Towards a Theory of Value Latency for IT Investments

Multiple studies in the information systems (IS) literature recognize that information technology (IT) investments may not yield immediate returns. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of theoretical and empirical research to understand and explain this value latency phenomenon. We propose a new theoretical perspective on the latency of IT value and argue that IT value flows occur in three phases: the value dormancy phase, the value triggering phase and the value transformation phase. We validate our theory by mapping the prior IT value literature onto its theoretical dimensions. To provide a preliminary validation of this theory, we use it to explain differences in the IT investment value lags experienced by two organizations.