Between Novelty and Fashion: Risk Management and the Adoption of Computers in Retail Banking

Abstract

This chapter explores developments in researching the adoption of applications of computer technology by retail deposit-accepting financial institutions. Contributions to date suggest an understanding of both technological and business decisions. This is a research agenda informed by developments both in the history of computing and in business and economic history because the analysis of computer applications in business should consider not only how decisions came about but also the expectations of decision makers and the context and stakeholders that helped to shape business decisions. This is a view which aligns with that of Wadhwani and Jones' (2014) "constitutive historicism" or the investigation of how economic actors' perceptions of their own places in historical time shape their strategies.