Memorandum on design-oriented information systems research

Information Systems Research (“Wirtschaftsinformatik”) basically follows two research approaches: the behavioristic approach and the design-oriented approach. In this memorandum, 10 authors propose principles of design-oriented information systems research. Moreover, the memorandum is supported by 111 full professors from the German-speaking scientific community, who with their signature advocate the principles specified therein.     

A profile of information systems research in the Mediterranean region

Drawing data from the Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS), we build a profile of Mediterranean information systems (IS) research and compare the emerging research landscape with recent reviews in European and international contexts. We report on research topics addressed, research methodologies employed, local empirical contexts and the composition of the related community of authors. On the basis of this data, we problematize on the meaningfulness and nature of a regional profile for IS research. Together with the six papers selected for this special issue, we aspire to contribute to the broader discourse on the diversity of IS research orientation, methodologies and agendas across different parts of the world.     

A design-oriented method to build correct hypermedia documents

Over the years, different approaches to identify temporal and spatial conflicts in hypermedia applications has been proposed. Most of them are based on formal verification techniques and impose to the designers to follow a formal model or language to ensure application’s functional correctness. Furthermore, the error diagnose is hard to be interpreted by a non-specialist in this domain. In this paper, we present an approach which supports formal verification for documents written in markup languages. We proposed a method and built a verification toolchain that helps designers to verify time and spatial constraints in hypermedia applications. The input language is the designer language. Its translation towards the input of toolchain is automatic and transparent for the application designer. The errors scenarios provided by the verification tool are presented in a timeline way, easily understandable by the designer. The method and toolchain support different markup languages translated in the same intermediary language in order to facilitate the use of different verification tools in the same environment.

     

The information systems research cycle

What distinguishes information systems from closely aligned disciplines such as computer science, organizational science, management science, economics, or systems engineering? How does IS research balance the demands of relevance and rigor to make effective contributions to both theory and practice? As senior researchers in IS, the authors have engaged in many debates on these questions and have come to some conclusions about what makes this burgeoning field unique and how to properly plan, execute, and evaluate IS research as well as transition it into practice.     

Crowdsourcing of information systems research

This paper addresses how technology-mediated mass collaboration offers a dramatically innovative alternative for producing IS research. We refer to this emerging genre as the crowdsourced research genre and develop a framework to structure discourse on how it may affect the production of IS research. After systematically traversing the alternative genre’s landscape using the framework, we propose a research agenda of the most substantial and imminent issues for the successful development of the genre, including contributor incentives, scholarly contribution assessment, anonymity, governance, intellectual property ownership, and value propositions. In addressing this research agenda, we reflect on what might be learned from other areas in which crowdsourcing has been established with success.     

Decolonising critical information systems research: A subaltern approach

Theories used in the Information Systems (IS) field come in large majority from authors based in Western countries, a bias that holds for critical theories as well. Such a bias is made more problematic by the mandate of critical theory, which is meant exactly to illuminate the oppressive conditions of the status quo. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the subalternity theory approach – developed by the Subaltern Studies collective from the early 1980s – as an indigenous theory that, proposing a socially and geographically connotated narration of ‘history from below’, can play a major role in the effort to decolonise critical IS research. By positioning subaltern theory in the IS field, the paper offers an alternative to the Western hegemony of critical theories, exploring the potential of such an alternative to voice systematically silenced and marginalised perspectives.     

A paradigmatic and methodological examination of information systems research from 1991 to 2001

Abstract. The field of information systems (IS) has evolved for more than three decades. Although many schools of thought have emerged and even become well established, few historical analyses of research paradigms and methodologies have been undertaken. One of the rare exceptions is Orlikowski & Baroudi (1991). Yet, the IS research community has evolved substantially since 1991 in many aspects. A variety of journal outlets have emerged and become well established. More attention has been paid to paradigmatic and methodological issues. Political and professional contexts have also changed noticeably. Therefore, it should be an opportune time for the field to ask: ‘What changes are manifested in journal publications?’‘Is the field making progress regarding pluralism in IS research?’‘How will the field's publications practices change in the future?’ The purpose of this paper is to investigate these questions and, in turn, reflect on the paradigmatic and methodological progress made since 1991. We examined 1893 articles published in eight major IS publication outlets between 1991 and 2001. Our findings suggest that the long‐term endeavours of interpretivist researchers might need to continue because the paradigmatic progress appears somewhat inconsequential; positivist research still dominates 81% of published empirical research. In particular, US journals, as opposed to European journals, tend to be more positivist, quantitative, cross‐sectional and survey oriented. With respect to research design, survey research is still the most widely used method (41%), although case studies have gained substantial recognition (36%). Further, the increase of qualitative research (30%), empirical studies (61%) and longitudinal cases (33%) at the expense of laboratory experiments (18%) might suggest that IS researchers have become more interested in obtaining scientific knowledge in real world settings. In summary, we suggest that the field has been dominated by the positivist paradigm, despite calls to the contrary. Indeed, if the field was to truly embrace pluralism, it would have to find ways to fundamentally change the publication practices of the journal system, including the current tenure and promotion system, which pose considerable obstacles for the acceptance of alternative paradigms.     

