A Review and Critique of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory as it Applies to Organizations

A topic of interest to many organizational researchers and practitioners is the understanding of how new ideas, processes, and products diffuse and spread within and across organizations. Rogers' research and theory on the diffusion of innovations addresses this topic, and is the subject of review and critique for this paper. The four primary elements of Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory are described, with a special emphasis on how the theory applies within and across organizations. As a result of the critique of the theory, three key themes emerge.