IMPLICATIONS

Qualitative evidence suggests that a critical mass of both adopters and suppliers at the present time is lacking. While this continues to be the case, XBRL may not have a prosperous future in Australia. With XBRL, it is probably practical for adoption to start with pairs of producers and consumers (Grant, 2004). Aggressive awareness campaigns featuring successful champions are likely to start bandwagon effects enticing partners who are linked via information flow requirements identify stronger reasons for adopting XBRL. As XBRL becomes more ubiquitous, it also becomes increasingly valuable. This is likely to pool further management support and necessary resources. Also, non-adopters are now likely to face the dangers associated with non-adoption, and therefore, have stronger incentives towards making decisions favoring XBRL. This is likely to spiral until the number of adopters in the XBRL community reaches a critical mass in order for its adoption to spread further.

Some likely implications warrant serious attention if the strategy of mandating XBRL is undertaken. First, if regulatory bodies and other adopters were to move their entire operation to XBRL, many of their employees would suddenly become redundant. Second, regulatory bodies can force adoption for their specific needs, which is likely to narrow down the focus of XBRL, and therefore, be a limiting factor to its widespread adoption. Third, making XBRL mandatory may be a labor-intensive and complex undertaking as it requires specific procedures to be followed. This includes ensuring that XBRL will not cause problems to adopters. It also requires amending the relevant legislation accordingly. All this, combined with a democratic-styled economy and the Australian character which is "very suspicious of authority" would make mandating XBRL adoption time consuming and a highly intricate endeavor.