Motivations for Inter-Organisational Systems Adoption: A Framework and Initial Case Study

Despite the potential of inter-organisational systems (IOS) to improve organisational effectiveness, their uptake is slow. Many studies have investigated the slow diffusion of IOS and have identified some success factors. We however argue that adoption of IOS is also contingent upon the motivations of organisations. In this paper, we present a framework that proposes four generic types of IOS adopters, identifies the actions that are likely to be undertaken by these adopters, and predicts the possible outcomes. We also demonstrate a case of a “Passive IOS Follower” adopter and argue that the activities undertaken by this organisation to adopt EDI are consistent with our predictions, thus providing evidence in support of part of the framework.