Planning Support Systems and Task-Technology Fit: a Comparative Case Study

Peter Pelzer,Sander Lenferink,Gustavo Arciniegas,Stan Geertman

doi:10.1007/s12061-015-9135-5

Peter Pelzer, Sander Lenferink + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-015-9135-5

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Abstract

Studies in the Planning Support Systems (PSS) debate are increasingly paying attention to the support function of PSS. This involves among other things studying the usefulness of PSS to practitioners. This paper adds another dimension to this evolving debate by arguing that planning tasks should receive more attention. Although planning tasks are central in several PSS definitions, they have hardly received explicit attention in empirical studies. In an aim to fill this void we conducted an empirical study based on the perspective of task-technology fit. The latter consists of a combination (‘fit’) of analytical and communicative support capabilities (‘technologies’), and three types of planning tasks: exploration, selection and negotiation. Next, we selected four case studies in the Netherlands, in which the same PSS was applied, which consists of a combination of the CommunityViz software and a touch-enabled MapTable. The cases differed in the planning tasks that were central during the workshop, resulting in different kinds of usefulness attributed to the PSS. For instance, in one case with a selection task the communicative support capabilities contributed to the transparency of the process, whereas in another the analytic support capabilities of the PSS improved the task of negotiation because of the iterative feedback it provided. The paper concludes with the observation that the concept of task-technology fit has potential be applied in different contexts and with different types of PSS.

Highlights

The research question of this paper is: How can a better conceptual and empirical understanding of the relation between planning tasks and Planning Support Systems (PSS) lead to improved insights about the support function of PSS?
The research question raised in the introduction of this paper is: How can a better conceptual and empirical understanding of the relation between planning tasks and PSS lead to improved insights about the support function of PSS? In order to address this question, we investigated the concept of task-technology fit through a comparative case study
We believe this concept can lead to a better understanding of the usefulness that is reachable by different planning support capabilities of a PSS for different tasks

Summary

Introduction

It is widely acknowledged that in order to achieve a successful application of Planning Support Systems (PSS), it is necessary to pay attention to the demands and characteristics of planning practice (e.g., Geertman 2008; Te Brömmelstroet and Bertolini 2008). Geertman’s (2008) definition of PSS underlines this by pointing out that a PSS should improve the work of planners, since PSS are: ‘... geo-information technology-based instruments that incorporate a suite of components that collectively support some specific parts of a unique professional planning task’ (Geertman 2008, p.217 –emphasis in original, cf. Klosterman 1997). Sager (1994, ix – emphasis added) explains the difference succinctly: ‘planning problems can be solved in two contrasting yet complementary ways: one can trust expert judgments based on analytic technique or discuss the matter and reach a group decision’ Whereas the former can be considered the part of the traditional, scientificanalytic approach to planning (Harris 1965; Salet and Faludi 2000), the latter reflects the more recent collaborative or communicative turn in planning (e.g., Healey 1992, Innes 1998). While recent research provide some insight about the different kinds of perceived usefulness of PSS, this notion has not been explicitly linked to the concept of task-technology fit.

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Conclusions and Recommendations