Connecting IT Systems, Users and Organizations

Abstract

This chapter reviews the broad theme of Information Technology (IT). IT provides many applications for businesses and since the 1960s it has experienced an almost capillary diffusion into society, with investments in IT by organizations almost constantly growing over the years. From a managerial perspective, IT has gained a lot of interest from researchers due to its critical role inside companies. Our review first sums up the recent history of IT business applications and theories concerning how IT can support organizational operations and decision-making processes (Section 3.1). Our review also touches upon central themes such as the relation between IT and the performance of daily work by users. Then, Section 3.2 provides definitions and categorizations of information and IT systems (IS/IT). We then explore (Section 3.3) the factors that sustain the embedding of IT, including the contributions it can make to an organization installing a new IT system, as well as the critical issues that arise when IT is installed. Section 3.4 concludes the chapter by investigating the impact of IT on organizations, stressing both the positive and negative effects. For instance, how IT impacts on users deserves attention, since these individuals represent a key linkage between IT and its effective utilization at all organizational levels.