Purpose Previous empirical research on cloud computing (CC) adoption factors has examined the effects of only a small number of firm’s characteristics on CC adoption. The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the effects of a wide set of firm’s characteristics, which concern four important aspects of it, its strategy, processes, personnel and technology, on the propensity to adopt CC. Design/methodology/approach Having as theoretical background the technology, organization and environment (TOE) theory of technological innovation adoption, in combination with Scott-Morton’s framework on firm’s main elements, ten research hypotheses have been developed based on previous CC and management literature. They were tested using data collected through the e-Business W@tch Survey of the European Commission from 676 European firms from three traditional manufacturing sectors. Findings The results reveal three characteristics of a firm that affect positively its propensity to adopt CC for all firm sizes: the adoption of ICT investment reduction strategy, the adoption of product/service innovation strategy and the sophistication of firm’s administration support ICT infrastructure. Furthermore, they reveal four additional characteristics of a firm that affect positively the propensity for CC adoption only in the small firms: the adoption of process innovation strategy, the employment of ICT personnel, as well as the sophistication of firm’s production support and e-sales ICT infrastructures. Research limitations/implications First, this study provides a theoretical foundation for the elaboration of the organizational perspective of the TOE theory of technological innovation adoption, which opens a new stream of CC adoption factors research, investigating the effects of a wide range of firm’s characteristics on CC adoption. Second, based on the above foundation, this study enriches substantially the empirical literature on CC adoption factors. The main limitation of this study is that it has been based on data from only three European manufacturing sectors. Practical implications The findings provide new interesting insights concerning specific firm’s characteristics and therefore internal conditions that increase its propensity for CC adoption, and reveal specific kinds of strategy and ICT infrastructures for which CC is more appropriate and beneficial. Originality/value The authors have developed a theoretical foundation for extending our knowledge concerning the characteristics and internal conditions of firms that favor/promote the adoption of CC, which supports and enables the substantial extension of the existing knowledge base on CC adoption factors. Based on this theoretical foundation, the authors have formulated and tested ten research hypotheses concerning effects of firm’s strategic directions, processes, ICT infrastructures and ICT personnel, which have not been investigated previously, on CC adoption propensity.

中文翻译：

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战略，流程，人员和技术是否会影响公司采用云计算的倾向？

目的先前有关云计算（CC）采用因素的实证研究仅考察了少数公司特征对CC采用的影响。本文的目的是通过实证研究广泛的企业特征的影响，这些特征涉及企业的四个重要方面，即其战略，流程，人员和技术对采用CC的倾向。设计/方法论/方法具有技术创新采用的技术，组织和环境（TOE）理论作为理论背景，结合Scott-Morton关于公司主要要素的框架，在先前的CC和管理文献的基础上提出了十个研究假设。他们通过欧盟委员会电子商务调查从三个传统制造业的676家欧洲公司收集的数据进行了测试。调查结果表明，一个公司的三个特征对所有规模的公司采用CC都有积极影响：采用ICT投资减少战略，采用产品/服务创新战略以及公司管理支持ICT基础设施的复杂程度。此外，它们还揭示了企业的四个附加特征，这些特征仅对小型企业具有积极的影响，即：采用过程创新策略，聘用ICT人员，以及企业的生产支持和电子销售的复杂性，都会对CC的采用产生积极影响。 ICT基础设施。研究局限/含义首先，这项研究为阐述技术创新采用的TOE理论的组织观点提供了理论基础，从而开辟了CC采纳因素研究的新流，研究了企业广泛特征对CC采纳的影响。其次，在上述基础上，本研究极大地丰富了有关CC采纳因素的经验文献。该研究的主要局限性在于它仅基于来自三个欧洲制造业部门的数据。实际意义该发现提供了有关特定公司的特征以及因此增加其采用CC的倾向的内部条件的新的有趣见解，并揭示了CC更适合和有益于特定类型的战略和ICT基础设施。原创性/价值作者为扩展我们对支持/促进采用CC的公司的特征和内部条件的知识奠定了理论基础，这支持并允许基于CC采用因子的现有知识的大量扩展。基于这一理论基础，作者已经制定并测试了关于企业战略方向，流程，ICT基础设施和ICT人员的影响的10个研究假设，这些假设以前没有被研究过，它们对CC采用倾向的影响。它支持并实现了基于CC采用因素的现有知识库的实质扩展。基于这一理论基础，作者已经制定并测试了关于企业战略方向，流程，ICT基础设施和ICT人员的影响的10个研究假设，这些假设以前没有被研究过，它们对CC采用倾向的影响。它支持并实现了基于CC采用因素的现有知识库的实质扩展。基于这一理论基础，作者已经制定并测试了关于企业战略方向，流程，ICT基础设施和ICT人员的影响的10个研究假设，这些假设以前没有被研究过，它们对CC采用倾向的影响。