Technology as an Organizational Change Vehicle: Impacts on Job Scope and Affective Job Outcomes

This research investigates how changes in job scope resulting from the implementation of technology influence key job outcomes in the workplace. Based on a 12-month field study of 2,794 employees in a telecommunications firm, we found that the changes between preand post-technology implementation perceptions of job scope brought about by new information technology implementation have a complex, curvilinear influence on job satisfaction and, indirectly, organizational commitment. The polynomial model developed as part of this research highlights the dynamic nature of individual reactions to changes in job scope brought about by new technology implementation and demonstrates the potential problem of relying on relatively straightforward linear models only. The findings of this study also build on current perspectives on technology adoption by moving beyond a focus on technology usage as the sole dependent variable of interest to other key outcomes important to IS and organizational researchers. INTRODUCTION For several decades now, one of the most major challenges for organizations has been the ability to cope with change. Both information systems (IS) and management researchers alike have suggested that such adaptability is critical to creating and/or sustaining competitive advantage to the point where it is now a maxim (Porter 2001). One of the most pervasive changes in the organizational environment in the last decade has been a focus on managing and redesigning organizational processes, particularly through leveraging the capabilities offered by new information technologies (Davenport 2000; Jarvenpaa and Stoddard 1998). Yet many technologies implemented in organizations today fail. Thus, understanding the drivers of technology success continues to be critical. Prior information systems (IS) research tended to focus on technology-centric perceptions and outcomes (see Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis for a recent review and synthesis). Thus, an under-investigated phenomenon is the impact of technology implementation on other, broader individual outcomes in the workplace. As with