A conceptual framework of the adoption of innovations in organizations: a meta-analytical review of the literature

Abstract

Studies on the adoption of innovations in organizations are abundant and have introduced many different factors that are likely to influence adoption decisions yet, somehow, without an integrated view among them and with somehow contradictory empirical results. This study introduces a conceptual framework in which the attributes of innovation–adoption decision linkages in organizations are mediated by both the behavioral preferences of managers and organizations’ resources and moderated by the innovation life cycle. It further meta-analytically tests the framework’s predictions on 185 primary empirical studies. The findings are expected to contribute to the literature on the adoption of innovations by deepening the theoretical conditions and empirical factors that are likely to influence adoption decisions in organizations. The study also has implications for practice, since it sheds light on the factors that practitioners can leverage to manage the diffusion of innovations.