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Enablers and inhibitors of cloud computing assimilation: an empirical study

Nianxin Wang (Department of Information Management, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China)
Huigang Liang (Department of Business Information and Management, Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA)
Shilun Ge (Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China)
Yajiong Xue (Department of Management Information Systems, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA)
Jing Ma (Kean University – Wenzhou Campus, Wenzhou, China)

Internet Research

ISSN: 1066-2243

Article publication date: 21 March 2019

Issue publication date: 14 November 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand what inhibit or facilitate cloud computing (CC) assimilation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigate the effects of two enablers, top management support (TMS) and government support (GS), and two inhibitors, organization inertia (OI) and data security risk (DSR) on CC assimilation. The authors posit that enablers and inhibitors influence CC assimilation separately and interactively. The research model is empirically tested by using the field survey data from 376 Chinese firms.

Findings

Both TMS and GS positively and DSR negatively influence CC assimilation. OI negatively moderates the TMS–assimilation link, and DSR negatively moderates the GS–assimilation link.

Research limitations/implications

The results indicate that enablers and inhibitors influence CC assimilation in both separate and joint manners, suggesting that CC assimilation is a much more complex process and demands new knowledge to be learned.

Practical implications

For these firms with a high level of OI, only TMS is not enough, and top managers should find other effective way to successfully implement structural and behavioral change in the process of CC assimilation. For policy makers, they should actively play their supportive roles in CC assimilation.

Originality/value

A new framework is developed to identify key drivers of CC assimilation along two bipolar dimensions including enabling vs inhibiting and internal vs external.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research is partly supported by the Key Program of National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71331003) and the General Program of National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 71471079, 71471080, 71302140 and 71371013).

Citation

Wang, N., Liang, H., Ge, S., Xue, Y. and Ma, J. (2019), "Enablers and inhibitors of cloud computing assimilation: an empirical study", Internet Research, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 1344-1369. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-03-2018-0126

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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