Technology Affordances and Constraints in Management Information Systems (MIS)

Information systems are combinations of devices, software, data, and procedures designed to address the information processing needs of individuals and organizations. Examples include electronic mail and social networking tools as well as enterprise-level applications for financial management, decision-making, production planning, and so forth. The pervasiveness of information systems in organizational practices and daily life makes their study increasingly critical for management theory. There is no single theory of “management information systems.” Rather, the term refers to a broad class of conceptual frameworks developed to understand and explain the design, use, administration, and consequences of information systems. One framework that is used increasingly to study how people and organizations use information systems and how the use of information systems affects individuals, organizations, and their performance, is a framework we refer to as “Technology Affordances and Constraints Theory” (TACT). TACT’s essential premise is that, to understand the uses and consequences of information systems, one must consider the dynamic interactions between people and organizations and the technologies they use. In this entry, we first explain the major theoretical constructs and focus of TACT and then discuss its importance for management theory.