Method Engineering as Design Science

In this paper, we motivate, devise, demonstrate, and evaluate an approach for the research-based development of information systems development methods (ISDMs). This approach, termed “method engineering as design science” (ME-DS), emerged from the identified need for scholars to develop ISDMs using proper research methods that meet the standards of both rigor and relevance. ISDMs occupy a position of central importance to information systems development and scholars have therefore invested extensive resources over the years in developing such methods. The method engineering (ME) discipline has developed different frameworks and methods to guide such development work and, for that purpose, they are well-suited. Still, there remains a need for applications and evaluations of ISDMs based on the demands for knowledge justification. Unfortunately, in many cases, scholars come up short with regard to how ISDMs are generated and empirically validated. While design science (DS) stresses knowledge justification, prominent DS approaches seem to be biased toward the development of IT artifacts, making this approach ill-suited for the development of method artifacts. We therefore propose eight principles that marry ME and DS, resulting in a process model with six activities to support research-based development of ISDMs. We demonstrate and evaluate ME-DS by assessing three existing research papers that propose ISDMs. These retrospectives show how ME-DS directs attention to certain aspects of the research process and provides support for future ISDM development

Context-Aware Digitalization – Adapting solution development to the organizational context of SMEs

In the context of digital transformation, it is mandatory for most organizations to conduct information systems development (ISD) projects as part of their digitalization and business development journey. One reason that many ISD projects fail is lack of knowledge about which ISD method (ISDM) is most suitable for the project at hand and how to adapt it to reflect the respective business development context. These problems especially occur in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as they often lack specific methodological skills and project governance experience – so they cannot even manage ISD consultancies that promise to support them in their digital transformation. In this conceptual paper, we present the design of a method for selecting and using ISDM for SMEs. It considers both the context dependency and missing project governance skills of SMEs. The main components of the proposed method link the knowledge areas of business development and ISD: business context evaluation, ISDM selection and ISDM management

Managing Evolutionary Method Engineering by Method Rationale

This paper explores how to integrate formal meta-models with an informal method rationale to support evolutionary (continuous) method development. While the former provides an exact and computer-executable specification of a method, the latter enables concurrent learning, expansion, and refinement of method use (instances of meta-models) and meta-models (evolution of method specifications). We explain the need for method rationale by observing the criticality of evolving method knowledge in helping software organizations to learn, as well as by the recurrent failure to introduce rigid and stable methods. Like a design rationale, a method rationale establishes a systematic and organized trace of method evolution. Method rationale is located at two levels of type-instance hierarchy depending on its type of use and the scope of the changes traced. A method construction rationale garners a history of method knowledge evolution as part of the method engineering process, which designs and adapts the method to a given organizational context. A method use rationale maintains knowledge of concrete use contexts and their history and justifies further method deployment in alternative contexts, reveals limitations in its past use, and enables sharing of method use experience. The paper suggests how a method rationale helps share knowledge of methods between method users and engineers, explores how method engineers coordinate the evolution of the existing method base through it, and suggests ways to improve learning through method rationale

An exploratory study of an enterprise systems implementation methodology in action

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of Internet and e-commerce technologies in the tourism industry. The tourism industry is one of the most important that contribute to Thailand’s economic growth. The Thai government has promoted e-strategies in the tourism industry for economic reform. Although the government has encouraged the use of Internet technology for effective communication and collaboration across a broad range of tourism related activities, it has not yet been widely accepted. This study examines the roles of culture in the Thai business community, and how its underlying assumptions affect the adoption of technology in the Thai tourism industry. The findings are presented in two main parts: visions and currents issues from the Thai government and the actual technology adoption issues faced by practitioners

From Method Fragments to Knowledge Units : Towards a Fine-Granular Approach

We argue that a failure to consider real-world artifacts which are involved in day-to-day ‘Information Systems Development’ activities as a key reason which renders approaches like method engineering inadequate to practice. We aim to reduce the abstraction and granularity of “method fragments” by re-envisioning them as ‘knowledge units’. By doing so, we hope to strike the right balance between the ‘fluid’ and the ‘institutional’ domains of knowledge that can be translated into practice with relative ease. We consider real-world ‘project templates’ used in information systems development as exemplars of ‘best practices’ accumulated from the past and develop a platform called ReKon, which consists of ‘fine-grain project template chunks’. We map these ‘knowledge units’ against broad project phases and tasks that potential users can combine as needed. These knowledge units are extracted from more than 1,200 real-world project templates made available for this research project by four leading IT consulting organizations. The paper briefly describes the theoretical foundations of the platform (Method Engineering and SECI Framework), followed by the process used for chunking and codification of the templates, and discusses results of formative evaluation of the ReKon platform. We discuss future directions for ReKon platform that require extending Nonaka and Takeuchi’s combination quadrant within the SECI model