Research Article

Understanding the Complex Adoption Behavior of Cloud Services by SMEs Based on Complexity Theory: A Fuzzy Sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)

Table 1

Empirical research on cloud service adoption.

ResourcesTheory basisMethodologyAdoption (DV)Determinants (IV)

[17]No specific theory is usedPLSIntention to adopt CCPerceived accessibility, perceived scalability, perceived cost-effectiveness, perceived lack of security
[18]TAMPLSBehavioral intentionSocial influence, attitude toward mobile innovation, perceived benefits, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, behavioral intention, marketing efforts, security, and trust
[19]TOE, DOI, INTNo specific methodology is used.Intention to adopt cloudAvailability, reliability, security, privacy, trust, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, top management support, organization size, technology readiness, compliance with regulations, competitive pressure, trading partner pressure, physical location
[5]TOERegression analysisCC adoptionRelative advantage, complexity, compatibility, top management support, firm size, technology readiness, competitive pressure, trading partner pressure
[20]TAM3Path analysisActual usage of CCAccess to software, ease of travel, personal innovativeness, technology anxiety, instructor support, reliability, usefulness, ease of use
[21]TOESEMIntention to adopt CCCloud security, compatibility, reliability and availability, extendibility of existing APPs to cloud, compliance policy, lack of IT standards, business scalability, cost flexibility, market adaptability, hidden complexity, share best practices, adopter’s style
[22]No specific theory is usedPLSUsage and adoption of CCReliability, ease of use and convenience, cost reduction, sharing and collaboration, security and privacy
[23]TOE, DOISEMCC adoptionRelative advantage, complexity, compatibility, security concerns, cost savings, technology readiness, top management support, firm size, competitive pressure, regulatory support
[24]TOEAnalysis of varianceThe adoption decision of CCCIO innovativeness, perceived technical competence, data security, complexity, compatibility, cost, relative advantage, top management’s support, adequate resource, benefits, government policy, perceived industry pressure
[25]TOESEMCloud adoption intentionPerceived benefits, business concerns, IT capability, external pressure
[26]TOESemistructured interviewsIntention to adopt cloudAvailability, reliability, security, privacy, trust, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, top management support, organization size, technology readiness, compliance with regulations, competitive pressure, trading partner pressure, physical location
[27]TOESEMAttitude toward SaaS, intention to use SaaSIT infrastructure, top management support, relative advantage, simplicity, compatibility, experience ability, competitor pressure, partner pressure
[28]TOEPLSCC adoptionRelative advantage, complexity, compatibility, management support, vendor lock, data concern, government regulation, peer pressure
[29]TOE, DOIBinomial test, fuzzy AHPSaaS adoptionRelative advantage, competitive pressure, security and privacy, sharing and collaboration culture, social influence, compatibility, IT resource, observability, complexity, trialability
[7]TOESEMCloud service transformation intentionReliability, information security, institutional pressure, structure assurance, vendor scarcity, size, international scope, IT competence, entrepreneurship
[30]No specific theory is usedHierarchical multiple regression analysisCloud service adoption intentionRelative advantage, compatibility, observability, trialability, perceived complexity, subjective norms, new technology self-efficacy, network externality
[31]TOEAnalysis of variance, PLSA firm’s intention to adopt CC servicesRelative advantage, ease of use, compatibility, trialability, observability; security, firm size, global scope, financial costs, satisfaction with existing IS, competition intensity, regulatory environment
[32]TAMQuantitative researchRespondents’ intention to use CCPerceived ease of use, personal innovativeness, threat and high scores in respondents’ challenge, self-efficacy, openness to experience, computer competence, and in social media use
[33]No specific theory is usedStructural-equations modelAdoption on public CCAlignment, adaptation, security, cost-effectiveness, operational risk, IT compliance, management/controlling power
[34]SLA, DOI, trust theory, TAMDescriptive analysis, CFA, correlation analysis, fsQCA, SEMCloud service adoption intentionTrust of firms concerning cloud services, perceived usefulness of loud service, trust in cloud service, foundation characteristics specific to cloud service, perceived compatibility regarding cloud service, perceived relative advantage regarding cloud services
[35]DOI, TAMSEMIntention to adopt CC, actual usage of CCAwareness, cost-effectiveness, risk, data security, infrastructure, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, trialability, results demonstrable, ease of use, usefulness, sociocultural
[36]TOE, DOI, INTPLSThree stage of SaaS diffusion: Intention, adoption, routinizationRelative advantage, compatibility, complexity, technology competence, top management support, coercive pressures, normative pressures, mimetic pressures
[15]No specific theory is usedSEM, EFA, CFACC adoptionSecurity, need, cost saving, supplier availability, integration, maintenance, virtualization, reliability, performance
[37]TOE, INT, PVTSEMThe intention to adopt SaaS, the adoption of SaaSRepresentation capability of SaaS, reach capability of SaaS, monitoring capability of SaaS, technology competence, top management support, coercive pressure, normative pressure, mimetic pressures
[38]DOI, TAMSPSS, SEMThe intent to adopt CC, actual usage of CCAwareness, upfront cost saving, running cost, risk, data security, availability of good information and communications technology infrastructure, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, trialability, results demonstrable, ease of use, usefulness, sociocultural factors, the age of the university, the size of the university, the location of the university, the age of university information and communications technology experts and decision-makers
[39]TAMSEMBehavioral intention to usePerceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, top management support, training, communication, technological complexity, organization size
[40]No specific theory is usedSEM, CFAThe level of CC adoptionR&D institutions over an organization, the influence of technology providers, public administration on a given organization, managers’ awareness of killer applications based on cloud computing, managers’ awareness of success cases in cloud computing
[41]TOE, grounded theoryCodingE-Government cloud adoptionComparative advantage, technological concern, cloud provider characteristic, cloud provider competence, cloud provider presence, top management support, organization inertia, the scale and complexity of information resource, policy and regulation, industry standards, competition pressure, requirement of citizen, best practice, financial fund, initial trust, perceived benefit-based trust
[42]TOESEM, artificial neural networkCC adoptionPerceived IT security risk, risk analysis, technology innovation, usage of technology, industry usage, trust, management style
[43]TOEPLSSaaS adoptionCoercive pressures, normative pressures, mimetic pressures, technology competence, top management support
[12]TOE, DOIQuantitative analysis, logistic regressionCC adoptionManager cloud computing expertise, employee’s know-how, perceived business benefit, cost reduction, security and privacy, cooperation with cloud providers, the government support, employee’s information access, manager’s innovation capacity, trialability

CC, Cloud computing; DV, Dependent Variable; IV, Independent Variable; SEM, Structural-equations model; EFA, Exploratory factor analysis; CFA, Confirmatory factor analysis; PLS, Partial Least Squares; TAM, Technology Acceptance Model; TOE, Technology-Organization-Environment; DOI, Diffusion of Innovation; INT, Institutional Theory; PVT, Process Virtualization Theory.