When looking at changes in IT adoption and use in organisations, our theories rely-for the most part-on slow adoption timespans or-to a lesser extent-abrupt crises of short duration. We lack a model of IT adoption during a crisis of extended duration. This paper tackles this gap by looking at the IT-explorative and-exploitative teaching-related practices of university lecturers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Based on qualitative data from three European higher education institutions and their responses to the COVID-19 crisis, we propose a process model of IT exploration/exploitation under a condition of extended crisis. The model shows that IT use and practices in response to a prolonged crisis go through phases, presenting predictable challenges that management can alleviate with a well-timed approach.

Researchers have studied the diffusion of information technology (IT) mainly as a process of adoption. However, the practices of supply-side agents of diffusion are just as critical to guaranteeing the adaptation of technology to the changing needs of the adopters. The execution of these practices over time and across multiple supply-side agents is both complex and understudied. Therefore, this study investigates IT diffusion practices from the perspective of supply-side agents. Drawing from a longitudinal case of development, sale, and institutionalization of a healthcare information system, this article proposes a model of the supply side of technology diffusion. The model shows that diffusion depends on supply-side agents engaging in practices that are both demanding and possibly misaligned with traditional agent practices. Accordingly, the study provides an additional explanation for the complexity of technological diffusion and extends the theoretical framework of technology diffusion by adding supply-side dynamics.

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