Effect of social identity on supply chain technology adoption of small businesses.

Research on information technology adoption increasingly focuses on the interactive and temporal aspects of this process. This paper addresses the research gaps in information technology adoption process by which small agri-businesses bond in to a managed supply chain and with their social network. We draw on theories of social institutional isomorphism, organizational culture, and diffusion of innovation as a basis to hypothesize on the inter- and intra-organizational process relevant to information technology adoption. The small agricultural businesses engaged in food traceability technology in Taiwan serve as a sample for this study. A total of 81 valid responses of small agriculture business are obtained for data analysis, using partial least square methods. Our findings show that rather than focus on the adoption attributes of relative advantage and complexity small business are socialized by their network, in a way that instructs their business process. For small business, therefore, technology adoption is a question of maintaining a social identity within the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]