TASK-TECHNOLOGY FIT - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 167

of technology on performance, our models should incorporate aspects of both the utilization focus
and the TTF focus. It will then go on to address the issue of measuring TTF. Finally, the paper
summarizes some future directions for TTF research.
MODELS OF TECHNOLOGY IMPACT ON INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:
UTILIZATION VERSUS TTF
Before discussing specific models of IT and performance, it is important first to make two initial
comments about conceptual models of information systems and performance. The first is that the
link between information systems and performance is critical to the MIS field. If information sys-
tems do not have any ultimate practical benefits, then studying, learning about, and teaching about
information systems also have no practical value. Certainly some researchers have failed to find
empirical evidence of such an impact in particular situations (e.g., Pentland, 1989; Robey, 1979),
and the discussion of the “productivity paradox” (e.g., Loveman, 1994) has suggested that there
may be no such link in general. Other more recent research is more optimistic about the link, but
the existence of that link is neither self-evident nor obvious. If it were, we would not see articles
such as Nicholas Carr's “Information Technology Doesn't Matter” (2003) in the Harvard
Business Review . The field of MIS will flourish only to the extent that society is convinced that
information systems create performance benefits, and that MIS research and teaching can magnify
those benefits.
A second initial comment is to emphasize how important conceptual models are. The models
that we display in our papers and our classrooms and that we use as we think about and talk about
information systems and performance benefits have a powerful effect on us. They both support
and constrain our thinking. We cannot maintain one perspective on information systems, and at
the same time display models that convey a different perspective. Therefore, a model that is miss-
ing a key construct can be dangerous to our ability to truly understand a phenomenon. Even if we
acknowledge that key missing construct in one moment, if it does not appear in our models we
will find ourselves ignoring it as we think about or explain the phenomenon in the next moment.
Two general models of the relationship between information systems and performance impacts
are described below (what can be called the “utilization focus” and the “task-technology fit focus”).
The argument is made that relying completely on either one of these has serious limitations.
Utilization Focus Research
The first, and most common, of the two general models is the “utilization focus” model. Research
falling into this category employs user attitudes and beliefs to predict the utilization of informa-
tion systems (e.g., Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989; Doll and Torkzadeh, 1991; Lucas, 1975, 1981;
Robey, 1979; Swanson, 1987). Stated or unstated, the implication is that increased utilization will
lead to positive performance impacts. Research in this category relies on well-defended theories
of attitudes and behavior (Bagozzi, 1982; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Triandis, 1980).
The model in Figure 9.1A is an approximation of how technology affects performance in this
research. Aspects of the technology—for example, high quality systems (Lucas, 1975) or charge-
back policies (Olson and Ives, 1982)—lead to user attitudes (beliefs, affect) about systems. These
user attitudes—for example, perceived usefulness (Davis et al., 1989), or user information satisfac-
tion (Baroudi et al., 1986)—as well as other non-attitudinal constructs such as social norms
(Hartwick and Barki, 1994) and other situational factors then lead to intentions to utilize systems and
ultimately to increased actual utilization. It is presumed that more actual utilization is uniformly