Michael Barrett

ETEC 588
Innovation Activity 2: Adopter Interview
Sheila Wannemaker is currently the lead technology designer and implementer for
Masco Contractor Services located in Daytona Beach, FL. She has worked for MCS for
3 years and has been in charge of the installation and training of the Oracle E-Business
Suite, as well as integration and training of iPad and iPhone hardware. This interview
took place on February 6th, 2012 and was executed by phone.
1) Socioeconomic Characteristics
a. Age range Sheila is in her early 40s.
b. Level of education Sheila has a BS in Computer Science as well as multiple
Microsoft Certifications. She is also a Six Sigma Black Belt
c. Years of experience teaching Sheila has not been a teacher in the
traditional setting but does teach training courses necessary for complete
company integration.
d. Financial Position She views herself as being upper middle class.
e. Personal technology use Sheila has a love for technology and is always
looking for the newest thing to use for future projects. She does not have to
be the person first in line for anything new but does eventually want to
purchase the tech.
2) Communication Behavior
a. Sheila does much of her research through the Internet but does subscribe to
several magazines such as PC Magazine, Wired, Inventions and
Technologies, Campus Technology and Macworld. She also has many
contacts and friends in the same field that she shares ideas with. She would
consider herself as in the know. When she introduced the idea for our sales
force to use iPads and iPhones in the field she had to do a lot of research as
well as field experiments.
b. She has an extensive network of friends and colleagues most of which share
of love and admiration of technology. What types of social relationships do
they form?
c. Because she is an innovator herself she tends to share the company of other
innovators. They share ideas and ways they are using new technologies
available.
d. She would be considered an opinion leader based on the fact that she is in
charge of technology integration for MCS.
3) Personality Variables
a. Sheila has to be able to train others in new and updating technology
innovations being implemented into MCS daily activities, because of this she
has to be able to show a level of empathy to those she is training. Many of the
people being trained have little to no experience with computers and
technology.
b. She does find it hard to give up on something once she does start the
process. It becomes very personal for her.
c. Her ability to process abstract ideas is one way that makes her stand our front
from others. She doesnt always need to see to believe.

Michael Barrett
ETEC 588
d. Change comes easy to Shelia, she is constantly looking for new ways to
make things better.
e. Because it was her idea to implement iPads and iPhones into MCS, she
would be considered a risk taker. Failure in this could lead to her termination
from MCS.
4) Teaching Practices
a. All MCS training happens online with the use of WebEx. Sheila and her team
typically will show the class what it is they will be learning. All classes are
broken down into small sections so employees do not get overwhelmed.
Once the lecture portion is done the class participates in individual training
stations. (All with the use of computers connected in the corporate computer
lab) At the end of class Sheila has employees walk her through the new
process.
b. The teacher uses a PC connected to the company network and uses the
WebEx application. Also, the use of webcams for training on the iPads and
iPhones.
c. Students use PC connected to the company network and use the WebEx
application as well. The students also all have iPads and iPhones.
d. Because of her distance, Sheila has to believe in the ability of her students to
learn.
e. Sheila and her team create the curriculum for the training.
5) Instructional Support
a. Employees are encouraged to login to the company intranet and use
individual training sources available for all training subjects.
b. Technologies available are PC, Internet, Intranet, iPads and iPhones.
Resources required are easily acquired through the company IT department.
The IT department is also in charge of resources allowed.
c. Tech support is available Monday through Saturday from 5:00am 11:00PM
EST.
d. The vision of MCS is to become completely electronic in every branch of the
company. The system is also eventually going to be global and any branch
can access information at their will.
e. Sheila believes that this progressive plan will help MCS move into the future
making MCS an innovator in the construction industry.

What do I turn in next Friday? The final product from the interview should be a
summary of responses (and the questions, of course) followed by an analysis.
The analysis should include the following:
Determine which and provide a rationale for the adopter category you would
place them (innovator, early adopter, early majority, etc.).
Determine which and provide a rationale for the ACOT stage you would place
them (entry, adoption, adaptation, etc).
Evaluate whether the interviewee's category and stage are based on an
individual commitment that he or she has made despite obstacles or difficulties or
whether the category and stage are enabled by commitment and support coming
from the school or district.