Title: Adoption of new technologies in the face of economic crises: the case of Ecuador

Authors: Monica Gordillo, Pol Herrmann

Addresses: Department of Management, Iowa State University, 3134 Gerdin Business Building, Ames, IA 50011, USA. ' Department of Management, Iowa State University, 2350 Gerdin Business Building, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Abstract: We draw from resource-dependence theory to study main factors influencing adoption of new technologies in Ecuador. Based on a field survey of managers conducted in 1995 and in 2001, we found that strategic variables are major factors that motivate adoption of technology and variables indicating lack of resources are most likely to retard it. Additionally, strategic variables are consistently considered more important than organisational variables, whereas lack-of-resources variables are seen as more important than implementation-related variables. However, after a series of economic crises, the importance attributed to strategy has diminished as the national economy and costs increasingly inhibit the adoption of new technologies.

Keywords: innovation; new technologies; technology adoption; perceptions; less developed countries; resource dependence; Ecuador; strategic variables.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2005.006528

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2005 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.251 - 268

Published online: 20 Mar 2005 *

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