Task-technology Fit Theory Research Articles

Online Learning and COVID-19 in Higher Education: The Value of IT Models in Assessing Students’ Satisfaction

This study of the COVID-19 online learning experiences of students in a Singaporean higher education institution (HEI) assesses the students’ ‘fit’ (ie, their satisfaction) with online learning, as gauged through the Information Technology (IT) models of Task-Technology Fit (TTF) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). While current studies have found that curriculum, instructor and learner factors have impacted on students and online learning during COVID-19, it has been observed that there is insufficient understanding of factors that predict students’ online learning satisfaction [24]. This study thus contributes where there are few, if any studies that assess students’ online learning satisfaction through technological models. Furthermore, the study’s finding are that the students’ perception of, general attitude to, and intention to use the online learning shaped their satisfaction, thus pointing to the value of such technological models in understanding student learning at a deeper level. Students’ experiential comments from the study also form recommendations for effective online teaching practice which apply to Singapore, and broadly for higher education (HE) online learning design. Significantly, the information technology (IT) models are shown as valuable in assessing HE students’ online learning satisfaction.

Complementary effects of CRM and social media on customer co-creation and sales performance in B2B firms: The role of salesperson self-determination needs

This study examines the effects of salespeople's social media and customer relationship management (CRM) technology use on value co-creation through knowledge and the downstream impact on sales performance. Based on task-technology fit and self-determination theories, the findings reveal that social media, CRM technology, and their interaction support salespeople in their value co-creation efforts through the mediating role of knowledge enriched by these tools. The results indicate a significant moderating effect of salesperson job autonomy and sales quota ease in enhancing the relationship between knowledge and value co-creation. The study concludes by discussing important implications that stem from our analyses.

Relationship between Mobile Banking and Financial Performance of Deposit taking savings and credit cooperatives in Kericho County, Kenya

Deposit taking savings and credit cooperatives in Kenya have long struggled to adapt to the evolving technology which has seen several savings and credit cooperatives collapse as others incur losses. Mobile banking is a digital innovation that have diffused highly into financial institution creating competitive advantage. However, there is slow uptake of mobile banking in deposit taking saving and credit cooperatives. The study therefore seeks to establish the relationship between mobile banking and financial performance of deposit taking saving and credit cooperatives in Kericho County. It was guided by task technology fit theory; a correlational research design was adopted where the target population was 108 managers of all levels in the five deposits taking savings and credit cooperatives in Kericho County. Due to a small target population under study, this research adopted the census survey technique where all top, middle, and operational level managers were used. Data were collected by the use of primary and secondary methods. Content validity was conducted through engaging field experts and digital innovation professionals to determine the validity of the research instrument, while reliability was determined through test-retest of the questionnaires where 10 respondents were picked from Tenhos Sacco Society Ltd in Bomet County for piloting. Data was analysed using both descriptive statistics which comprises means and standard deviations while hypotheses were tested using correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Data was presented in form of frequency tables and pie charts. The findings established that mobile banking had a strong positive relationship with financial performance of DT-Saccos (R = 0.729; β = 0.775). The study findings may be useful to the government in formulating strategies for effective and efficient deposit taking savings and credit cooperatives; will add value to the literature in the area of digital innovations in Saccos, and lastly, it may be of help to SASRA in understanding relationships between mobile banking and financial performance of savings and credit cooperatives.

Blockchain as a driving force for federalism: A theory of cross-organizational task-technology fit

Digital technologies play an important role for the delivery of many public services. However, selecting and adopting the ‘right’ digital technologies is often challenging, especially for federally structured governments. Universal factors for successful adoption are hard to establish, and the particularities of federalism, such as the separation of competencies, complicate technology selection. Nevertheless, blockchain technology seems to flourish in these environments. Through a single-case study on the blockchain project of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, we unpack one essential factor for this success: the fit between (cross-)organizational task structure and technological properties. This fit earns the Federal Office’s project considerable credit and traction with stakeholders and partner authorities – not least because it supports the argument that the digitalization of federal systems is possible without ‘digital centralization’ and redistribution of competencies. Our task-technology fit analysis contributes to a better understanding of the adoption of blockchain in the public sector. It also provides the foundation for an extended task-technology fit theory for federally structured, cross-organizational contexts.

