Review of Information Technology Value Research: A Triple‐Outcomes Perspective

Abstract

An extensive body of literature shows that we have long moved past the early debate on Solow's “productivity paradox.” IT contribution to value is now widely accepted. Recent research establishes that IT's value creation occurs under certain conditions and that value manifests itself in many ways. The extant research highlights the need for broadening the scope of the IT value research beyond the established financial and economic frameworks and proposes investigating the cocreation of value and expanding different perceptions of value. This article provides a brief review of the literature on productivity paradox and lays out the issues and challenges of measuring IT value, followed by a discussion on evaluation of IT contribution. Since IT has economic, environmental, and societal impacts, this article also proposes a triple‐outcomes perspective for future research that should go beyond the economic‐value‐based frameworks and investigate environmental and social value of IT.