Online document editing and collaboration web services: factors influencing adoption

Abstract

Today, online document editing and collaboration (ODEC) web services, such as Google Drive and Zoho, are commonly used to achieve workplace collaboration. They provide unique business advantages at the tactical as well as strategic levels, including harnessing group collaboration, collective intelligence, and improved business processes. The adoption rate has also quickly increased in the last few years. As web services are believed to be a bottom-up phenomenon, this paper empirically examines the perceptions of the new generation. An exploratory factor analysis reveals four factors that drive adoption of document-level collaboration web services: business improvement, day-to-day collaboration, business innovation, and personal use. Business benefits such as collaboration, cost reduction, and collective intelligence find strong recognition. This research is important for academicians as there are few studies that examine what motivates the modern workforce to adopt online document editing and collaboration. A better understanding of the end user perceptions can help organisations shape their initiatives in this regard and improve successful adoption. Technology providers can focus their attention on improving performance on aspects that are important for the business users.