The Future of Academic MIS: Redux

As the quotes that preface this article indicate, predicting the future is tough. This article is about the future of the academic discipline called Management Information Systems, often referred to simply by the acronym MIS. Since the late 2000s, faculty who teach MIS and conduct research in this academic discipline have been concerned about issues like fluctuating enrollments, changing technologies, and concerns about the relevance of research in the discipline. This article begins by describing and examining the field of MIS in 2010, and then the analysis turns to a description of what the future looks like from the perspective of 2016. The next topic is the intellectual underpinnings of our field, with a focus on the broad research categories that have characterized MIS research in the past. This leads to a discussion of a series of research topics that are important today, to both academics and practitioners, and that will still be of great importance to both groups three to five to even 10 years in the future. The next section explores what is being published in top MIS journals currently, compared to which topics have been popular over the past few decades, and compared to the research topics identified as important now and in the future. The article ends with a few closing thoughts

Three Years as Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the Association for Information Systems

This editorial presents an overview of the three years at Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS) during the term of its second editor-in-chief. Highlights of the three years include an ever-increasing submissions rate, fast turnaround times from submission to publication, and an increase in the proportion of authors preferring peer review to editorial board review. Statistics for submission and disposal for 2006-2008 are included in the editorial, as is commentary on three major changes at CAIS that occurred during those years: 1) the move to a new electronic submissions system; 2) the introduction of a new article format; and 3) the migration to a new e-library system

The Effects of Internet Experience and Attitudes Toward Privacy and Security on Internet Purchasing

Using the Theory of Reasoned Action as the theoretical base, data collected through a semi-annual survey of web users was used to determine if beliefs about privacy and Internet security helped determine attitudes towards the Internet, which were thought to affect intent to make Internet purchases. Intent, in turn, was thought to affect actual purchasing behavior. Taking Internet experience into account, general support for the model was found, although security beliefs were stronger indicators of attitude than privacy beliefs

Journal Lists are Not Going Away: A Response to Fitzgerald et al.

This essay provides a response to Fitzgerald, B., Dennis, A. R., An, J., Tsutsui, S., & Muchala, R. C. (2019). Information systems research: Thinking outside the basket and beyond the journal. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 45, 110-133

What’s in a Name? Central Themes in MIS Since the Field’s Founding

Effective use of management information systems and related platforms is essential for the success of modern organizations. The need for use and management of the internal and external information in the private, public, and not-for-profit organizations has evolved over the years. The MIS discipline, themes, and related platforms have also evolved. We will briefly review the historical evolution of the MIS themes and discuss why and how these themes emerged and faded

Potential Uses of AI-Based Platforms in Teaching and Learning

Since its development more than fifty years ago, AI and AI-based platforms have been used in many areas including education. More recently, with the development and release of various chatbots and, in particular, platforms such as GPT-4 researchers and institutions of higher education are more seriously looking at the more meaningful, constructive, and ethical uses of AI in teaching and learning. In this editorial, we will briefly review the potential uses and expansion of AI-based technologies in support of innovative teaching and learning to intentionally, ethically, and economically help students, faculty, and higher education institutions to eliminate or at least reduce the educational gap that exists in many communities

Comparing Australians’ and Americans’ Abilities to Detect Deception across Cultures and Communication Media

The reach of global communication is expanding through the growing availability of smartphones. Smartphones are particularly popular for texting and voice/video calls, and their affordability means that more and more people around the world can now communicate with each other. Yet with the spread of global communication also comes increased exposure to deceptive communication. Can people in one culture accurately detect deception across cultures? And does the communication media they use play a role in their detection accuracy? We attempt to answer these two research questions in a study of Australian and US judges who were asked to detect deception in Australians and Americans, across four different media: full audiovisual, video only, audio only, and text. We found that both Australians and Americans could accurately detect deception at about the same rate across both cultures, and they were better at detection when exposed to full audiovisual stimuli compared to text

COVID-19 and Examples of “Best” Teaching Practices from the Lens of Different Stakeholders

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted how we teach and learn at all educational levels. It created significant challenges but also some opportunities for various stakeholders we all can learn from for the future. In this editorial, we identify some of the “best” teaching practices that we have seen developed, improved, and that potentially can be further improved as the focus has shifted to add hybrid, HyFlex, and fully online modes of course delivery to the traditional F2F instruction. We focus on different stakeholders – students, faculty, and educational institutions. Based of review of the literature, we did not see much differences in terms of “best” teaching practices between the Midwest region and the rest of the country

Personal Health Record Systems as Boundary Objects

Personal health record systems are widely available and regarded as a key element in the push for electronic health records and the meaningful use of technology in medicine. However, the adoption and use of these systems has been much lower than anticipated. While research has investigated the reasons for this lack of adoption, we have no satisfactory answers. As such, we undertook a qualitative research study in a medical clinic setting to investigate them. We focused on identifying how the unique user groups who interacted with these personal health record systems viewed their use and impact. We specifically examined three different perspectives on these systems; physician, patient, and medical staff (e.g., nurses, receptionists). We found that personal health record systems function as boundary objects that reflect significantly different meanings to the various user groups who interact with them. Our results show that patients largely view these systems as non-essential adjuncts to their current care routine, physicians see the systems as tools, and medical staff members view them as an additional task or chore with questionable effectiveness. This new conceptualization of these systems as boundary objects has significant implications for their design and use