Criteria explaining adoption of revolutionary business techniques

Purpose The paper aims to identify adoption criteria for “revolutionary” business techniques; based on case material, it invites further research. Design/methodology/approach Building on the idea of scientific revolution, three cases from sub-disciplines of business administration are chosen to illicit adoption criteria for business techniques. Findings The analysis shows that a logical response to a problem, the availability of a controllable procedure, the software and the means to apply the procedure easily, and the hardware, jointly seem to explain the adoption of “revolutionary” business technologies. Research limitations/implications In case analysis in general, the results do not lead to induction. More research might identify additional success criteria. Furthermore, it might lead to determining adoption probabilities of techniques. Practical implications Managers being introduced to new techniques in business administration might use the criteria outlined here for their evaluation. Originality/value The author believes that the paper sheds new light on the development of business technologies and that this light might guide developers of technologies to come up with more potentially successful technologies.