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Risk avoidance in strategic technology adoption

J. Pedro Mendes (Department of Engineering Management and Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)
Miguel Marques (Department of Highways and Public Works, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada)
Carlos Guedes Soares (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)

Journal of Modelling in Management

ISSN: 1746-5664

Article publication date: 12 March 2024

Issue publication date: 11 October 2024

236

Abstract

Purpose

Organizational technologies can be classified according to the roles they play as either commodity or strategic. Commodity technologies support common operations, while strategic technologies address perceived threats to competitiveness, often identified by strategic foresight. These must go through an adoption process before playing an effective role in strategy execution. The adoption process includes known activities, ranging from sourcing (itself from in-house development to turn-key acquisition) to operational integration. This paper aims to reveal strategic technology adoption risks that arise during strategy execution.

Design/methodology/approach

A gradually developed causal loop diagram model, supported by general literature, introduces three general classes of technology adoption risks: mismatched requirements, supplier dependence and unmanaged life cycles.

Findings

Rather than managed, these risks are incurred or avoided depending on decisions made during the adoption process.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the scarce literature coverage for the approach, examples revealing the presence of adoption risks are nevertheless available in the well-documented history of enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Practical implications

Although ERP is presented as a general-purpose strategic technology, the unique business features of maritime container terminals pose serious challenges to its adoption, which provides additional support to the discussion and reinforces the conclusions.

Originality/value

The approach to identifying risks in strategic technology adoption departs from the current risk paradigm in two significant ways. First, it emphasizes policy decision-making rather than external events. Second, it views risks as systemic rather than occurring independently.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by the Strategic Research Plan of the Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENT EC), financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – FCT).

Citation

Mendes, J.P., Marques, M. and Guedes Soares, C. (2024), "Risk avoidance in strategic technology adoption", Journal of Modelling in Management, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 1485-1509. https://doi.org/10.1108/JM2-10-2023-0221

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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