Dynamic capabilities approach to information communication technology adoption in SMEs

Since the 1980s, a substantial number of theories have been developed on ICT adoption. While these theories have contributed extensively in ICT adoption studies, they have always regard ICT adoption as a one-off action and focuses on factors affecting the decision making at one particular decision point. These theories have ignored the fact that as decision to adopt progresses at one particular stage, they may be challenged or influenced by same or different factors across stages. The paper examines the dynamic process of ICT adoption using the concepts of dynamic capabilities a n d e m p l o y s a qualitative approach to investigate how UK services SMEs constantly engage in ICT adoption. A framework was derived based on the concepts of dynamic capabilities with a t o t a l o f 26 interviews and critical adoption factors were unveiled. The findings suggest that using ANT to examine the process of Emerging Information Communication Technology (EICT) adoption helps to unveil the recursive nature of the process and how the factors vary at both single and multiple stages of adoption. This paper presents and discusses the key findings.

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