How Task Technology Fits with Employee Engagement, Organizational Support, and Business Outcomes: Hotel Executives’ Perspective

ABSTRACT The unpredictable external environments, constraints of internal resources, and changes in the behaviors of hotel guests create a challenge for hoteliers to initiate the latest technology advancement. This study aims to explore how hotel executives consider external criteria and employ internal resources (e.g. employee engagement and organizational support) for technology adoption decision making and planning. This work further evaluates business outcomes after technology implementation. From the extension of task–technology fit theory, a qualitative research is conducted by interviewing 14 hotel executives about technology implementation in the front office and housekeeping departments. Results indicate the influences of cost reduction, cost effectiveness, competitors, customer feedback, management strategic planning, and latest industry trends on advanced technology initiatives. The outcomes of employee engagement vary according to age, education background, and self-learning attitude. Hotel support for trainings is necessary for employee productivity enhancement. Furthermore, technology adoption benefits the financial (e.g. cost reductions of labor and maintenance) and nonfinancial outcomes (e.g. customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction) of hotels. The theoretical development and managerial implications are further discussed.

Exploring the fit between mobile application service and application privacy

PurposeWith the popularity of mobile applications and increasing consumer awareness of application privacy, this paper aims to introduce a new construct of service-privacy fit (i.e. the perceived degree of match between the service of a mobile application and a privacy permission request) to predict consumers’ mobile application adoption.Design/methodology/approachFour experiments were carried out to test the hypothesized relationships. The first study investigated the direct impact of service-privacy fit on application adoption and the mediators of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. The second, third and fourth studies further applied the moderated mediation model to analyze the moderating roles of benefit message type, regulatory focus type and privacy assurance.FindingsThe results show that service-privacy fit influences application adoption not only directly but also indirectly via the mediators of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. Furthermore, the findings confirm the moderators of benefit message type, regulatory focus type and privacy assurance.Originality/valueDrawn from the perspectives of task-technology fit and information boundary theory, this paper introduces a new construct of service-privacy fit as a determinant of application adoption. Grounded in privacy calculus theory, it further explains this relationship through mediating effects of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. Furthermore, this paper proposes that benefit messages and privacy assurance are effective coping strategies to increase the benefit expectancy and reduce the privacy concerns of applications. Based on the perspective of regulatory fit theory, this study further shows that the effects of coping strategies rely on personal traits. The findings enrich the existing knowledge of mobile application adoption and application privacy, suggesting that practitioners should consider mobile consumers’ perception of service-privacy fit when developing applications.

Voice Assistant vs. Chatbot – Examining the Fit Between Conversational Agents’ Interaction Modalities and Information Search Tasks

Owing to technological advancements in artificial intelligence, voice assistants (VAs) offer speech as a new interaction modality. Compared to text-based interaction, speech is natural and intuitive, which is why companies use VAs in customer service. However, we do not yet know for which kinds of tasks speech is beneficial. Drawing on task-technology fit theory, we present a research model to examine the applicability of VAs to different tasks. To test this model, we conducted a laboratory experiment with 116 participants who had to complete an information search task with a VA or a chatbot. The results show that speech exhibits higher perceived efficiency, lower cognitive effort, higher enjoyment, and higher service satisfaction than text-based interaction. We also find that these effects depend on the task’s goal-directedness. These findings extend task-technology fit theory to customers’ choice of interaction modalities and inform practitioners about the use of VAs for information search tasks.

