using the system, and 4) User technology acceptance. We report the viability of collecting and analyzing data specific to each evaluation measure and detail the relative merits of each measure in judging whether the system is acceptable to each stakeholder. The electronic falls reporting system was successfully implemented, with 100% electronic submission rate at 3-months post-implementation period. The system-level benefits and costs approach showed that the electronic system required no initial investment costs aside from personnel costs and significant benefits accrued from user time savings. The usability analysis revealed several fixable design flaws and demonstrated the importance of scenario-based user training. The technology acceptance model showed that users perceived the reporting system to be useful and easy to use, even more so after implementation. Finally, the holistic human factors evaluation identified challenges encountered when nurses used the system as a part of their daily work, guiding further system redesign. The four-pronged evaluation framework accounted for varied stakeholder perspectives and goals and is a highly scalable framework that can be easily applied to Health IT (Information Technology) implementations in other LTRCFs.

Extended Reality (XR) technologies, including virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR), are increasingly being integrated into production training across various industries. As XR becomes more prevalent, ethical considerations surrounding its implementation become important. This research aims to explore the ethical dimensions of XR in production training, with a specific purpose of identifying potential ethical issues that may arise with the use of XR in production training.. The study then proposes a guiding framework that encompasses pre-adoption, adoption, and usage stages of XR implementation, addressing key ethical concerns and offering practical guidelines for organisations, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the manufacturing industry.  The research methodology involves a systematic review of existing literature on XR development, the need for production training and the ethics of XR. It also incorporates qualitative interviews with industry experts and practitioners to gather insights on the challenges and opportunities related to ethical XR implementation. The findings highlight the importance of appointing a champion for XR use cases, conducting risk assessments, establishing clear guidelines and policies, training trainers on ethical considerations, selecting appropriate XR devices, designing simulations with user experience in mind, obtaining informed consent, and monitoring employee well-being.  The implications of this research extend beyond manufacturing industry SMEs, as the proposed framework can be applied to other businesses utilising XR for training purposes. By integrating ethical considerations and promoting user involvement in XR implementation, organisations can unlock the full potential of XR technologies while ensuring inclusivity, equal opportunities, and ethical practices. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on XR ethics and offers practical guidance for practitioners and decision-makers in leveraging XR for production training in an ethical and inclusive manner.

Customer relationship management (CRM), a primary activity in the business value chain to relate to the customer, involves solicitation, analysis, and the use of the knowledge about the customer to provide goods and services through effective and efficient methods. It is a wise strategy and source of competitive advantage for customer behavior understanding and business performance management. The use of information technology (IT) in CRM allows companies to simplify their processes, to integrate product or service related decision making with the business strategies, and to optimize their operations by embracing analytical techniques. The insurance industry is facing unprecedented challenges and decisions in this data-driven business paradigm. It is a strategic necessity for customer-centric insurers to utilize emerging IT capability to support interactions between customers and business operations. The research in the dissertation seeks to provide insights into the application of early technology innovation and data-driven strategies by investigating the following two groups of CRM technology issues: technology adoption and data-driven technology application. Through three essays, the dissertation explores the use of information technology and data analytical tools to provide insight into how automobile insurance companies make decisions regarding their relationships with their customers. The results from these studies provide a framework for managers to devise effective approaches to enhancing the performance of their business.

Background: Researchers have revealed that among the reasons provided as barriers to the adoption of technology are: lack of technology resources, time, professional development and support (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1997; Parker, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; NCATE, 1997; Shelly, Gunter & Gunter, 2010, U.S. Congress, 1995). Several models used to explain the usage of technology within education such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) have been somewhat ineffective in explaining or providing a holistic view of the factors that come into play when examining technology infusion and diffusion as they account for a limited percentage of variance (Legris, Ingham & Collerete, 2003; Pan, Gunter, Sivo & Cornell, 2005). Purpose: To better understand the choices that faculty members make in their use of educational technologies and media and to determine why some technologies such as blackboard have been widely adopted, but others have not. The following research question was formulated to guide the study: "Why do faculty members in higher education make the instructional choices they do with respect to educational technologies and media? Also, how can the use of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as a more robust framework, offer an increase in explanatory power to better enable the understanding of a multitude of factors that impact the adoption and use of certain media technologies? Setting: A technology rich department at a college of a large urban university in the Southeastern United States. Participants: Three faculty members who taught in the department. Research Design: Qualitative multi-site case study informed by Engeström's Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 1987). Data Collection and Analysis: Document analysis, individual interviews, and laboratory and classroom observations provided data. Qualitative data analysis that employed qualitative inquiry research was informed by Creswell's "data analysis spiral" and Engeström's CHAT. Findings: Visits at the institution presented several of the key ideas in the CHAT framework including contradictions within the media selection activity and tensions at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels. Additional themes included group work, autonomy, media as a tool to achieve learning goals, caring for students, early adopters, and relevance with current trends.

