Theorizing about DSS Use and Decision Quality: An Institutional Economics and Task-Technology Fit Perspective

This paper integrates the theory of institutional economics and the task-technology fit model in order to theorize about DSS success (defined in terms of DSS use and decision quality). Institutional economics (Veblen 1899/1912, Ayres 1944 and Bush 1986, 1987) posits that human behavior is either instrumental (rational and associated with “getting a living”) or ceremonial and associated with customs, habits, rites and rituals. The task-technology fit model (Goodhue 1995, Goodhue and Thompson 1995) posits that the influence of DSS on performance and use is contingent upon the degree to which the capabilities provided by the system match the requirements of the task. The greater this alignment, the more the DSS will be used and the more performance will be improved. In this context, DSS is viewed through the two lenses proposed by Alter (1977) that of dataoriented and model-oriented systems. The task is viewed through three dimensions suggested by Gorry and Scott Morton (1971): structured, semi-structured and unstructured. The decision-maker is posited to act either instrumentally (the decision-maker believes that the DSS will improve decision quality, therefore the system is used to its potential) or ceremonially (the decision-maker is acting in a habitual or ritual manner and the DSS is only being used to give an air of rationality). Based on these two theoretical lenses, we propose that there are three instances that lead to successful DSS (1) when the DSS is data-oriented, the task is unstructured and the decision-maker acts instrumentally, (2) when the DSS is model-oriented, the task is semi-structured and the decision-maker acts instrumentally and (3) when the DSS is model-oriented, the task is structured and the decision-maker acts instrumentally. Whenever the decision-maker acts ceremonially, the DSS will fail in the sense that it is not being used to its fullest extent.