## 4 Theoretical Rationale
### The VAM  
The VAM is a variation of the perceived value concept and is defined as a general evaluation of the new technology utility based on the perception of what is achieved through the technology [73]. Since the late 2000s, the value perception linkage of IT technologies with adoption intention has been examined in several studies [22; 74]. The significant function of the perceived value in new technology adoption was confirmed in previous studies,where higher value perception led to a more positive adoption decision [65; 66; 75; 76; 77]. The VAM has been used mainly to study the adoption intention at an individual level [78]. Nevertheless, the model has been examined at an organizational level in different studies [65; 66]; thus, it has a significant level of external validity. Previous studies found VAM had great predictive power contrary to the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) [79; 80]; thus, it is assumed that VAM has the ability to predict the value of IoT adoption in the MS [81]. The VAM model has two main constructs that influence the perceived value: perceived benefits with a positive impact and perceived sacrifices with a negative impact [78].  
This study used perceived benefits to investigate the IoT adoption benefits and demonstrate its positive effect on perceived value. Many researchers have mentioned the potential benefits that the IoT may offer directly, such as increasing the operation process efficiency [17; 19], improving decision-making [23], and improving supply chains and transportation [28; 33], or indirectly, such as maintaining competitive advantage, innovating new products and services [4], and achieving sustainability [53; 54]. However, IoT adoption literature in the MS lacks an examination of perceived direct and indirect benefits; therefore, perceived direct and indirect benefits constructs were added to the model as variables that could positively affect the IoT's perceived value.  
Perceived sacrifices are mostly related to individual intentions, whereas the aim of this research is to address organizational intentions. Individual and organizational intention beliefs differ in technology adoption decisions, as organizations focus on numerous factors, such as technological factors, organizational factors, and external threats [82]. The MS is relatively conservative when implementing new technologies, given the associated challenges of emerging technology which are subject to different contexts [21]; nonetheless, few studies examined contextual factors specifically, such as the organizational and environmental contexts and their effect on value perception in the industrial adoption setting [65]. [PERSON] et al. [65] stated that more studies are needed to investigate the extent to which value serves to mediate the effect of technical characteristics, such as complexity and compatibility of IT adoption; thus, to achieve an adequate fit with the research problem, this study used perceived challenges rather than perceived sacrifices to examine the negative impact of perceived challenges from a comprehensive viewpoint in the organizational intention context. Given these VAM features and claims, this study investigated VAM at the organizational level, exploring the impact of the perceived value and perceived benefits on IoT adoption. In addition, the investigation was extended to include perceived challenges in order to understand the challenges related to technological, organizational, and environmental contexts in IoT adoption in the MS and their effects on the perceived value by using DOI theory and TOE framework.