The development of a tool for measuring the perceived impact of information technology on work

The impact of information technology on work life has been one of the most talked about issues over the recent years. Chief executive officers spendin g millions of dollars on information technology face the critical issue of assessing the impact of this technology on work. Information system manager s are increasingly required to justify technology investment in terms of it s impact on the individual and his/her work. Measures of impact of informat ion technology have narrowly focused on productivity impacts. This study us es a broader concept that is based on the impact of technology on the natur e of work literature. This literature recognizes the multiple impacts of te chnology on work at the level of the individual. A review of the literature enabled us to generate thirty-nine items that were grouped into four const ructs. In a pilot study, these constructs were assessed by observers in str uctured interviews with eighty-nine users to provide a criterion measure. N ext, the users completed the thirty-nine item questionnaire. The unidimensi onality, internal consistency and criterion-related validity of each constr uct were assessed. The pilot results suggest a four factor la-item instrume nt that measures how extensively information technology applications impact task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction and management c ontrol. In a large scale study, a sample of 409 respondents was gathered to further explore this 12-item instrument and its relationships with other c onstructs (user involvement, user satisfaction, system usage). The results support the four factor model. Evidence of reliability and construct validi ty is presented for the hypothesized measurement model and future research is discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.