Our study affirms theoretical expectations that new transformational information technologies are not well managed by information technology groups. Senior management vision also was not the wellspring of the Web introduction. An ad hoc virtual team, consisting of members from diverse sectors of the business, served as the champions of technology in both firms. These teams harnessed their voluntary activities to a continuing series of events, many staged from the external environment. A performance crisis was not a compelling motivator for the introduction of the Web technology. In fact, in one of the firms, a performance crisis was more of a threat to than a stimulus for the early Web innovations.

Key Words and Phrases: diffusion of innovation, Internet, organization design, technological innovation, transformational technology, world wide web.