（2005）Drivers and Inhibitors Impacting Technology Adoption：A Qualitative Investigation into the Australian Experience with XBRL.pdfVIP

th 18 Bled eConference eIntegration in Action Bled, Slovenia, June 6 - 8, 2005 Drivers and Inhibitors Impacting Technology Adoption: A Qualitative Investigation into the Australian Experience with XBRL Indrit Troshani School of Commerce, University of Adelaide, Australia indrit.troshani@.au Bill Doolin Faculty of Business, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand bill.doolin@aut.ac.nz Abstract eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an XML-based innovation which has the potential to play an important role in the production and consumption of financial information. In this paper, in-depth interviews are used to explore a range of issues surrounding the adoption of XBRL in Australia. Drivers that promote successful adoption of XBRL are discussed, together with inhibitors that obstruct it. We find that the current members of the XBRL community are waiting for a critical mass of either users or solutions to appear. Combined with other inhibitors and unfulfilled drivers, this has adversely affected XBRL adoption in Australia. While government agencies may play a significant role in breaking this deadlock through making XBRL use mandatory, we identify some important implications associated with this strategy. 1. Introduction This paper is concerned with the adoption of a technological innovation. Adoption occurs when an organization invests in and uses an innovation. This adoption occurs in two stages.