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Many corporations in recent years have considered outsourcing administrative or non‐essential functions. This reflects both a corporate desire to focus on core functions and growing sophistication among providers of these secondary functions. Rogers Communications Inc., one of Canada’s largest, diversified telecommunications enterprises, considered this option but chose instead to retain and centralise its extensive real estate interests into a single corporate real estate function. The following case study traces Rogers’ experience, from the starting point of distinct real estate portfolios managed by individual operating groups to the end point of a centralised, full‐service, corporate real estate function. It discusses various challenges faced by Rogers during the centralisation process and the corresponding measures and strategies that contributed to a successful outcome. It also suggests useful performance indicators to measure the value contributed by the corporate real estate function.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a reclaiming of the potency of Rogerian listening in organizations. The paper views listening after Rogers, the father of active listening, as a process with potential to re‐enchant organizations and the people who comprise them, in a move away from the popular view and professional training that fosters instrumentalized listening that deadens organizations and crushes the spirit of individuals.

The study employs a text analysis using iterative coding processes and constant comparison. A total of 12 web sites focused on “active listening” in business contexts were analyzed for overlap and divergence with Rogers' descriptors and essential conditions for active listening.

Rogers is almost completely disassociated from his original multi‐sensory conception of listening, which is now reduced to a set of instrumental tips and techniques that help the listener gather data in the interest of achieving preconceived goals. Rarely was Rogers' intention invoked – of understanding in the context of growing a relationship between speaker and listener that was grounded in unconditional positive regard, care, and love.

Though the sample size is limited, it suggests a particular zeitgeist in organizations that inhibits the possibilities of re‐enchantment by shutting down a principle of channel for developing understanding and making connections that can foster novelty and increase collaboration. An awareness of the current reduction of listening being taught in organizations, and the particular ways in which it varies from the richness of Rogers' powerful conception is the first step toward identifying and overcoming the barriers to re‐enchantment at individual and organizational levels.

The prevailing efforts in the literature include listening as one dimension in the broader field of communication skills, and tend to result in recommendations that deepen the instrumental nature of listening in business. This study focuses on listening exclusively, beginning with the origins of Rogers' “active listening,” examining the ways it has been conceptually co‐opted and distorted, as a first step in the process of reclaiming it from the territory of calculated and observable skill.

Seligman noted four topics that Rogers investigated in this pamphlet: the principles that regulate the exchange value of commodities; the wage theory; the incidence of taxes on agricultural products and an analysis of the economic consequences of a commutation of the tithe. This last topic Rogers treated mathematically. Seligman asserted that the appearance of Malthus's Principles of Political Economy in 1820…[gave] rise to an active discussion on some of the fundamental topics in dispute between Ricardo, Say and Malthus…. Most of the essays of the time, however, were concerned with the discussion of the nature and measure of value, and of these the majority based themselves on the theory advocated by Ricardo and McCulloch. (1903, pp. 351–352)

Steven Rogers had always thought that someday he would like to own a business with one or both of his daughters. As his eldest daughter, Akilah, finished her final semester at Harvard Business School, she told Rogers that she would like to create with him a Chicago-based real estate venture that included buying, rehabbing and renting homes in the Englewood and South Shore neighborhoods of Chicago. Rogers quickly realized that his biggest challenge was how to equitably structure the ownership of the business. He gathered advice from family business experts and slowly began to build a plan that would benefit each member of his family. Meanwhile, Akilah assumed responsibilities associated with the business as she finished her final semester at HBS. The case ends with Rogers Family Enterprises owning its first three houses.

1. Students learn how to construct an equitable business ownership plan for a family business. 2. Students learn the agreements that family businesses should have in place. 3. Students learn why successful entrepreneurs tend to be those who control the growth of their company while envisioning an empire.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the adoption or rejection of management accounting innovations (MAIs) in the specific context of small and medium entreprises (SMEs) through a constructivist approach of the theory of the diffusion of innovations.

The paper uses a case study approach during the rollout of two MAIs run by the company’s management controller. One of them was adopted, and the other was rejected. To understand the perception of different actors in the company, the authors carried out 28 semistructured interviews at different periods of time: when the management controller started his job, when he/she was introduced to the two MAIs and at the decision-making to adopt or reject the innovations. The approach of Rogers’ framework is here constructivist. The case study allows us to analyze qualitatively the intrinsic perceived attributes of the innovations as well as the organizational innovativeness and to put them into context.

MAIs are not merely technical innovations but social practices. The relative advantage is necessary but not sufficient for their adoption. This paper also demonstrates the importance of the champion in the specific context of SMEs. This key player in the promotion and adoption of MAIs in SMEs has to be endorsed by the leader of the organization to ensure the innovation’s adoption. In addition, Rogers’ framework underlines that the predominant factor is complexity as both an endogenous and a heterogeneous element, underscoring the information and training that the project’s promoter should organize for the staff.