Integrating TTF and UTAUT2 theories to investigate the adoption of augmented reality technology in education: Perspective from a developing country

Augmented reality (AR) has gained increased recognition in varying fields, in particular educational contexts. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, home-based learning becomes a reality and is already in place across the globe, and learning via augmented reality technology will help learners comprehend learning content in a more creative frame of mind than ever before. Very little research has examined the adoption behavior of augmented reality in developing country perspectives. Therefore, there is a pressing necessity to understand the dynamics of augmented reality adoption for the benefit of motivating and inspiring students to adopt this highly innovative and impactful type of technology in the learning process. Against this background, the authors proposed and tested a model based on integrating Task-Technology Fit (TTF) and UTUAT2 theories. The results reveal the positive effect of task technology fit, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, and hedonic motivation on behavioral intention (BI) in the adoption process of augmented reality in educational settings, where price value is found to exert little influence on behavioral intention. This model explains 49% of the variance in intentional behavior to adopt AR technology in the educational context. The conclusions of this study will add to the literature more informative knowledge leading to increased awareness of the dynamics and behaviors of AR adoption in a developing country perspective. We present and discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings.

Examining the role of emotional intelligence as a moderator for virtual communication and decision making effectiveness during the COVID-19 crisis: revisiting task technology fit theory

The COVID 19 has brought unprecedented changes in the way we communicate. There is a greater accent on Virtual communication. This paper aims to establish a relationship between Emotional intelligence and the effectiveness of Virtual communication on Decision making. This empirical study is based on a sample drawn from 296 working professionals at five different levels of organizational hierarchy. A standardized questionnaire (ɑ = 0.824) was used to collect the responses of Emotional intelligence, Virtual communication, and Decision-making effectiveness. Hierarchical regression using PROCESS Macro model 1 was used to identify the moderating effect of Emotional intelligence on Virtual communication and Decision making effectiveness. Since the p-value (p ≤ .007) is found significant, Emotional intelligence acts as a moderator that affects the strength of the relationship between Virtual communication effectiveness and Decision making. Validation of Task Technology fit theory is the theoretical implication of the study. Manipulation of individual dimensions in the model can reduce the dependence on technology for task completion with enhanced performance effectiveness. The findings are relevant to educators, consultants, and any professional who need to adapt Virtual communication platforms on an ongoing basis. Since work-life balance is projected as a constraint in this study, policymakers can consider policy amendments to reduce the stress caused due to Virtual communication which intrudes into their personal space. This empirical study is the first of its kind to benchmark the organizational practice of Emotional intelligence training to enhance Virtual communication and Decision making effectiveness during unprecedented times of pandemic.

Research on Factors Influencing Smart Library Users’ Use Intention in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

The arrival of the era of artificial intelligence has promoted the development of smart libraries and endowed them with new features such as autonomy, autonomous learning, context perception, and multi-function. Analyzing how these new features affect users’ behavior is of great significance to the application of artificial intelligence and the optimization of services. Based on the TTF model, the four dimensions of product intelligence (autonomy, adaptability, reactivity, and multifunctionality) are introduced to represent the technology characteristics, and the research model is constructed. And the method of SEM is used to conduct empirical analysis. The results show that technology characteristics and individual characteristics are the main factors affecting the task-technology fit (TTF), while the effect of task characteristics on TTF is not significant. Among them, the impact of technology characteristics is greater than the individual characteristics. The relative importance of the four dimensions of technology characteristics is “Autonomy >Multifunctionality, Reactivity> Adaptability”. The TTF significantly positively affects users’ intention to use smart libraries. Therefore, the suggestions on optimizing smart services are put forward.

