Systems Design, Process Performance and Economic Outcomes

IT value remains a serious concern of management today, especially how it should be measured and how it is created. Although we have made significant progress at the firm and aggregate levels of analysis, process level analysis is still in its infancy, and there is a need for a systematic basis for identifying IT impacts. We provide such an approach by developing two models: a process performance model of how system characteristics enhance process output and quality, and an economic performance model linking process performance to the economic performance of the firm. We apply these models to global trade services in international banking. We obtained estimates for key variables in both models and general support for the approach. We interpret our results and discuss the merits of the process-level approach for the assessment of IT-reliant work systems.