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Firms invest considerably in information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS) for business objectives like achieving operational excellence, improving decision making, or achieving competitive advantage. Thus, managers and researchers focus on the evaluation of implemented IS success (Jeyaraj, 2020; Schryen, 2013). On the one hand, managers seek to maximize returns on IT and IS investments. On the other hand, for researchers, IS success is an enduring and central topic to IS research (Jeyaraj & Zadeh, 2020). However, the evaluation of IS success has been largely analyzed at the individual level (Jeyaraj, 2020). Furthermore, some organization-level studies that examined IS performance impacts have found mixed results (ZareRavasan & Krčál, 2021). Given the lack of knowledge on IS success evaluation at the organizational level, this study expects to increase insight regarding assessment in that context (Al-Okaily, 2021; Jeyaraj & Dwivedi, 2020).
Prior studies used diverse theoretical perspectives to explore the impact of IS on firm performance (ZareRavasan & Krčál, 2021). Some scholars have drawn on the resource-based view (RBV) to identify IS resources and capabilities as a source of competitive advantage and performance (Arora & Rahman, 2017; Bharadwaj, 2000; Mata et al., 1995). Others have adopted a process-oriented approach to explain that the IS impact on firm performance is mediated by business process performance (BPP) (Aydiner et al., 2019; Melville et al., 2004; Soh & Markus, 1995; Tallon et al., 2000). Another group of scholars has focused on DeLone and McLean’s (1992, 2003) IS success models for assessing IS impact on both individual and organizational performance (OP) (Al-Okaily, 2021; Gu & Jung, 2013; Ifinedo et al., 2010).
At the organizational level, IS performance impacts can be referred to as the impacts of IS on the performance of employees, business processes, or the organization (Yassaee & Mettler, 2015). Although these levels of performance were highly interdependent (Rummler & Brache, 1995), few studies have been conducted to simultaneously assess the impact of IS on individual performance (IP), BPP, and OP (Schryen, 2013). Thus, the purpose of this study is to integrate the RBV, process-oriented approach, and IS success models into an integrated model to examine the relationship between IS and its performance impacts. Given the importance of IS quality (ISQ) to understand the performance impacts of IS (DeLone & McLean, 1992, 2003), this study aims to assess the impact of ISQ on the three levels of performance from an organization-centered perspective.
The research on OP impacts of IS neglects the consideration of contextual factors. Some studies identified the important role of firm, industry, and country factors when explaining performance impacts of IS (Melville et al., 2004; Schryen, 2013). For this purpose, this study also examines the moderating effect of a firm’s business strategy on the relationship between ISQ and performance. This, to the author’s knowledge, has not been explored. It is unclear whether ISQ differentially affects organizational outcomes when organizations have different strategic orientations.
More formally, the research questions addressed in this article are:
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What are the impacts of ISQ on individual, business-process, and organizational performance?
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Does the type of firm’s strategy business moderate the relationship between ISQ and performance?
This research studied the direct and indirect effects of ISQ on OP. It examined the mediating role of BPP and IP in modeling the indirect impact of ISQ on OP and the moderating effect of business strategy on this relationship.