Explaining consumer implementation intentions in mobile shopping with SEM and fsQCA: Roles of visual and technical perceptions

Visual presentation is a critical factor in ascertaining the purchase decision and behavior of mobile consumers. However, whether a simple or a complex interface is more effective in promoting purchase intentions remains inconclusive. This study combines task-technology fit (TTF) theory and technology acceptance model (TAM) to propose a comprehensive model suitable for mobile shopping circumstances to investigate the mechanism of implementation intentions of online shopping under visual and technical stimulation. We obtained 504 valid samples through questionnaire surveys and used structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methods to elucidate the complex causal patterns of implementation intentions of online shopping. The SEM results revealed that security precautions and user experience directly affected the implementation intentions of online shopping behavior, while interface visual complexity, visual search efficiency, and mobile payment indirectly affected the implementation intentions of online shopping. In addition, the fsQCA results revealed a causal asymmetric relationship between the driving mechanism of high and non-high implementation intentions of online shopping. All factors must be combined to play a role, and there exist three overall solutions to attain high implementation intentions of online shopping. Among them, we found neutral permutations of one solution, suggesting that the combination of high visual search efficiency and high security precautions is the core configuration that results in high implementation intentions of online shopping. Overall, this study broadens the application perspective of TTF and TAM, and provides certain practical enlightenment for e-commerce enterprise marketing.

COST ESTIMATION PERFORMANCE IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Cost estimation in construction project is very critical for avoiding cost overrun in the project. This paper aims to provide a basis for improving cost estimation performance in construction through a systematic review of previous studies for last 31 years. The papers have identified a total of 238 construction cost estimation papers in 23 journals. Only 33 papers focused on factors influencing the performance of cost estimation. These papers were then analyzed, synthesized, and summarized in terms of the distribution across countries and citation influences. The factors of cost estimation performance were clustered to several themes with most of the factors in control themes. The factors in control themes are cluttered based on Organizational Control Theory (OCT). However, control themes provide less conceptual basis and dynamic to explain cost estimation performance and relationship among the factors. Therefore, this study reclassified other factors of cost estimation performance with reference to Contingency Theory (CT) and Task-Technology Fit Theory (TTFT). Hence, a new framework with relationship among the factors and cost estimation performance was developed. Further development and research of using the CT and TTFT frameworks were also discussed.

A wearable technology solution and research agenda for housekeeper safety and health

PurposeAdopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the purpose of this paper was to posit an industry-wide technological intervention for hotel housekeeper safety and health through the advancement of wearable technology.Design/methodology/approachUsing the task-technology fit (TTF) model and examples of successful safety and health applications of wearable technologies in the health-care and construction management industries, interventions and future research directions are presented to address workplace hazards experienced by hotel housekeepers.FindingsThe fit between a variety of hotel housekeeper user requirements, task demands and wearable functions are explored with justification for the use of wearable devices to improve safety and health-related outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsA research agenda is proposed for the adoption and use of wearables in the hospitality industry with the intention to generate meaningful interventions beyond corporate wellness, and the mitigation of employee privacy concerns to enhance wearable adoption.Practical implicationsGiven the importance of consumer safety and health assurance in a post-pandemic business environment, hospitality and tourism organizations should place greater emphasis on protecting front line employees who will be essential in regaining economic viability.Social implicationsTheoretical and practical foci should move beyond a simplistic view of hospitality and tourism worker safety and health that generally centers on wellness initiatives and other baseline strategies, toward a more holistic view benefitting the hospitality industry.Originality/valueExtant concerns about hotel housekeeper safety and health, in addition to new concerns and threats in a post-pandemic work environment, are largely understudied and worthy of investigation.

