INCREASING RELEVANCE IN IS RESEARCH: CONTEXTUALIZING KNOWLEDGE IN NETWORKS

Relevance is useful and actionable knowledge in situ. It is a result and condition of ‘knowledge exchanges’ between practitioner and scientific communities taking place in heterogeneous knowledge networks. Whereas IS research has traditionally emphasized a selection perspective in disputes around relevance preferring scholarly community’s viewpoint over the other, this paper articulates a networking perspective which analyzes enablers, competencies and barriers for useful knowledge flow across communities. After introducing main types of knowledge that flow in the knowledge system we apply the concept of absorptive capacity to analyze the outcomes and processes of knowledge exchanges and map how each type of knowledge is sought and absorbed by one community from another by leveraging specific knowledge networks including the focal one. Given little empirical research about a) how IT managers and other high level IT professionals (consultants, etc) source and exchange different forms of knowledge in their practice, and b) the properties of this knowledge such as its volatility, accuracy, validity demands, forms of sourcing, genre or presentation, we outline a field study on salient knowing and knowledge practices among high achievement IT individuals with significant careers. Preliminary findings are reported

Systems Thinking in Energy Efficiency Planning: Evaluation of a Framework for Energy Efficiency Action Plans

Urban settlements demand the highest levels of resource consumption and waste management. It has been accepted that cities should be considered organisms. Through Urban Energy Metabolism the planning and management of energy that flows across cities achieves important developments towards sustainability. Energy Efficiency is one of the primary tools used to produce sustainable development. Cities worldwide are developing action plans that implement the teachings of holism and eco-friendly practices. Systems Theory is a field developed with the intention of managing systems based on interdisciplinarity and a holistic approach. Fundamental practices of systems thinking are applicable to the study of cities as sustainable organisms/complex systems. Planning for Energy Efficient Cities (PLEEC) is an European project that was executed by a group of participants from the public, private, and education sectors, with the purpose of designing energy efficiency action plans to meet the targets of 2020. This work introduces, based on a literature review, several systems theories. A critique of the characteristics of PLEEC’s framework is performed to assess the level of systemic consideration into holism and sustainability. The evaluation of the process or success of the energy efficiency plans elaborated is not in the scope of the research. Using a modified version of Michael C. Jackson’s Total Systems Intervention and a table that summarizes the principles of systems thinking, it is concluded that the plan lacks systemic consideration of cities as complex systems. The framework includes several concepts attributed to the field, such as interconnection of elements exchanging information and resources, but fails in defining self-organizing feedback based structures and function-driven behavior. It is of paramount importance that system thinking basics be at the core of all planning