Key Factors of an Organization’s Environment for the Acquisition and Assimilation of an Innovation

The paper deals with influential factors of an organization’s environment in the initial phase of diffusion of innovations (DOI) within the organization. A qualitative research was carried out with two expert groups: one for the diffusion of e-learning as an innovation in a higher education institution and the other for the diffusion of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) in a Construction Industry. The research disclosed 20 common factors. The internal environment group covers management support, the attitude towards innovation, strategic planning and communication, motivation and expertize of employers, available resources and IT maturity level of an organization. The group of business environment factors consists of competitors, clients and partners, supply and demand balance on the specific market for goods and services. In the social environment group, three factors are recognized on the national level and two on the global levels. The holistic model combines the theory of DOI and the concept of absorption capacity.