Increasing rate of diffusion of innovation in supply chain: targeting the early adopters in UK supply chain

Sir Yee Lee, Ming Lim, Dave Food, Jiayao Hu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceedingpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Innovations (technology and software) had revolutionized the modern supply chain and bring numerous benefits. Nevertheless, not all party in a supply chain is ready to embrace and adopt the innovations when they are first released due to the substantial risk and uncertainty. Early adopters however are bold enough to take the risk in trying an innovation and later lead the late adopters in using the said innovation, which also act as a motivator in helping to spread and diffuse that innovation. This research aimed to look for characteristics of early adopters in UK supply chain at the firm level, specifically within purchasing of software innovation. It is discovered that the early adopters in UK supply chain fit the description that was put forward by various researchers stating that early adopters are quick, bold and take the risk in purchasing a new software that is just released to the market even if they are expensive. They will advise other company to buy a good software. They however do not exhibit clear traits in their company profile, in terms of size, age and type of industry. The profile of the purchasing manager(s) in the firm also fail to exhibit distinct characteristics in term of gender and age. The media habit and software usage, as well as methods to gather information about new software, however reveal some positive results. They are willing to join any group in social media and they use most social media apart from LinkedIn.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Production Management Systems. Smart Manufacturing for Industry 4.0
Subtitle of host publicationIFIP WG 5.7 International Conference, APMS 2018, Seoul, Korea, August 26-30, 2018, Proceedings, Part II
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages209-214
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-319-99707-0
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-99706-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
EventAdvances in Production Management System 2018 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 26 Aug 201830 Aug 2018

Publication series

NameIFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
Volume536
ISSN (Print)1868-4238
ISSN (Electronic)1868-422X

Conference

ConferenceAdvances in Production Management System 2018
Abbreviated titleAPMS 2018 International Conference
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period26/08/1830/08/18

Keywords

  • Early adopter
  • Supply chain
  • Diffusion of innovations

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