Abstract
The advent of the third millennium provides the backdrop for exploring the current intellectual stage of IS research in both substance and matters of research methods. The paper first identifies and reflects upon two key aspects that have shaped our discipline for the past three decades and are critical for us as a community to get right if the discipline is to flourish. These aspects surround: (1) the external view of the state of the community and (2) the internal state of the community. It is our contention that, in both areas, the discipline faces significant problems. In the second part of the paper, we identify some promising steps to be taken next in IS research and its institutionalization as we cross the millennium threshold.
The original version of this chapter was revised: The copyright line was incorrect. This has been corrected. The Erratum to this chapter is available at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35505-4_33
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
References
Ackoff, R. “Management Misinformation Systems,” Management Science,December, 1967, pp. B 147–156.
Applegate, L. and King, J. “Rigor and Relevance: Careers on the Line,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999, pp. 17 – 18.
Avison, D., Lau, F., Myers, M., and Nielsen, P. A. “Action Research,” Communications of the ACM (42: 1 ), 1999, pp. 94 – 97.
Banville, C., and Landry, M. “Can the Field of MIS be Disciplined?” Communications of the ACM (32:1), 1989, pp. 48 – 60.
Benbasat, I., and Zmud, R. Empirical Research in Information Systems: The Practice of Relevance, MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999, pp. 3 – 16.
Bhattacherjee, A., and Hirschheim, R. “IT and Organizational Change: Lessons from Client/ Server Technology Implementation,” Journal of General Management (23:2), Winter, 1997, pp. 1 – 16.
Blumenthal, S. C. Management Information Systems: A Framework for Planning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
Bostrom, R., and Heinen, S. “MIS Problems and Failures: A Sociotechnical Perspective - Part I: The Causes, MIS Quarterly (1:3), 1977, pp. 17 – 32.
Burrell, G., and Morgan, G. Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. London: Heinemann Books, 1979.
Checkland, P. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1981.
Checkland, P., and Scholes, J. Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1990.
Churchman, C. W. The Design of Inquiring Systems. New York: Basis Books, 1971.
Datta, L. “Paradigm Wars: A Basis for Peaceful Coexistence and Beyond,” in The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate: New Perspectives, C. Reichardt and S. Rallis (eds.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994, pp. 53 – 70.
Davenport, T., and Markus, M. L. “Rigor vs. Relevance Revisited: Response to Benbasat and Zmud,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999, pp. 19 – 23.
Davis, G. B. Management Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Dearden, J. “Myth of Real-time Management Information,” Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1966, pp. 123 – 132.
Dickson, G. “Management Information-decision Systems,” Business Horizons (11), 1968, December, pp. 17 - 26.
Dickson, G. “Management Information Systems: Evolution and Status,” in Advances in Computers, M. Yovits (ed.). New York: Academic Press, 1981.
Fay, B. Social Theory and Political Practice. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1975.
Frost, P. “Crossroads,” Organization Science, 7(2), March-April, 1996, p. 190.
Goldkuhl, G., and Lyytinen, K. “A Language Action View of Information Systems, ” in Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Information Systems, M. Ginzberg and C. Ross (eds.), Ann Arbor, MI, 1982, pp. 13 – 30.
Goles, T., and Hirschheim, R. “The Paradigm is Dead, the Paradigm is Dead…. Long Live the Paradigm: The Legacy of Burrell and Morgan,” OMEGA, 2000 forthcoming.
Habermas, J. The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society, Volume I (transl. T. McCarthy). Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.
Hirschheim, R. “Office Systems: Themes and Reflections,” in Office Systems, A. Verrijn-Stuart and R. Hirschheim (eds.). Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1986, pp. 193 – 199.
Hirschheim, R., and Klein, H. K. “Realizing Emancipatory Principles in Information Systems Development: The Case for ETHICS,” MIS Quarterly (18:1), March, 1994, pp. 83 – 109.
Hirschheim, R., and Lacity, M. “Information Technology Insourcing: Myths and Realities,” Communications of the ACM (43:2), February, 2000.
Hirschheim, R., and Miller, J. “Implementing Empowerment Through Teams: The Case of Texacos Information Technology Division,” Proceedings of the 1993 ACM SIGCPR Conference Managing Information Technology: Organizational and Individual Perspectives, M. Tanniru (ed.), St. Louis, April 1-3, 1993, pp. 255 – 264.
Iivari, J., Hirschheim, R., and Klein, H. K. “A Paradigmatic Analysis Contrasting Information Systems Development Approaches and Methodologies,” Information Systems Research (9:2), June, 1998, pp. 164 - 193.
Iivari, J„ and Lyytinen, K. “Research on ISD in Scandinavia,” Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (10:1/2), 1999, pp. 135 – 185.
Ives, B., Hamilton, S., and Davis, G. B. “A Framework for Research in Computer-based Management Information Systems,” Management Science (26:9), 1980, pp. 910 – 934.
Kant, I. The Critique of Practical Reason. New York: Harper Torch Books, 1929.
Kant, I. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, (translated and analyzed by H. J. Patton). New York: Harper Torch Books, 1964.
Klein, H. K. “Knowledge and Methods in IS Research: From Beginnings to the Future,” in New Information Technologies in Organizational Processes, Field Studies and Theoretical Reflections on The Future of Work, O. Ngwenyama, L. Introna, M. Myers, and J. I. DeGross (eds.). Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999, pp. 13 - 25.
