The interplay between structural rigidity and uptake of innovation-a critical examination of infusion of innovation in the stockbroking sector

In the studies concerned with the uptake of innovation, the process of diffusion and subsequent uptake of technological innovations is seen as a direct outcome of communication between users of an innovation and the potential adopters. Rogers (1995) explains that innovation spreads across a population of organisations beginning with the initial awareness of the innovation, and progressing to its formal adoption and full scale development. Diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) was employed to explore the adoption of information systems (IS) technologies in the listing, sales and clearance processes in the Australian stockbroking sector. The research revealed that in rule-bound industries such as the stockbroking sector, the adoption of IS technologies occur in the context of two dimensions: (1) a wave of standardisation perpetuated by the sector’s governing bodies followed with (2) individual firms’ strategic differentiation. The differentiation phase initiates after strict adherence to the overall rules and regulations devised by the sector’s governing bodies. In addition, the demands of the customer groups influence the direction of change in the composition of the sector.