Successful IS Innovations: The Contingent Contributions of Innovation Characteristics and Implementation Process

This paper develops a contingent model of IS implementation in which the contributions of innovation characteristics and implementation process are contingent upon the implementation context. Different assumptions regarding the implementation context implicit in the innovation characteristics and implementation process theories are identified and a contingent model within which to integrate them is developed. The model is tested within one particular context using data collected from the end-users of an IS innovation introduced in a state health system in Australia. As hypothesized, it is found that, within a context characterized by high individual level impact and low group level impact, the contribution of innovation characteristics to implementation success is higher than that of implementation process. The contingent model is used to explain the null findings for implementation process reported in some previous studies. Implications for research and managerial action are discussed.