Klein, H. K., and Hirschheim, R. “The Rationality of Value Choices in Information Systems Development,” Foundations of Information Systems,1998 (http://www.cba.uh.edu/~parks/fis/kantpap.htm).
Klein, H. K., and Hirschheim, R. “The Evolution of the Information Systems Discipline: Quo vadis et cui bono” 1999, submitted for publication.
Klein, H. K., and Myers, M. “A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999, March, pp. 67 – 94
Kumar, K. “Program Chair’s Statement,” in Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Information Systems,K. Kumar and J. DeGross (eds.), Atlanta, GA. December 15-17, 1997, xvii-xix.
Lacity, M., and Hirschheim, R. “The Information Systems Outsourcing Bandwagon, ” Sloan Management Review (35:1), Fall, 1993, pp. 73 – 86.
Lacity, M., and Hirschheim, R. “Benchmarking as a Strategy for Managing Conflicting Stakeholder Perceptions of Information Systems,” Journal of Strategic Information Systems (4:2), 1995, pp. 165 – 185.
Landry, M., and Banville, C. “A Disciplined Methodological Pluralism for MIS Research,” Accounting, Management, and Information Technology (2:2), 1992, pp. 77 – 97.
Langefors, B. Theoretical Analysis of Information Systems. Philadelphia: Auerbach, 1973 (originally published in Lund, Sweden: Studentlitterature, 1966 ).
Lee, A. “The MIS Field, the Publication Process, and the Future Course of MIS Quarterly,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999a, pp. v-xi.
Lee, A. “Rigor and Relevance in MIS Research: Beyond the Approach of Positivism Alone,” MIS Quarterly (23: 1 ), 1999b, pp. 29 – 33.
Lincoln, Y., and Guba, E. Naturalistic Inquiry, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985.
Lucas, H. “The State of the Information Systems Field,” Communications of theAIS (5:1), January 1999.
Lyytinen, K. “Empirical Research in Information Systems: On the Relevance of Practice in Thinking of IS Research,” MIS Quarterly (23: 1 ), 1999, pp. 25 – 27.
Markus, M. L. “The Qualitative Difference in Information Systems Research and Practice,” in Information Systems and Qualitative Research, A. S. Lee, J. Liebenau, and J. I. DeGross (eds.). London: Chapman & Hall, 1997, pp. 11 – 27
Markus, M. L. “Thinking the Unthinkable: What Happens If the IS Field as We Know it Goes Away?,” in Rethinking MIS, R. Galliers and W. Currie (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 175 – 203
McFarlan, F. W. “Information Technology Changes the Way You Compete,” Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1984, pp. 98 – 103.
Morgan, G. (ed.). Beyond Method: Strategies for Social Research, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983.
Mumford, E. Designing Human Systems—The ETHICS Method. Manchester: Manchester Business School, 1983.
Mumford, E., and Henshall, D. A Participative Approach to the Design of Computer Systems. London: Associated Business Press, 1978.
Nygaard, K. “The Trade Unions New Users of Research,” Personnel Review (4:2), 1975, as referenced on page 94 in K. Nygaard, “The Iron and Metal Project: Trade Union Participation,” in Computers Dividing Man and Work, A. Sandberg (ed.), Stockholm: Arbetslivcentrum, 1975.
Ormerod, R J. “Combining Management Consultancy and Research,” Omega (24:1), 1996, pp. 1 – 12.
Poora, J., and Hirschheim, R. “Perceptions and Realities of the IT Function: Lessons from Forty Years of Change at Texaco,” 1999, submitted for publication.
Quine, W. V. O. The Web of Belief. New York: Random House, 1970.
Sabherwal, R., Hirschheim, R., and T. Goles, R., and T. Goles “The Dynamics of Alignment: A Punctuated Equilibrium Model,” Organization Science, 2000, forthcoming.
Smithson, S., and Hirschheim, R. “Analyzing Information Systems Evaluation: Another Look at an Old Problem,” European Journal of Information Systems (7:3),September, 1998, pp. 158 – 174.
Tashakkori, A., and Teddlie, C. Mixed Methodology: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. London: Sage Publishers, 1998.
Teichroew, D., and Hershey, E. “PSL/PSA: A Computer-aided Technique for Structured Documentation and Analysis of Information Processing Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (SE-3:1), January, 1977, pp. 41 – 48.
Walsham, G. Interpreting Information Systems in Organizations. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1993.
Whitley, R. The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1984a.
Whitley, R. “The Development of Management Studies as a Fragmented Adhocracy,” Social Science Information (23:4/5), 1984b, pp. 775–818.
Winograd, T., and Flores, K. F. Understanding Computers and Cognition. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986.
Winograd, T., and Flores, K. “A Language/Action Perspective on the Design of Cooperative Work,” Human-Computer Interaction (3), 1987.
Yourdon, E. Modern Structured Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Zmud, R. “Individual Difference and MIS Success: A Review of the Empirical Literature,” Management Science (25: 10 ), 1979, pp. 966 – 979.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hirschheim, R., Klein, H.K. (2000). Information Systems Research at the Crossroads: External Versus Internal Views. In: Baskerville, R., Stage, J., DeGross, J.I. (eds) Organizational and Social Perspectives on Information Technology. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 41. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35505-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35505-4_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-6107-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-35505-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive