Mindfully Resisting the Bandwagon: Reconceptualising IT Innovation Assimilation in Highly Turbulent Environments

Abstract

Environmental turbulence (ET), as exemplified by the recent financial crisis between 2007 and 2009, leads to a high degree of uncertainty, and fosters mimicry and resulting bandwagon phenomena in information technology (IT) innovation assimilation processes. In these highly turbulent environments, ‘mindless’ IT innovation assimilation by participating organizations plays a major role in the manifestation and facilitation of mimetic influences. Even in less turbulent economic cycles, highly turbulent industries such as the financial services industry have to deal with demanding IT innovation assimilation processes, and are exposed to varying levels of ET and mimicry. Drawing upon the theory of dynamic capabilities, organizational mindfulness (OM) is one viable means to mitigate the potentially negative consequences of mimetic behaviour. Here, mindful organizations are more successful in overcoming situations of high dynamism, and sometimes are even able to exploit them. So far, little empirical research has been conducted to quantify the influence of OM in scenarios of high dynamism and mimicry. On the basis of 302 complete responses from senior IT managers in the financial services industry from the Anglo-Saxon countries (the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom), this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the interaction of OM with institutional pressures against the background of ET.