A Four-Dimensional View of IT Business Value

Research on IT business value has recognized that organizational factors play critical rolesin affecting how IT impacts on firm performance. However, there is neither a coherent wayof specifying organizational factors nor a consensus on the relationship between IT andorganizational factors within the research domain. This paper reviews IT business valueliterature and classifies organizational factors identified in the literature into fourcategories, based on a four-dimensional view of organizations. A main finding is thatpairwise relationships between IT and one single organizational factor have often been thebasis for understanding IT business value, while the notion of how IT business value isaffected by the interaction between IT and key organizational factors simultaneously is yetto be fully understood and empirically examined. As a result, this paper proposes aholistic approach to understanding IT business value and presents a discussion aboutfuture IT business research.