Information systems and performance: the role of technology, the task and the individual

Organisations require good performance from individuals to achieve their objectives. In view of the growing presence of technology, it becomes necessary to understand performance in the context of information systems. However, the research streams that study performance (e.g. industrial psychology or the impact of technology on performance) focus primarily on a single component (the individual or the technology). The systemic perspective, for its part, considers all three components (technology, the individual and the task) and their relationships in order to explain performance. From this perspective, this article develops a research model where individual (knowledge of the task and the technology), task (ease) and technology (usefulness and ease) factors determine performance. Links are also established between these factors. Data were collected from 246 individuals and the results show that the proposed links are significant. This research highlights that management should take into account all three components to boost performance. The study emphasises in which factors of these components special care should be taken. The lack of improvement in performance after the introduction of an information system may not be solved merely by tackling the features of the technology but also by simplifying the tasks or reviewing the users’ knowledge gaps.