Leading by Example: The Importance of Early Adopter Experimentation for Emerging Technologies Diffusion

Information technology management regularly grapples with decisions related to identifying and diffusing emerging technologies in their organizations. Prototyping methodology, a form of rapid application development, is usually suggested as a useful approach for custom systems development. An adapted form of the prototyping methodology may prove useful for understanding early adopter experimentation episodes in the context of new technology diffusion. A case study examines one university that utilized early adopters to initiate the diffusion of an emerging collaborative technology. Implications for practice and research are discussed