Abstract
This conceptual contribution explains how a systems theory of IT innovation, adoption, and adaptation provides a balanced perspective on the bright and dark sides of IT. It starts by explaining how the bright and dark sides of IT are often entangled, which implies that variance theories in the style of TAM and UTAUT should have difficulty addressing the bright and the dark in a balanced and useful way. It distinguishes systems theories from variance theories. It proposes an extension of work system theory (WST) in the form of a systems theory of IT innovation, adoption, and adaptation that provides a balanced perspective on the bright and dark sides of IT. It shows how that theory, combined with WST and some of its other extensions, leads to a series of topics and questions that are directly relevant to understanding and analyzing the bright and dark sides of IT.
Recommended Citation
Alter, Steven, "A Balanced Perspective on the Bright and Dark Sides of IT Based on a Systems Theory of IT Innovation, Adoption, and Adaptation" (2017). DIGIT 2017 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/digit2017/1