IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v28y2007i12p1167-1185.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Follow the small? Information‐revealing adoption bandwagons when observers expect larger firms to benefit more from adoption

Author

Listed:
  • Ann Terlaak
  • Andrew A. King

Abstract

We extend understanding of information‐revealing bandwagons by considering a common condition under which adoption of a practice by small organizations, rather than large ones, has a disproportionate influence on future adoption propensities. We hypothesize that when the value of adoption increases with organizational size, smaller adopters have such disproportionate influence because they allow observers better to infer that adoption will be profitable for their own organization. We elaborate the theory by predicting that alternative information sources moderate the influence of smaller adopters. Empirically, we test our theory with longitudinal data on the adoption of the ISO 9000 quality management standard. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann Terlaak & Andrew A. King, 2007. "Follow the small? Information‐revealing adoption bandwagons when observers expect larger firms to benefit more from adoption," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(12), pages 1167-1185, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:28:y:2007:i:12:p:1167-1185
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.636
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.636?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Davide Secchi & Nicole L. Gullekson, 2016. "Individual and organizational conditions for the emergence and evolution of bandwagons," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 88-133, March.
    2. Fabrizio Zerbini, 2017. "CSR Initiatives as Market Signals: A Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Odlin, Denis, 2019. "Domestic competitor influence on internationalizing SMEs as an industry evolves," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 119-136.
    4. Manish Popli & Ashutosh Sinha, 2014. "Determinants of early movers in cross-border merger and acquisition wave in an emerging market: A study of Indian firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 1075-1099, December.
    5. Hart E. Posen & Dirk Martignoni & Daniel A. Levinthal, 2013. "E Pluribus Unum: Organizational Size and the Efficacy of Learning," DRUID Working Papers 13-09, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    6. Hsieh, Kai-Yu & Hyun, Eunjung (E.J.), 2018. "Matching response to competitors' moves under asymmetric market strength," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 202-212.
    7. Daisuke Uchida, 2021. "The consequence of differences: How heterogeneity in practice adaptations affects the diffusion process," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 209-230, March.
    8. Hoang, Phi Cong & McGuire, William & Prakash, Aseem, 2018. "Reducing Toxic Chemical Pollution in Response to Multiple Information Signals: The 33/50 Voluntary Program and Toxicity Disclosures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 193-202.
    9. Narayanan, V.K. & Chen, Tianxu, 2012. "Research on technology standards: Accomplishment and challenges," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1375-1406.
    10. Berg, S. & Wustmans, M. & Bröring, S., 2019. "Identifying first signals of emerging dominance in a technological innovation system: A novel approach based on patents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 706-722.
    11. Joseph A. Clougherty, & Michał Grajek, & Oz Shy, 2016. "Taking ‘some’ of the mimicry out of the adoption process: Quality management and strategic substitution," ESMT Research Working Papers ESMT-16-05, ESMT European School of Management and Technology.
    12. Henrich R. Greve & Marc-David L. Seidel, 2015. "The thin red line between success and failure: Path dependence in the diffusion of innovative production technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 475-496, April.
    13. Clougherty, Joseph A. & Grajek, Michał, 2023. "Decertification in quality-management standards by incrementally and radically innovative organizations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    14. Yoo Jung Ha, 2021. "Foreign multinational enterprises and eco-innovation in local firms: the effect of imitation," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(4), pages 488-517, September.
    15. Clougherty, Joseph A. & Grajek, Michal & Shy, Oz, 2016. "Taking ‘Some’ of the Mimicry Out of the Adoption Process: Quality-Management and Strategic Substitution," CEPR Discussion Papers 11661, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Fuentelsaz, Lucio & Gómez, Jaime & Palomas, Sergio, 2016. "Interdependences in the intrafirm diffusion of technological innovations: Confronting the rational and social accounts of diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 951-963.
    17. Chang Liu & Dan Li, 0. "Divestment response to host-country terrorist attacks: Inter-firm influence and the role of temporal consistency," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-16.
    18. Chang Liu & Dan Li, 2020. "Divestment response to host-country terrorist attacks: Inter-firm influence and the role of temporal consistency," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(8), pages 1331-1346, October.
    19. van den Oever, Koen, 2017. "Uncharted waters : A behavioral approach to when, why and which organizational changes are adopted," Other publications TiSEM 0136c8c2-ecdd-4f82-8ca7-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:28:y:2007:i:12:p:1167-1185. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.