Research Notes: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead: Effects of Prior Success on Managers' Interpretations of New Information Technologies

Abstract

We investigated the effects of a company's success with using an existing information technology (IT) on its managers' strategic issue interpretations of new information technologies in their industry. We found that success with an existing IT resulted in a positive bias in managers' interpretations of new ITs. This bias was stronger among managers who had greater amounts of experience with the existing technology and among managers whose companies did not engage in proactive information seeking about new information technologies.