Adopting task technology fit model on e-voting technology

<span>E</span><span>-voting is a tool to support the voting process starting from recording, voting, and counting votes using electronic devices. E-voting promises a faster voting process, reduced budget costs, lost votes due to damaged ballot papers during the voting process, and others. E-voting is also used in high school student council elections. Young people are more computer literate (computer literacy) and interested in using new technology (e-voting) than adults and older people. This study aims to determine the suitability of e-voting in the SMA OSIS election to the user's task support using the task-technology fit (TTF) model. The data analysis used is multiple regression analysis. This analysis is used to determine the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable with a significance level of 5%. The results of this study indicate that the 4 formulated hypotheses can be accepted and the students of SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Bantul feel the suitability of technology support when voting using e-voting in the selection of the high school student council.</span>

Digital Financial Services and Financial Performance of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Kakamega County, Kenya

Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (Saccos) in Kenya have realised a tremendous growth in the subsector and are investing huge amount of their scarce financial resources in digital technology to enhance services delivery and offer a wide variety of products and services range, increased membership mobilisation and size, ensure better structure and effective financial performance. Digital financial Services as used in the Saccos industry is as a result of Information Communication Technology revolution commonly referred to as digital commerce. Many Saccos are steadily changing from manual banking system of operations to providing digital Financial (e-banking) services that include internet banking, M-banking and Automated Teller machine support. The adoption of digital financial Services by the Saccos is a strategic attempt to deal with increased cut throat competition from traditional banking institutions and non-banking financial institutions, to cut costs and add value to their services in order to optimise benefits to the shareholders. Despite the fact that Saccos have rapidly adopted digital financial services to provide services, and that they drive a huge section of the financial sector savings of the economy, they have experienced various challenges such as uncertainty and risk due to digital financial services. The study sought to establish the influence of digital financial services on the financial performance of SACCOs in Kakamega County, Kenya. The specific objectives was to determine the effect of the mobile banking, internet banking, use of credit cards and digital funds transfer on the financial performance of SACCOs in Kakamega County, Kenya. The research was guided by three theories of innovation and technology: Diffusion of Innovation Theory, The Theory of Task-Technology Fit Theory and the Technological context, Organisational context and Environmental context Theory.The study used a descriptive research design. The population of study were staff at the three SACCOs operating in Kakamega County. This consisted of 162 respondents who are the staff of the SACCOs. A sample of 49 respondents was taken which forms 30% of the target population which shall be evenly spread across the three SACCOs. The primary data was collected by use of self-administered semi-structured questionnaire.Collected data was analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics by the use of SPSS. Findings were presented by use of tables, frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation.The study found that the financial performance of the SACCOs was significantly influenced by the digital financial services instituted by the SACCO managements. They demonstrated to have reliable mobile banking system where most of their customers had enrolled on the mobile banking platform and most of customer queries and updates were sorted via the mobile platform.Given the limitations and findings of this study, the researcher recommends that since there exists a positive relationship between digital financial services and bank performance and that e-banking has brought services closer to bank customer’s hence improving banking industry performance, SACCOs must also enhance the dynamics of the sector and embrace digital banking fully and extensively. Mobile banking faces various challenges among them being, system delays by the mobile money transfer service providers, slow processing of transactions, high transactions costs, limit on the amount of money that can be withdrawn in a day and fraud.

Social media in B2B sales: Why and when does salesperson social media usage affect salesperson performance?

The importance of social media usage by B2B salespeople has been well documented in the sales literature. In particular, a B2B salesperson's use of social media to prospect for customers and adapt their sales approach have primarily been shown to explain sales performance. However, an increasing body of literature in the sales domain has called for B2B salespeople to be ambidextrous by engaging in service activities aimed at helping their customers. We argue that by giving B2B salespeople an opportunity to communicate directly with their customers, social media is used by salespeople to proactively service their customers and hence can play a critical role in driving sales performance. Drawing from the Task-Technology Fit theory, we develop and test a conceptual model in which B2B salesperson social media usage affects salesperson performance indirectly through value-oriented prospecting and proactive servicing. Additionally peer social media usage was a key moderator in the relationship between B2B salesperson social media usage on the one hand and value-oriented prospecting and proactive servicing on the other hand. We test the model with data from 171 B2B salespeople and find that salesperson social media usage relates positively with proactive servicing and value-oriented prospecting. While we did not find support for the relationship between social media usage and adaptive selling, we did find support for the impact of all three sales activities salesperson performance. In addition, results show that peer social media usage has positive moderating effects on the B2B salesperson social media usage and value-oriented prospecting/proactive servicing relationships.

