270 Information Management and Business Review Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 270-277, June 2013 (ISSN 2220-3796) Technostress: Mediating Accounting Information System Performance M. U. Saganuwan * , W. K. W. Ismail, U. N. U. Ahmad Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia * umsagan@yahoo.com Abstract: In recent times, Accounting Information System (AIS) characteristics were studied to enhance its effectiveness but the impact technology stress, which imposes additional stress in the professionals known as techno stress, is not reflected. Technostress and AIS literatures were reviewed to synthesize the relationship. Technostress adversely affect the professional’s job satisfaction and performance. Therefore, this conceptual paper highlights and synthesizes the issues of techno stress with professionals and the effectiveness of AIS in organizations. However, based on the strength of existing frameworks of AIS, techno stress use to mediate the technological, organizational and cognitive contingency factors under condition of uncertainty to determine AIS effectiveness. Keywords: Technostress, AIS Effectiveness, Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, Digital Economy 1. Introduction Technology otherwise known as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used today to accomplish tasks in organizations. AIS are a complex subsystem of ICT that requires the users (professional accountants and managers) to use many applications to obtain varieties of qualitative information for planning, control functions and decision-making. The AIS processes placed on the professional’s constant connectivity, information overload, continual upgrades in technology, technical problems associated with the use of technology may affect techno stress. Conversely, technostress is said to adversely affect professional ’s job satisfaction and reduces their productivity (Tarafdar, Tu, Ragu-Nathan, & Ragu-Nathan, 2011) which can be linked directly to organizational performance. Therefore, this puts to question the AIS performance in the context of professional is job satisfaction and performance. Basically techno stress is generally experienced when the user is struggling to use and/or over-identifying with technology to perform tasks in the organization(Brod, 1984). Technostress is described as the etiology of many diseases like cardiovascular disorder, hypertension and psychosomatic ailments. However, irrespective of what causes occupational stress in employees, it has been found to have an adverse effect on organizations. For example, the maintenance supervisors experienced more stress in computer-based plant than in traditional plant(Blake, Saleh, & Whorms, 1996). Also, according to Croon, Kuijer, Broersen, & Frings-Dresen, (2004)the introduction of an OBC - system in Dutch road transport system negatively affect the lorry driver’s job. In view of the above AIS, usage should be associated with techno stress and should affect the professional vis-a-viz organizational performance. Therefore, the effects of techno stress may cause professionals to experience lower productivity, job dissatisfaction, and high amounts of absenteeism turnover among others. Consequently, there is missing link between the effectiveness of AIS in the organizational context and the effect of techno stress on the professionals with respect to job satisfaction and organizational performance. However, this conceptual paper will further extend the research of the effectiveness of AIS by incorporating techno stress using Person-Environmental Theory as an addendum that influence AIS effectiveness in organizational performance. Recognizing the concept of techno stress and AIS effectiveness, techno stress idea would be applied in this gap to enunciate a model that will bring into account the effect of techno stress on job satisfaction and job performance to determine the effectiveness of AIS in the context of organizational performance. Specifically, literature were drawn from the fields of techno stress related issues of job satisfaction and job performance and effectiveness of AIS in relation to organizational performance to develop a conceptual framework. The framework will be validated subsequently as this is a research-in- progress. The paper contributes to the literature on the AIS performance which is described by Fowzia &