IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v20y2009i1p2-17.html

Does Fit Matter? The Impact of Task-Technology Fit and Appropriation on Team Performance in Repeated Tasks

Author

Listed:
  • Robert M. Fuller

    (College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996)

  • Alan R. Dennis

    (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405)

Abstract

Prior research on technology and team performance concludes that the fit of the technology to tasks influences team performance. It also suggests that the way teams appropriate technology influences performance. This research examines how fit and appropriation (from the Fit Appropriation Model) influence performance over time. Initially, the results show that fit better predicted performance; teams using poor-fitting technology performed worse than teams with better fitting technology. However, over a short time period (two days in this study), this initial fit no longer predicted performance; performance of teams using better fitting technology remained constant while teams using poor-fitting technology innovated and adapted, improving performance. There are two key findings from this study. First, fit can predict team performance soon after technology adoption, but initial assessments of fit are temporary as teams innovate and adapt; thus, our current theoretical models of fitting technology to a task likely will not be useful beyond the first use. Second, teams should understand how to better adapt existing technology and work structures. Because our current theories of task-technology fit failed to predict performance beyond the first use of technology, we believe that this calls for a reconsideration of what fit means for teams using technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert M. Fuller & Alan R. Dennis, 2009. "Does Fit Matter? The Impact of Task-Technology Fit and Appropriation on Team Performance in Repeated Tasks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 2-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:2-17
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1070.0167
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.1070.0167
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.1070.0167?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martha L. Maznevski & Katherine M. Chudoba, 2000. "Bridging Space Over Time: Global Virtual Team Dynamics and Effectiveness," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(5), pages 473-492, October.
    2. Gerardine DeSanctis & Marshall Scott Poole, 1994. "Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 121-147, May.
    3. Rita M. Walczuch & Richard T. Watson, 2001. "Analyzing Group Data in MIS Research: Including the Effect of the Group," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 83-94, January.
    4. Gersick, Connie J. G. & Hackman, J. Richard, 1990. "Habitual routines in task-performing groups," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 65-97, October.
    5. Alan R. Dennis & Susan T. Kinney, 1998. "Testing Media Richness Theory in the New Media: The Effects of Cues, Feedback, and Task Equivocality," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 256-274, September.
    6. Connolly, Terry & Thorn, Brian K., 1987. "Predecisional information acquisition: Effects of task variables on suboptimal search strategies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 397-416, June.
    7. Leonard-Barton, Dorothy, 1988. "Implementation as mutual adaptation of technology and organization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 251-267, October.
    8. Bradley C. Wheeler & Joseph S. Valacich, 1996. "Facilitation, GSS, and Training as Sources of Process Restrictiveness and Guidance for Structured Group Decision Making: An Empirical Assessment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 429-450, December.
    9. Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2000. "Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 404-428, August.
    10. Marcie J. Tyre & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 1994. "Windows of Opportunity: Temporal Patterns of Technological Adaptation in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 98-118, February.
    11. Dale L. Goodhue, 1995. "Understanding User Evaluations of Information Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(12), pages 1827-1844, December.
    12. Wanda J. Orlikowski, 1996. "Improvising Organizational Transformation Over Time: A Situated Change Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 63-92, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul M. Leonardi, 2007. "Activating the Informational Capabilities of Information Technology for Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5), pages 813-831, October.
    2. Robert G. Fichman, 2004. "Real Options and IT Platform Adoption: Implications for Theory and Practice," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 132-154, June.
    3. Sharath Sasidharan & Radhika Santhanam & Daniel J. Brass & Vallabh Sambamurthy, 2012. "The Effects of Social Network Structure on Enterprise Systems Success: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-1), pages 658-678, September.
    4. Nicholas Berente & Kalle Lyytinen & Youngjin Yoo & John Leslie King, 2016. "Routines as Shock Absorbers During Organizational Transformation: Integration, Control, and NASA’s Enterprise Information System," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 551-572, June.
    5. Russell L. Purvis & V. Sambamurthy & Robert W. Zmud, 2001. "The Assimilation of Knowledge Platforms in Organizations: An Empirical Investigation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 117-135, April.
    6. Henri Barki & Ryad Titah & Céline Boffo, 2007. "Information System Use--Related Activity: An Expanded Behavioral Conceptualization of Individual-Level Information System Use," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 173-192, June.
    7. JoAnne Yates & Wanda J. Orlikowski & Kazuo Okamura, 1999. "Explicit and Implicit Structuring of Genres in Electronic Communication: Reinforcement and Change of Social Interaction," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 83-103, February.
    8. Ravi Anand Rao & Rahul De’, 2015. "Technology assimilation through conjunctures – a look at IS use in retail," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 31-50, February.
    9. Ofir Turel & Catherine E. Connelly, 2012. "Team Spirit: The Influence of Psychological Collectivism on the Usage of E-Collaboration Tools," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 703-725, September.
    10. Pamela J. Hinds & Diane E. Bailey, 2003. "Out of Sight, Out of Sync: Understanding Conflict in Distributed Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 615-632, December.
    11. Dragos Vieru & Pierre-Emmanuel Arduin, 2016. "Sharing Knowledge in a Shared Services Center Context: An Explanatory Case Study of the Dialectics of Formal and Informal Practices," Post-Print hal-01458031, HAL.
    12. Hung-pin Shih & Kee-hung Lai & T. C. E. Cheng, 2015. "Examining structural, perceptual, and attitudinal influences on the quality of information sharing in collaborative technology use," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 455-470, April.
    13. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2020. "Why distance matters: The relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Khuong, Le-Nguyen & Harindranath, G. & Dyerson, Romano, 2014. "Understanding knowledge management software-organisation misalignments from an institutional perspective: A case study of a global IT-management consultancy firm," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 226-247.
    15. Marie-Claude Boudreau & Daniel Robey, 2005. "Enacting Integrated Information Technology: A Human Agency Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 3-18, February.
    16. Boyer O’Leary, Michael & Wilson, Jeanne M. & Metiu, Anca, 2011. "Beyond Being There: The Symbolic Role of Communication and Identification in the Emergence of Perceived Proximity in Geographically Dispersed Work," ESSEC Working Papers WP1112, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    17. Giang-Do Nguyen & Thu-Hien Thi Dao, 2024. "Factors influencing continuance intention to use mobile banking: an extended expectation-confirmation model with moderating role of trust," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Jennifer A. Howard-Grenville, 2005. "The Persistence of Flexible Organizational Routines: The Role of Agency and Organizational Context," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 618-636, December.
    19. Cristina B. Gibson & Patrick D. Dunlop & Ann Majchrzak & Terence Chia, 2022. "Sustaining Effectiveness in Global Teams: The Coevolution of Knowledge Management Activities and Technology Affordances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 1018-1048, May.
    20. Do Giang Nguyen & Minh-Tri Ha, 2022. "What Makes Users Continue to Want to Use the Digital Platform? Evidence From the Ride-Hailing Service Platform in Vietnam," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:2-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.