Antecedents of Information Privacy Assimilation in Indian IT Organizations: An Empirical Investigation

Information privacy at the organizational level is receiving increased attention due to the huge amount of personal information being stored, transmitted across national boundaries, and ownership being shared between organizations due to change in business dynamics. This study develops a framework for understanding the mechanisms of information privacy assimilation in Information Technology (IT) organizations. There is a great need for investigating the interplay between external forces and internal influencers that impact the privacy assimilation practices within an organization. To fill this gap, we empirically examined the interplay between the external forces and internal influencers following the institutional theory. Specifically, we have examined the nature and relative significance of influencing forces, and the mediating role of senior management participation. Also, the moderating effects of process capability and cultural aspects have been investigated. This study treats information privacy as a distinct dimension separate from information security. Our findings show that mediating role of senior management participation for coercive and normative forces. Mimetic forces appears to have direct impact on assimilation. Also, positive moderating effect of process capability and negative moderating effect of cultural aspects is observed for coercive forces. These findings would enable senior managers identify and respond to institutional pressures by focusing on appropriate factors within the organization.