Technology Acceptance in the Thai Public Sector: A Manager’s Perspective

This Ph.D. thesis proposes to develop and theorise a model for the process of technology and innovation acceptance and decision making with the individual manager in public organisations as the unit of analysis. Technology and innovation acceptance has been widely researched in the context of end-user acceptance, which has focused on various factors affecting their behaviour. However, such research has not been undertaken in the context of those occupying a managerial position. Thus, this thesis is centred on how managers accept and adopt a new technology in their organisation. The main focus is managers because they are the key decision-makers in an organisation. The nature of such technology and innovation acceptance has features that are different from that of general users and requires further investigation. In this case, managers have the important role of choosing a new technology and innovation for their organisation, or they can provide recommendations to top management regarding the adoption of technology if they are not in the position to decide. In particular, this qualitative study focuses on the middle management position, and investigates the various factors that come to affect and impact on the acceptance and application of technology by middle managers. The core theoretical contribution of this research is a model for understanding technology acceptance by managers, which is based on findings from this research together with ideas from previous studies. The model combines psychological notions, the concept of attitude towards technology and also various impact of innovation factors on an organisation. It explains the decision making of managers in order to understand the overall knowledge employed in technology acceptance up to the point of adoption and investment in a technology within an organisation., Uniquely, this study also helps to reveal why managers in some instances do not bring technology in to use even though they recognise that it may be used to solve problems or be useful in other ways. The model developed in the study can help increase organisational performance in relation to technology adoption management via understanding managerial thinking and decision-making processes.