From Use to Effective Use: A Representation Theory Perspective

Abstract

Information systems must be used effectively to obtain maximum benefits from them. However, despite a great deal of research on when and why systems are used, very little research has examined what effective system use involves and what drives it. To move from use to effective use requires understanding an information system's nature and purpose, which in turn requires a theory of information systems. We draw on representation theory, which states that an information system is made up of several structures that serve to represent some part of the world that a user and other stakeholders must understand. From this theory, we derive a high-level framework of how effective use and performance evolve, as well as specific models of the nature and drivers of effective use. The models are designed to explain the effective use of any information system and offer unique insights that would not be offered by traditional views, which tend to consider information systems to be just another tool. We explain how our theory extends existing research, provides a rich platform for research on effective use, and how it contributes back to the theory of information systems from which it was derived.