Criticality, epistemology and behaviour vs. Design –information systems research across different sets of paradigms

Due to its dynamic and rapid development and due to a variety of academic disciplines and research communities contributing to information systems (IS) research, a broad variety of research approaches can be found. These approaches are often discussed as contrasting “paradigms”. Positivism and interpretivism are frequently accepted to be the most relevant paradigms (cf., for instance, Klein & Myers 1999; Lee 1991; Walsham 1995; Weber 2004). A further set of paradigms consists of behavioural science research (‘problem understanding paradigm’) and design science research (‘problem understanding paradigm’) which has been introduced in the IS literature and heavily adopted since (cf., for instance, Hevner et al. 2004; Jani 2001; March & Smith 1995). On top of this distinction, the critical research paradigm, including its logical complement, the non-critical paradigm, shaped the discussion of IS research philosophy for more than two decades (cf., for instance, Brooke 2002; Klein & Huynh 2004; Landry & Banville 1992; Mumford et al. 1985). Though it is essential to research theory and practice in the IS discipline to discuss the interconnections between these different sets of paradigms, such endeavour has not yet been undertaken. Some approaches address the interdependency between interpretivism and critical research. However, a holistic framework, also taking into account also behavioural and design science is still missing. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide an integrated discussion of these different sets of paradigms and to provide novel perspectives for IS research on how to deal with the apparent diversity of approaches. We will furthermore point out why this discussion is of great importance to IS research especially in Europe

French Roadmap for complex Systems 2008-2009

This second issue of the French Complex Systems Roadmap is the outcome of the Entretiens de Cargese 2008, an interdisciplinary brainstorming session organized over one week in 2008, jointly by RNSC, ISC-PIF and IXXI. It capitalizes on the first roadmap and gathers contributions of more than 70 scientists from major French institutions. The aim of this roadmap is to foster the coordination of the complex systems community on focused topics and questions, as well as to present contributions and challenges in the complex systems sciences and complexity science to the public, political and industrial spheres

Re-Visiting IS Design Science Artifacts: Making a Case for Critical Realism

In this paper critical realism is suggested as a \ suitable philosophical assumption to guide a \ separate, stand-alone retrospective evaluation of \ design science projects and artifacts. A main \ contribution of the paper is to argue that knowledge \ can be gained in retrospective evaluations of design \ science projects regardless of the success or nonsuccess \ of the project itself. Thereby, retrospective \ evaluation complements current evaluations that are \ mostly means-end focused. The argumentation is \ supported through re-visiting two e-government \ design science projects, which can be considered \ both as failures and successes depending on the \ framing. Critical realism puts focus on knowing \ through making and widens the use of design science \ in areas where utility is not the main goal. Future \ research should focus on providing more details on \ how a critical realism retrospective in design science \ should be carried out

Understanding Applications of Project Planning and Scheduling in Construction Projects

Construction project life-cycle processes must be managed in a more effective and predictable way to meet project stakeholders’ needs. However, there is increasing concern about whether know-how effectively improves understanding of underlying theories of project management processes for construction organizations and their project managers. Project planning and scheduling are considered as key and challenging tools in controlling and monitoring project performance, but many worldwide construction projects appear to give insufficient attention to effective management and definition of project planning, including preplanning stages. Indeed, some planning issues have been completely overlooked, resulting in unsuccessful project performance. There is a lack of knowledge of, and understanding about, the significance of applications of project planning and scheduling theory in construction projects. Thus, improving such knowledge should be incorporated with new management strategies or tools to improve organizational learning and integration in the context of project planning and scheduling. This implies a need to assess project stakeholders’ understanding on the application of project planning and scheduling theories to practice. The main aim was to study and describe project stakeholders’ perspectives regarding a set of identified criteria comprising aspects assumed to be significant in successful project planning and scheduling. The main research question was developed as follows: What level of understanding do project stakeholders have about the application of project planning and scheduling theories in practices of construction projects? This key question is divided into a number of specific questions concerned with various aspects of project planning and scheduling. Three different questionnaire surveys were considered and designed in order to collect and analyse data relevant to the empirical studies presented and discussed under the scope of this thesis. The study context is Oman. The thesis is based on a summary of five appended papers, of which four represent empirical survey studies. The results form the basis of discussions and reflections, and the four key factors identified are: (1) highlighting management tools needed to improve organizational knowledge and understanding of project planning theories and methods; (2) paying particular consideration to the significant factors (enablers and barriers) impacting project planning and scheduling; (3) identifying project management roles and organizational behaviour in planning and scheduling; and (4) increasing project stakeholders’ awareness of front-end planning for a more successful project execution

Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Information Systems and Wirtschaftsinformatik

The application of scientific methods is an essential element when conducting research. They ensure reproducible results and improve the overall quality of the research projects. The aim of this paper is to introduce a method called Qualitative Comparative Analysis, which is currently nearly unrecognized within our discipline. Being neither a pure quantitative nor qualitative method, it yields potential benefits arising from both research streams. It accommodates answering research questions that simultaneously demand a deep understanding of complex relationships and also require the analysis of more than just a few single cases. The paper gives an introduction to this method and demonstrates its usefulness on the basis of two recently carried out research projects. In the end, the Qualitative Comparative Analysis proves to be a valuable addition to the canon of research methods and enriches the applied character of our discipline by contributing to the improvement of both rigor and relevance

A Framework for Managing Predictable and Unpredictable Threats: The Duality of Information Security Management

Information systems security is a challenging research area in the context of Information Systems. In fact, it has strong practical implications for the management of IS and, at the same time, it gives very interesting insights into understanding the process of social phenomena when communication information technologies are deployed in organizations. Current standards and best practices for the design and management of information systems security, recommend structured and mechanistic approaches, such as risk management methods and techniques, in order to address security issues. However, risk analysis and risk evaluation processes have their limitations, when security incidents occur, they emerge in a context, and their rarity and even their uniqueness give rise to unpredictable threats. The analysis of these phenomena which are characterized by breakdowns, surprises and side- effects, requires a theoretical approach which is able to examine and interpret subjectively the detail of each incident. The aim of this paper is to highlight the duality of information systems security, providing an alternative view on the management of those aspects already defined in the literature as intractable problems and this is pursued through a formative context (Ciborra, Lanzara, 1994) that supports bricolage, hacking and improvisation