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This thesis investigates the adoption of digital technologies to improve logistics processes in construction projects. The focus is on the main contractor firms and construction projects, but first-tier suppliers, transportation firms, and technology vendors are also considered. The logistics processes that are studied are order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics. Order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics play a critical role in ensuring the availability of goods for the construction process, in the right amount and time, at the right location, and without damage. Inefficient logistics processes that do not support construction projects with the right resources (materials, tools, and machinery) are one reason for low construction project performance. Inefficient logistics processes cause disruptions to construction projects, such as material stockouts, material surpluses, unavailability, idle waiting and searching time, and waste (e.g., damages). On a larger scale, inefficient logistics processes cause significant project delays and cost overruns. Therefore, improving logistics processes can improve construction project performance. To address the inefficiencies of logistics processes, main contractor firms face increased pressure to adopt digital technologies. It is known that adopting digital technologies can improve communication between project stakeholders, construction automation, and data acquisition, visualization, and analytics. The adoption of digital technologies has also been reported to improve the construction process, such as design, production, logistics, and procurement of materials and services. However, the adoption of digital technologies is a complex and inter-organizational process, and the industry's decentralized, project-driven nature makes many efforts ad hoc and one-of-a-kind endeavors. Moreover, there needs to be more clarity in the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. A knowledge gap in this context has been a lack of actionable recommendations to practitioners, such as main contractor firms. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to formulate recommendations for the adoption of digital technologies that enable the main contractor firms to improve logistics processes. Based on this, the following research questions guide the research: RQ1: What are the drivers and barriers for the adoption of digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective? RQ2: What are the effects on logistics processes when adopting digital technologies in construction projects? RQ3: What are the lessons learnt from the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects? The findings identify drivers and barriers to adopting digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective, the effects of adopting digital technologies, and lessons learnt from adopting digital technologies in construction projects. Furthermore, a successful technology adoption process is driven by identifying the drivers and needs of the project and the stakeholders/individuals involved. It is also found that the effects of adopting digital technologies are: (a) re-designing the order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics and (b) accessibility and monitorability of information. Moreover, this thesis proposes an enhanced understanding of the process undertaken by the main construction firms in adopting digital technologies. The thesis complements the knowledge of digital technology adoption by focusing on construction projects. The thesis fills in a knowledge gap by formulating actionable recommendations to main contractor firms and bringing clarity to the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. / Denna avhandling studerar införandet av digital teknik för att förbättra logistikprocesser i byggprojekt. Avhandlingens fokus ligger på byggentreprenören och dess byggprojekt, men även leverantörer, transportföretag och teknikleverantörer beaktas. De logistikprocesser som studeras är order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken. Order-till-leveransprocesser och arbetsplatslogistiken spelar en avgörande roll för att säkerställa tillgången på resurser i produktionsskedet där de behöver levereras i rätt mängd och tid, på rätt plats och utan skador. Produktiviteten i byggprojekt är låg. En orsak till den låga produktiviteten är ineffektiva logistikprocesser som inte förser byggarbetsplatsen med rätt resurser (material, verktyg och maskiner). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser orsakar störningar i byggprojekt till följd av materialbrist, materialöverskott, otillgänglighet, outnyttjad tid (t.ex. vänte- och söktid), samt andra former av slöseri (t.ex. skador på material). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser leder också till betydande förseningar och kostnadsöverskridningar i byggprojekt. Därmed kan förbättrade logistikprocesser bidra till att öka produktivitet i byggprojekt. Samtidigt som att byggentreprenörer behöver ta itu med ineffektiva logistikprocesser står de även inför ett ökat tryck att ta till sig digital teknik. Användning av digital teknik kan förbättra kommunikationen mellan projektintressenter, automatisera byggprocesser samt underlätta datainsamling och visualisering och analys av denna data. Användandet av digital teknik har även rapporterats förbättra hela byggprocessen i termer av projektering, produktion, logistik och upphandling av material och tjänster. Att ta till sig digital teknik är däremot en komplex process som spänner över organisationsgränser. Branschens decentraliserade, projektdrivna karaktär försvårar för byggentreprenörer att ta till sig ny teknik, vilket leder till att insatserna är fragmenterade och görs ad hoc. Dessutom saknas en tydlig bild av för hur byggentreprenörer bör ta till sig ny digital teknik för att öka produktiviteten i byggprojekt. En kunskapslucka i detta sammanhang har varit bristen på praktiska rekommendationer för branschaktörer, till exempel byggentreprenörer. Syftet med denna avhandling att formulera rekommendationer för att ta till sig digital teknik som gör det möjligt för byggentreprenörer att förbättra sina logistikprocesser. Följande forskningsfrågor ska besvaras för att uppfylla avhandlingens syfte: RQ1: Vilka är drivkrafterna och hindren för att införa av digital teknik på projektnivå utifrån byggentreprenörens perspektiv? RQ2: Vilka effekter har införandet av digital teknik på logistikprocesser i byggprojekt? RQ3: Vilka är lärdomarna från att ta till sig av digital teknik i byggprojekt? Resultaten visar på drivkrafter och hinder för att ta till sig digital teknik på i byggprojekt ur ett byggentreprenörsperspektiv, effekterna av att ta till sig digital teknik och lärdomar från att ta till sig digital teknik i byggprojekt. Resultatet visar på att en framgångsrik process för att ta till sig digital teknik kan främjas av att identifiera drivkrafterna och behoven för projektet och de involverade aktörerna/individerna. Det har också visat sig att effekterna av att anta digital teknik är: (a) förändringar av order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken och (b) en förbättrad tillgänglighet och översikt av information. Dessutom bidrar denna avhandling till en ökad förståelse av hur en byggentreprenör tar till sig digital teknik med ett speciellt fokus på kunskap om att ta till sig digital teknik på byggprojekt. Avhandlingen bidrar även genom de praktiska rekommendationer som formulerats för byggentreprenörer och genom att tydliggöra tillvägagångssättet för digital teknikanvändning i syfte att öka byggprojektens produktivitet.