Task difficulty, task variability and satisfaction with management support systems

From its inception on, the notion of management support systems (MS) has been closely linked to task structuredness. Using data collected with a survey questionnaire, this article presents the results of an empirical analysis of the relation between task structuredness and satisfaction with MS. Two dimensions of task structuredness are distinguished: task difficulty and task variability. The results of the analysis indicate that task difficulty negatively affects satisfaction with MSS, whereas the influence of task variability on MSS success is insignificant. The provision of non-interpreted data generally contributes to satisfaction with MSS. This contribution is larger when task difficulty is high; consequently provision of non-interpreted data fully compensates for the negative effect of task difficulty. However, task variability may frustrate this positive influence. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that neither daily provision of information, nor the incorporation of Dss-characteristics into MSS, nor interactions of those variables with task difficulty and task variability significantly relate to satisfaction with MSS.