Managers′ Beliefs about Factors Affecting the Adoption of Technological Innovation : A Study Using Cognitive Maps

Success in appropriating technological innovations is likely to be a key factor in maintaining a firm′s competitive advantage. Managers′ cognitions, or belief systems, play an important role in the decision‐making process that leads to the adoption of innovations, but research in this area has been neglected. Reports on a cognitive mapping methodology that has been used to reveal managers′ beliefs about the causes and effects of a particular type of technological innovation. These managers′ beliefs are compared with suggestions made in the academic literature about the factors that influence a firm′s level of innovation and some interesting differences are discussed. Concludes by examining the potential for cognitive mapping techniques to be used as practical tools to assist managers in their decision making.