HOW DOES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AFFECT BUSINESS VALUE - A REASSESSMENT AND RESEARCH PROPOSITIONS

Because of the tremendous growth in the investment in information tech nology (IT), senior management has begun to demand that the value of t his investment be assessed. This assessment is not possible without me asurement. As a result, many feel that the measurement of IT value wil l be the critical management task of the next decade. The purpose of t his paper is threefold First, it reviews current research on the value ,of IT with the hope of understanding the reason for the equivocal res ults which have been obtained It does this by examining the assumption s and measures which have been used in framing this research. Second, it looks at how organizational performance is measured and how perform ance is presumed to be affected by information technology. Finally, it explores a new set of assumptions, measures, and research proposition s which may yield more fruitful results in assessing the value of info rmation technology. While the paper is theoretical, it develops the gr oundwork for future empirical studies by establishing the necessary qu antitative measures for such investigation.