Reconsidering deconstruction in information systems research

Deconstruction, a post-structuralist approach to examining language in texts, is most often associated with the philosophical works of Jacque Derrida. After a flurry of interest among management and information systems (IS) scholars, this qualitative approach to exploring organizational texts has received little attention in the IS literature. We suggest deconstruction could help our field explore how IS texts describe the social and technical past and also prescribe and circumscribe the future of IS practice. Thus, we suggest the IS field reconsider how deconstruction might contribute to language-based approaches in IS research and practice. In this paper, we discuss deconstruction in light of the linguistic turn in social science research and the support and criticism for its use in management research. We consider IS research publications that have employed deconstruction explicitly, examine a well-known IS publication as an example of the deconstruction of IS texts, and suggest ways in which deconstruction might be applied to various genres of IS texts to inspire insights and creativity. To conclude, we highlight considerations for researchers who might adopt this approach and for the editors and reviewers who would evaluate qualitative research papers that employ deconstruction.     

Action research in information systems development

Abstract. Action research is located within a spectrum of problem-solving activity that ranges from pure basic scientific research, the purpose of which is to add to knowledge, to human action designed to achieve a purpose without thought of contributing to knowledge. Action research both adds to knowledge and applies it in practice. Action research is particularly appropriate information systems development. A number of alternative methodologies for action research exist that make differing philosophical assumptions. A body of theory exists that enables a choice to be made among methodologies. This theory is useful in analysing information system problems.     

Alternative genres in information systems research

In this special issue, we advocate a critical stance toward the presentational conventions that we – as authors, reviewers, and editors – accept as the academic article genre. We seek to highlight and illustrate the generative capacity and the significant role of genres in the production of knowledge. Furthermore, we wish to encourage Information Systems (IS) scholars to leverage a wider array of alternative genres to present their research in order to develop new insights on subject matters of interest to the IS discipline, as well as expand on how contemporary and emergent phenomena of interest are conceived and studied. Adopting a broad view of alternative genres, we solicited articles that apply unconventional presentational modalities to expand or challenge the prevailing modus operandi of communicating IS scholarship and practice. Six articles survived a rather lengthy and challenging review process. We briefly discuss the nature of the academic article genre and the role of alternative ways of writing. We also introduce the six exemplars of alternative genres in the special issue, namely conversation, French new novel, meditation, memoir, allegory, and crowdsourced research. We highlight key insights and contemplate their implications for current and future IS research.     

A narrative approach to publishing information systems research: inspiration from the French New Novel tradition

In this paper, we suggest an alternative way of producing Information Systems (IS) case studies in which researchers act as narrators of stories following the spirit and techniques of the French New Novel (FNN). As such, authors attempt to represent the richness of a problem situation. The readers’ role is more demanding compared to traditional case studies, as they have to play detectives to discover meaning from the narrative. Hence, readers need to expose different interpretations from the text rather than accept a complete story by the author or an author-provided set of alternative interpretations. Following a discussion of the FNN, we present an extract of a narrative that follows this approach. It concerns use of technology in team meetings in a research project on the potential impact of climate change on organic farming in France. Based on this example, we discuss the techniques used in its construction, ways in which the text might be interpreted, and how it may become part of publishing qualitative case study research within IS.     

Diversity in information systems action research methods

Discussions of action research in information systems (IS) often proceed as if there were one definitive action research method. This paper describes and analyses the different frameworks, assumptions and goals that characterise the diverse forms of action research. A more inclusive action research paradigm is delineated that offers a basis for validating a wider range of IS research. Acceptance of the full range of the diverse forms of action research may enable the IS field to be more explicit about its research methodology, thereby enabling criteria to be improved and applied to a broader range of IS research.     

A systematic review on cross-cultural information systems research: Evidence from the last decade

Based on a review of 40 articles published in the information systems journals of the senior basket since 2006, this article presents refreshing and updated patterns of cross-cultural information systems (CCIS) research and suggests a roadmap for future research in CCIS. This 10-year systematic review contributes to the information systems community by unveiling three streams of transitions in CCIS research: (1) from national level to individual level with espoused and contextual cultural values, (2) from corporate users to end users, and (3) from West to East with the emergence of Chinese culture. The limitations and future research directions are presented.