On Strategy, Typologies and the Adoption of Technological Innovations in Industrial Markets

This paper investigates the role of strategy in the timing of adoption of technological innovation by industrial firms. In the course of this investigation we bring together and consolidate theoretical insights and empirical evidence from diverse yet fundamentally related streams of research. Strategy is placed within the wider context of the many factors that have been found to influence the timing of a firm's decision to adopt a technological innovation, and conjectures about its precise role are debated. The paper concludes with suggestions towards a synthesis of the highly fragmented work in the area, and identifies key directions for research aimed at a better understanding of the innovation adoption decision in contemporary firms and the interrelationships of the many factors influencing this decision.