Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
factors besides fit (such as habit, social norms, etc.), the TTF focus can benefit from the addition
of the much richer understanding of utilization provided by the utilization focus research.
At the same time, the utilization focus alone (Figure 9.1A) also misses important aspects of the
way information technology affects performance. First of all, for many users, utilization is more
a function of how jobs are designed than the quality or usefulness of systems, or the attitudes of
users toward using them. To the extent that utilization is not voluntary, performance impacts will
depend increasingly on task-technology fit rather than utilization.
Secondly, there is little explicit recognition that more utilization of a poor system will not nec-
essarily lead to higher performance. This is well illustrated by looking at findings in a study of
auditors in the U.S.'s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (Pentland, 1989). Pentland studied the
implementation of a new end-user “automated examination system” (AES) to support field audits
of completed tax returns. AES included a number of functionalities including database capabili-
ties; word processing; spreadsheets; a tax calculator for taxes, interest, and penalties; and so on,
all designed to help the IRS revenue agents. He captured user perceptions of the system, use, and
objective measures of efficiency (average time per case) and effectiveness (average $ per hour).
The IRS revenue agents generally rated the system as useful, consistent with the link between
technology characteristics and user perceptions. Many of the agents used the system extensively,
consistent with the link between user perceptions and use. Finally, Pentland found that there was
no empirical link between the overall extent to which the system was used and either efficiency or
effectiveness. This last finding is quite inconsistent with both Figure 9.1A and the D&M model.
What's Missing?
Of course, one study should not disconfirm a model, but it can raise questions. In fact, the inter-
pretation of the findings by Pentland and the IRS pose a significant challenge for the utilization
focus model. Pentland suggested that the reason overall use of the AES had no positive impact on
performance was that it was a “poor fit” for most of the tasks the agents performed. In other
words, use of a technology is not enough to improve performance—it is also necessary to take
into account the “fit” of the technology to the tasks being performed.
Once surfaced, the importance of task-technology fit seems quite obvious. In fact, Pentland's
more detailed analysis of his data suggests that utilization of two of the components of the system
(spreadsheet and database) had a negative impact on efficiency, and use of two other components
(word processing and the tax calculator) had a positive impact on effectiveness. In retrospect, it
would appear that two of the four components had a good fit with the agents' tasks, and two had
a poor fit. More use of the database and spreadsheet components degraded performance.
But if the importance of the fit between the technology and the task in this situation now seems
obvious, it raises several pertinent questions: Is “good fit” almost always present in information
technology implementations, or is it something that should not be assumed? The author's own
experience from fifteen years of IS research is that more often than we would like to think, tech-
nology is applied to tasks for which it is a poor fit. If good fit cannot be assumed, where does the
possibility of a “poor fit” to the required tasks enter into the utilization focus model of Figure
9.1A? There are two possible ways that fit might be assumed to be present in these models.
The first is the argument that when there is poor fit, individuals will not use the systems. In
other words, utilization is a surrogate measure for fit. Unfortunately, this is not true in general.
There are plenty of reasons why individuals use systems that are a poor fit to their tasks, or do not
use systems that are a good fit to their tasks. Certainly some use is mandated, but that is not the
only reason. Individuals might use a system because they do not realize it is a poor fit to their tasks
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