Browsing by Subject "adoption"
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Item Business-to-business electronic marketplaces: membership and use drivers(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Koch, Hope ArleneBusiness-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) are one of the most heralded developments in recent years. These marketplaces bring together businesses buying and selling goods and services in an online buying community. E-marketplaces promise to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement activities by replacing traditional manual processes with automated electronic procedures and by expanding the number of available trading partners. Despite the technology availability and the high potential benefits, very few e-marketplaces have succeeded. This three-year study identifies and investigates two major B2B e-marketplace stumbling blocks: attracting a sufficient number of members, and then influencing these members to use the e-marketplace. This investigation uses a variety of qualitative techniques to solicit information from nearly fifty executives representing four B2B e-marketplaces with contrasting membership and use levels. Within each e-marketplace, the study solicited information from high and low use organizations, buying and selling organizations, and a nonparticipant organization. The interview data was analyzed using line-by-line analysis from grounded theory. The analysis involved assimilating the unique stories of each manager into drivers that affect e-marketplace membership or use. These drivers were then compared to membership levels and/or use levels. The analysis resulted in three research models. Each research model is a data-driven representation of factors driving B2B e-marketplace membership, B2B e-marketplace use, and a particular organization's B2B e-marketplace use. Each model contains several unique drivers and offers a comprehensive picture of what is happening in e-marketplaces. These findings enhance management's understanding of e-marketplaces, their role in business, their challenges, and ways of overcoming these challenges in order to reap the benefits of e-marketplace participation. This study brings one of the first grounded theory investigations of B2B e-marketplace membership and use to the limited academic research in this area. This research offers insights to a number of theories, including transaction cost economics, institutional theory, resource dependency theory, and public goods theory.Item Factors determining the adoption or non-adoption of precision agriculture by producers across the cotton belt(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Lavergne, Christopher BernardThe purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing cotton producer adoption of Precision Agriculture in the cotton belt according to members of the American Cotton Producers of the National Cotton Council. The National Research Council??s Board on Agriculture defines Precision Agriculture (PA) as ??a management strategy that uses information technologies to bring data from multiple sources to bear on decisions associated with crop production.?? For the purpose of this study, Precision Agriculture technologies included yield monitors, global positioning units, variable rate applicators, and similar components. Many studies have found that adoption of Precision Agriculture can be profitable for agricultural producers. However, the fact that Precision Agriculture is relatively new and unproven hinders rapid adoption by agricultural producers. According to the National Research Council Board of Agriculture widespread adoption relies on economic gains outweighing the costs of the technology. This study attempted to find the factors associated with adoption of these technologies in the cotton belt. The sample population consisted of cotton producer representatives from the leading cotton-producing states. A Delphi approach was utilized to establish a consensus of cotton producer perceptions of the advantages of adopting Precision Agriculture technologies. Advantages included more accurate farming (i.e., row spacing, reduced overlap, and cultivation). Barriers to adoption were also documented, questioning employee capability to operate equipment, learning curve, technology complexity, and uncertain return on investment.Item Predictors of the likelihood of adoption among U.S. women by race and ethnicity(2009-05-15) Klucsarits, Christine ElizabethThis thesis utilizes a series of seven logistic regression models to examine the predictors of the likelihood of adoption among U.S. women based on the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle 6. The individual characteristics that have been found most influential in determining adoption behavior in past studies were examined, including age at the time of the interview, parity, fecundity status, and socioeconomic status. A special focus was placed upon the relationship between the race and ethnicity of a woman and her adoption behavior, which has received limited attention in the adoption literature. The results of this analysis suggest that the main determinants of adoption are undergoing change. While findings on the relationship between a woman?s age and her likelihood of adoption are consistent with past research, the relationships of parity, marital status, fecundity status and socioeconomic status with adoption behavior each exhibit surprising developments. Additionally, the results of this analysis reveal that race and ethnicity are important variables in terms of the adoption behavior of U.S. women. The implications of these results, as well as the need for more comprehensive adoption data, are also discussed.Item The Adoption of Ultrasound Technology for Pregnancy Determination by New Mexico Cow-Calf Producers(2015-01-23) Lucas, Jessica JaneThe purpose of this study was to identify and describe the diffusion process and the rate of adoption of bovine ultrasound pregnancy determination by New Mexico cattle producers. The researcher from Texas A&M University and Caren Cowan from the New Mexico Cattle Producers Association collaborated on this work. Conclusions were drawn to provide suggestions on increasing the diffusion of ultrasound technology in New Mexico. Data were collected from a sample of 99 producers in the state. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages of nominal data and means and standard deviations of intervally-scaled variables were employed to describe the sample of producers and their levels of familiarity and use of ultrasound technology. The following were among the findings. Of the producers surveyed, most are using rectal palpation as their primary means of pregnancy determination. A small percentage of producers have adopted ultrasound and are using ultrasound alone, while another small percentage are using ultrasound in combination with other technologies to determine pregnancy in their herd. The diffusion process for ultrasound has begun and for some, it has been adopted. A plurality of producers are aware of the technology and know that it exists, with only a small percentage stating that they did not have any knowledge of the technology?s existence. Most producers were not aware of other producers who use ultrasound but would consider using ultrasound themselves. Producers learned about ultrasound from a veterinarian or their friends with only a very small percentage learning about the technology from an extension agent/extension specialist. Producers stated that they are not in contact with an extension agent/extension specialist about their cattle operation. The producers identified that their primary barrier to the adoption of ultrasound is the cost of the veterinarian/technician to perform the procedure. Recommendations were made based on these findings for use by the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service and the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association seeking to effect change by the diffusion of new innovations.