Organizational determinants of IT adoption in the pharmaceutical distribution sector^†

^†This article is dedicated to the victims of 14 nationalities that lost their lives or were injured in the infamous terrorist attack in Madrid on 11 March 2004.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose new organizational factors that might explain the differences in the extent and the speed of IT adoption. With this in mind, we carried out an analysis of 16 cases in the pharmaceutical distribution sector in Spain. The results indicate that there are certain intangible assets that favour the introduction and development of IT. Among these are a frank and fluid communication between departments and members of the organization, low levels of conflict, the explicit support of top management towards IT adoption and learning and creative skills of IT-staff. In addition to these factors, we found others that we propose as catalysts of IT adoption. Among these we might mention the special relationship between the member-clients and the company in the case of cooperative firms.

Keywords:

• IT adoption
• intangible resources
• success or failure of IT adoption
• cooperative firms

Acknowledgements

We thank EJIS Associate Editor and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments. We also appreciate the assistance of Antonio Padilla and Ana R. del Águila in the research process.

Notes

^† This article is dedicated to the victims of 14 nationalities that lost their lives or were injured in the infamous terrorist attack in Madrid on 11 March 2004.

¹ The formula used is x̄ – (x_i–x̄), where x̄ is the mean value of the variable, N_j in this case.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sebastián Bruque-Cámara

About the authors

Sebastian Bruque is a full-time professor of Business Administration in technological firms. He is currently working at the Department of Business Administration, Accounting and Sociology in the University of Jaen (Spain). His main research interests are: IT use and competitive advantage, IT productivity paradox and cultural differences impact on IT management. He has articles in the International Journal of Information Technology, the Journal of High Technology Management Research, Technovation, Strategic Analysis and Technology Management and the Internet Research Journal. He has been a visitor researcher in the Nijmegen School of Management in the Netherlands.

Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez

Alfonso Vargas is a full-time professor at the Spanish University of Huelva. He has taught different subjects in the field of Strategic Management, both in degree courses and postgraduate courses and doctorate programs. He has been distinguished by the University of Huelva with the Teaching Excellence Diploma 2002/2003. His basic research is oriented towards Strategic Management and Knowledge Management, which is complemented with applied research focused, as main lines, on Social Economy (management of agricultural coops), and tourism sector, more recently. He has had several books published, and he is also the author of several articles published in journals and other scientific means; moreover, he has presented numerous papers in national and international conferences. Mr. Vargas has carried out academic activities, both in researching and in teaching, in different Spanish, European and South American Universities and Centers. At present, he is the Head of the Department of Business Administration and Marketing at the University of Huelva.

M. Jesús Hernández-Ortiz

Maria Jesús Hernández is a chair in Management and the Head of the Department of Business Administration, Accounting and Sociology of the University of Jaen, Spain. Her main research interests are corporative management and organizational development in SMEs, mainly cooperative firms and family firms. She has focused on qualitative research methods. Professor Hernández is currently the Head of a research group on cooperative firms management made up by researchers from several Spanish universities. She is the author or co-author of chapters, books and articles in Spain and abroad. She has published in the Journal of High Technology Management Research and Strategic Analysis and Technology Management.