The main limit is due to the methodological approach (case study): Would these factors be as significant in a completely different sector to management accounting or in another type of enterprise?

The analytical grid combines different organizational and individual factors described by Rogers and provides us with a predictive approach to the innovation’s chances of adoption and the risk of rejection.

Complexity, both as an innovation attribute perceived by individuals and as an internal characteristic of the organization, is a decisive factor in the rejection or adoption decision.

This paper answers to two main research gaps. Most of papers analyze the introduction of one unique innovation in different entities. Here, the authors focus on one entity with two different innovations. In addition, most of papers were retrospective. In this paper, thanks to the case study, the introduction and the process of adoption of two innovations were studied at the time it happened and not after the events had occurred. Moreover, while most papers using Roger’s framework are quantitative, the authors pay attention to the meaning of the different characteristics at different stages and in the specific context of one SME with a constructivist qualitative approach.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

This study examined the casual workplace in the context of diffusion of innovation. The innovation of the casual workplace, the wearing of casual clothing to the office, has had positive effects on most aspects of the corporate culture. Rogers' model of innovation‐decision process (1995) provided the conceptual framework for this study. Questionnaires were sent to human resource executives of US Fortune 500 companies, with 189 executives responding to the mailed survey. Respondents were categorised into one of Rogers’ (1995) adopter categories. Chi‐square goodness‐of‐fit test, chi‐square analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test H1, H2 and H3 respectively. The percentages of the companies that are categorised in each of four adopter categories in this study differed from the percentages in each of five adopter categories in Rogers' (1995) model. Human resource executives’ cognisance of the casual workplace differed on two knowledge components and two casual workplace persuasion components, relative advantage and compatibility. Because the number of Fortune 500 companies adopting casual workplace attire appears to be increasing, the need for this attire continues. Therefore, textile marketers, dry‐cleaners and retailers are challenged to provide products and services to meet consumers' casual workplace apparel needs.

In the construction industry, it has proven difficult to implement and realize innovation efforts, for example in the development of industrialized construction and use of platform concepts. Thus, the purpose of this study is to characterize the innovation diffusion process in the social system of a large Swedish contractor company. Specifically, the diffusion of three innovative industrialized house-building (IHB) platforms and factors affecting their adoption and implementation (particularly effects of their perceived radicality in relation to the company’s decentralized characteristics) are identified and discussed.

A case study approach was applied, using empirical material including semi-structured interviews and archival records (research reports from earlier studies at different points in time related to each innovation and annual corporate reports). The material was analyzed using Rogers’ (2003) five-stage innovation process model, acknowledging the importance of social systems’ structures.

Structural characteristics of the social system strongly affect innovation diffusion. In subsystems that had not been involved in initiation of the innovations, they were regarded as radical, which hindered their adoption and implementation.

This study builds upon the recent findings that successful innovation implementation depends on a range of contingencies in the construction context. Although the diffusion of the innovations per se has been traced over a ten-year period, generalizability is limited because the results come from one construction company.

Contractors have invested substantially in the development of industrialized construction and use of platform concepts, but less in their implementation, so they have obtained little gain. How innovations are perceived and implemented in different subsystems affects the success of their implementation in the overarching social system.

This study adheres to previous calls for more research on firm level in the complex social system of construction companies by adopting a ten-year perspective on the diffusion of innovation at a large contractor addressing in particular the impact of the innovations perceived radicality in relation to the decentralized characteristics of the company.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the criteria influencing the adoption of innovation in the empirical context of renewable residential energy solutions, particularly the wood pellet heating system.

The study carried out an extensive literature review on Rogers’ characteristics of innovation theory and then complemented it with a content analysis on empirically perceived characteristics of wood pellet heating systems.

The literature review shows that most of the previous studies employ the characteristics of innovation but do not confirm the usability of the Rogers framework as a whole. In addition, our empirical results demonstrate that relative advantage is the predominant characteristic in the adoption of residential energy systems.

The limitations of the literature review and the biases of empirical findings are discussed. For instance, there are limitations that the study is based on single country data and its theoretical approach relies on only one theory, Rogers’ characteristics of innovation.

In order to achieve sustainable strategic advantage, firms providing renewable energy solutions should attempt to communicate clearly the relative advantages instead of attempting to, for instance, offer an opportunity for trialling such green energy systems.

The paper highlights the use of characteristics of innovation and further empirically examines the perceived characteristics of an innovation considering green investments in residential heating systems. Owing to the exploratory nature of the study, the results provide a gateway to a number of possible avenues for future research.