Our research focuses on environmental factors thought to play a role in the way ITIL is adopted. Specifically, does geographic location, size, or industry sector play a role in the way ITIL is adopted?
Valuable insights have been gained from previous IS research that used institutional theory as a basis for studies on adoption and diffusion. In fact, Mignerat and Rivard [2009] identified fifty-three IS studies that used institutional theory as a foundation. In studies closely related to this work, Bala and Venkatesh [2007] investigated business process adoption; Backhouse, Hsu, and Silva [2006] reported the evolution of the security standard ISO 17799; and Nickerson and Zur Muehlen [2006] focused on Internet standards. Institutional theory was used by Magnusson and Oskarrson [2008] to explore the behaviour of CIOs in relation to IT governance and by Hu and Quan [2006] to consider IT budgeting. Orlikowski and Barley [2001] also acknowledged the contribution of institutional theory to IT literature.