Research Method: Consuming and Producing Knowledge

Abstract

In contrast to traditional research approaches that are used for exploring or confirming hypotheses, this dissertation follows a design science research (DSR) approach with the primary goal to develop novel artifacts from which generalizable prescriptive knowledge can be explicated (Gregor & Jones, 2007; Hevner et al., 2004). Reverting to its roots, Deng & J i (2018) refer to DSR as a problem-solving research paradigm (March & Storey, 2008). Its objective is to create and evaluate artifacts designed to solve identified organizational problems, thus enabling the transformation from the “present situation” to the “desired situation” (Hevner et al., 2004; March & Smith, 1995; March & Storey, 2008). In accordance with Simon (1996, p. 130), “everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”