Abstract

The adoption of Information Systems (IS) has been, and is predicted to remain, one of the key topics for IS research and practice. Despite the extensive and rich insights provided across IS literature streams, there remains a significant amount of IS implementation projects that struggle with adoption and benefits realization. This paper argues that a knowledge gap exists because research has paid little attention to the definition, manifestations, and effects of adoption management. The article proposes a definition and reviews findings related to adoption management at the cross-section of the adoption and benefits management literatures. The article answers the research questions: What findings on managing adoption do the adoption and the benefits management literature provide? How do the adoption and the benefits management literatures differ in their examination of managing adoption? What limitations in relation to managing adoption are identified when combining adoption literature and benefits management literature? Through a systematic literature review, the findings show that adoption management is constructed across the two literature streams as practices, tools, and supportive contexts. While some articles treat adoption management in their core sections, many focus on adoption management as an after-thought in the discussion section, and none of the articles explicitly labels it adoption management. We discuss these and other gaps and provide avenues for future research.

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