Contribution of the structurationist approach to the adoption of innovation: the case of the egovbat platform[L'approche structurationniste comme cadre intégrateur de compréhension de l'appropriation des innovations : le cas de la plateforme EgovBat]

Despite the many advantages mentioned in the literature and in studies by consulting agencies, the figures show that adoption of dematerialisation by organisations remains far short of expectations. We attempt to understand why, despite these advantages, dematerialisation is not more widely used in B2B, and the factors that incite actors to adopt it. Our study is based on the structurationist approach developed by Giddens (1984, 1987), which is especially interesting as it helps to give us a systemic understanding of relations between the different actors and the adoption mechanisms of technological innovation (Orlikowski, 2000; Poole and De Sanctis, 2004). The study is based on a two-year research contract with EgovBat which involved running a dematerialisation platform trial in the construction industry. Our findings highlight the key role of two actors in the dematerialisation chain which has not been fully adopted by all segments of the construction industry, and the importance of legal norms that are not yet consistent enough for the operational implementation of the platform.