The search for innovators and early adopters of e-collaborative technologies within small and medium sized enterprises in the UK

New product diffusion theory predicts that innovators and early adopters are critical to the success of new innovations. The rate at which enterprises adopt e-Science technologies must therefore rely upon reliable market intelligence so that the critical early stages of adoption are successfully navigated by developers and planners. Failure to understand attitudes towards new technologies can lead to even useful technologies being under-adopted. This paper applies a survey based methodology to develop estimates of demand for web based virtual Collaborative technologies. We show that approximately 76% of the 1029 firms that we interviewed are technologically ready to deploy these technologies. We also show that 10% of all firms are ready look at these technologies as solutions to collaborative problem solving

Entrepreneurs'' attitude towards the computer and its effect on e-business adoption

This paper presents research exploring further the concept that many SMEs do not adopt computer based technologies due to decision maker's negative attitudes towards computers generally. Importantly, by assessing the entrepreneur's belief structure, we provide quantitative evidence how SMEs, particularly micros, are affected. Earlier research that addresses technology acceptance model (TAM) suggests that TAM parameters are particularly influential factors of e-commerce adoption, as perceived by top managers of SMEs. The model we develop is tested using a sample of 655 enterprises. The information was gathered, via a telephone survey of UK SMEs, from decisions makers in the enterprise. Technically, the paper uses k-means cluster analysis to segment respondents using the TAM perceptions, ease of use, usefulness and enjoyment. Based on two determined segments we look at the differential rate of adoption of internet, and the potential adoption of new e-collaborative technologies like video conferencing and electronic whiteboards. The diffusion of internet for low IT utility (LIT) segments was considerably slower than in the high utility segment (HIT). Similarly, the anticipated adoption of e-collaboration technologies was much lower for LIT than HIT. Interestingly, we find that LIT is populated by more micro SMEs than HIT. The results we present are limited however as our sample is considerably underweight in micro SMEs, suggesting that the problem may be much larger in the economy than our model predicts. For policy makers, this research confirms the value of knowledge transfer programs to SMEs in the form of technology support. Our research shows that organisations which have dedicated IT support will tend to be more advanced technologically than those that do not. The implication for entrepreneurs is if they can be persuaded that a technological route is beneficial to them, and that suitable support can be provided via KT, then operational efficiency gains could be made. This paper contributes to knowle

Equilibrium conditions and solution procedures for the production-constrained spatial interaction model with a general attractiveness function

The consequences of imposing the revenue-capacity condition (which can be interpreted as profit maximization) to determine supply patterns in conjunction with the production-constrained spatial interaction model with a general attractiveness function are presented. Convergence of the quasi-balancing factor method is shown to be an insufficient condition for providing an equilibrium solution; three different sets of results are obtained for an illustrative retailing system. Two of these results are shown to be nonoptimal.

A family of tests for a collection of Poisson processes: an application to occupancy transfer

The Poisson process can be considered as an appropriate model for a collection of event streams such as residence histories or dwelling tenure series. However, the statistical analysis of Poisson models is complicated by the possible existence of heterogeneity and nonstationarity, and this paper notes the lack of tests which are available to investigate this. Likelihood ratio tests are developed and applied to some dwelling tenure series.

An examination of the equivalence of three alternative mechanisms for establishing the equilibrium solutions of the production-constrained spatial interaction model

In this paper, three methods for determining the equilibrium points of the production-constrained spatial interaction model are reviewed; these are a balancing mechanism, differential topology, and entropy maximization. Harris and Wilson's examination of the equivalence of the three methods is summarized, and then the conditions under which equivalence can break down are established. A comparison of the results obtained from an application of each method to an often-used two-zone example is also presented.