A meta-analysis of virtual reality training programs

Virtual reality (VR) is the three-dimensional digital representation of a real or imagined space with interactive capabilities. The application of VR for organizational training purposes has been surrounded by much fanfare; however, mixed results have been provided for the effectiveness of VR training programs, and the attributes of effective VR training programs are still unknown. To address these issues, we perform a meta-analysis of controlled experimental studies that tests the effectiveness of VR training programs. We obtain an estimate of the overall effectiveness of VR training programs, and we identify features of VR training programs that systematically produce improved results. Our meta-analytic findings support that VR training programs produce better outcomes than tested alternatives. The results also show that few moderating effects were significant. The applied display hardware, input hardware, and inclusion of game attributes had non-significant moderating effects; however, task-technology fit and aspects of the research design did influence results. We suggest that task-technology fit theory is an essential paradigm for understanding VR training programs, and no set of VR technologies is “best” across all contexts. Future research should continue studying all types of VR training programs, and authors should more strongly integrate research and theory on employee training and development.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Smartphone Usage to Interact with Learning Materials in Independent Learning Outside of Classrooms among Undergraduate Students

Clearly, the smartphone is increasingly playing a greater role in everyday life, thus providing opportunities to evaluate how well the use of the smartphone meets the requirements of undergraduate students in independent learning outside of a classroom setting. This study used the task-technology fit (TTF) model to explore the effectiveness of smartphone usage to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms, the need for smartphone support, and the fit of devices to tasks as well as performance. First, the study used interviews, observation, and survey data to identify what are the most important constructs of smartphones that stimulate students to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms. Based on the findings from the exploratory study and Task Technology Fit theory, we postulated the Navigation design, Ergonomic design, Content support, and Capacity as the essential dimension of the smartphone construct. Then, we proposed a research model and empirically tested hypotheses with the structural model analysis. The results reveal a significant positive impact of task and technology on TTF for smartphone usage to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms; it also confirmed the TTF and performance have a direct effect on actual use.

Digital competency of educators in the virtual learning environment: a structural equation modeling analysis

This study integrates the educators’ digital competency (DC), as an individual characteristic construct of the task-technology fit (TTF) theory, to examine a better fit between Moodle using and teaching task, and to investigate its effect on both Moodle’s utilization and their task performance. For assessing our proposed hypotheses, an online survey was conducted with 238 teaching staff from different departments of universities in Malaysia. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), our analysis revealed that all the proposed components (i.e., technology literacy, knowledge deepening, presentation skills, and professional skills) of digital competency significantly influenced the TTF. The Task-Technology Fit was also found as an influential construct, which positively and significantly affected both Moodle’s utilization and teachers’ task performance. Besides, Moodle’s utilization was confirmed to be a substantial determinant of the performance impact. In the end, this study included limitations and future directions based on how the study’s contribution can support academics and practitioners for assessing and understanding what particular components of digital competency impact TTF, which in turn may influence the system’s utilization and performance impact.

Extending the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) Model to E-Textbook Usage by Students and Instructors

Companies produce increasing numbers of textbooks in electronic format (e-textbooks) for use by students and instructors. One would be remiss, however, to think that university bookstores are not filled with hard copies of textbooks; many students and instructors still insist on using traditional paper copy textbooks. Many models exist to explain the factors that influence whether users adopt new technologies. The majority of this research, however, focuses on a single user group or isolated new technologies in the academic domain, such as learning management systems or digital video tools. The study extends the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model to explore how both students and instructors use e-textbooks. New items were added to existing constructs of access, task technology fit, and perceived ease of use. The authors propose a new model and test the impact of perceived ease of use, access to technology, and the task technology fit on performance by both students and instructors. The results of factor analysis and structural equation modeling are reported.