Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9.2
DeLone and McLean's Model of IS Success Constructs
System Quality
Use
Individual
Performance
Organization
Performance
Information Quality
User Satisfaction
Reprinted by permission, DeLone, W.H., McLean, E.R., Information systems success: The quest for the
dependent variable,
Information Systems Research
,
3
, number 1, March, 1992. Copyright 1992, the Institute for
Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 310, Hanover,
MD 21076 USA.
on the first three boxes in Figure 9.1A, leaving as an untested assumption the link between use
and individual performance (e.g., Venkatesh and Davis, 2000; Venkatesh et al., 2003).
Task-Technology Fit Focus Research
A smaller number of researchers have focused on situations where utilization can often be
assumed, and have argued that performance impacts will result from task-technology fit—that is,
when a technology provides features and support that “fit” the requirements of a task. This view
is shown by the middle portion of Figure 9.1, Figure 9.1B.
The “fit” focus has been most evident in research on the impacts of graphs versus tables on indi-
vidual decision-making performance. Two studies report that over a series of laboratory experi-
ments, the impact of two different technologies for presenting data (a technology characteristic) on
performance seemed to depend on the fit with the task (Benbasat et al., 1986; Dickson et al., 1986).
Another study proposed that mismatches between data representations and tasks would decrease
decision-making performance by requiring additional translations between data representations
and decision processes (Vessey and Galletta, 1991). Some found strong support for this linkage
between “cognitive fit” and performance in laboratory experiments (Jarvenpaa, 1989; Vessey and
Galletta, 1991; Vessey, 1991).
There have also been links suggested between fit and utilization (shown as the dotted arrow in
Figure 9.1B). At the organizational level, “fit” and utilization or adoption have been linked
(Cooper and Zmud, 1990; Tornatzky and Klein, 1982). At the individual level, a “system/work
fit” construct has been found to predict managerial workstation use (Floyd, 1988).
Limitations of Either Focus by Itself
Although each of these perspectives gives insight into the impact of information technology on
performance, each alone has some important limitations. First of all, models focusing on fit alone
(Figure 9.1B) do not give sufficient attention to the fact that systems must be utilized before they
can produce performance benefits. Since utilization is a complex outcome, based on many other
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