At the AIS’95 conference, many were inspired by Tom Davenport’s keynote address. Tom lamented that when things happen in the real world about which IS researchers could provide learned insight based on over thirty years of research, the media rarely calls upon us to comment

Alter, Allen

Bieber, Michael

Bjoern-Andersen, Niels

King, William

Porter, Patrick

English

AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)

Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)ICIS 1996 Proceedings International Conference on Information Systems(ICIS)December 1996Panel 21 Enhancing the Stature of the IS FieldMichael BieberNew Jersey Institute of TechnologyAllen AlterComputerworldWilliam KingUniversity of PittsburghNiels Bjoern-AndersenCopenhagen Business SchoolPatrick PorterSoftware MagazineFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1996This material is brought to you by the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in ICIS 1996 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationBieber, Michael; Alter, Allen; King, William; Bjoern-Andersen, Niels; and Porter, Patrick, "Panel 21 Enhancing the Stature of the ISField" (1996). ICIS 1996 Proceedings. 79.http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1996/79517PANEL 21ENHANCING THE STATURE OF THE IS FIELDPanel Chair: Michael Bieber, New Jersey Institute of TechnologyPanelists: Allen Alter, Senior Editor, Managing, ComputerworldWilliam R. King, University of PittsburghNiels Bjørn-Andersen, Copenhagen Business SchoolPatrick Porter, Editor-in-Chief, Software MagazineAt the AIS’95 conference, many were inspired by Tom Davenport’s keynote address.  Tom lamented that when things happenin the real world about which IS researchers could provide learned insight based on over thirty years of research, the mediararely calls upon us to comment.A short list of events where we could lend wisdom includes  America On-Line going down for nineteen hours, faulty Pentiumchips, V chips, how information-intensive companies should cope with hurricanes and other natural disasters, WWW security,JAVA, downsizing, outsourcing, mergers, Windows 95, data warehousing, electronic commerce, digital libraries,telecommuting, telecommunications, privacy legislation, groupware, the impact of new technologies, electronic communities,and so forth.  What should we, as academics, do about this IS awareness problem?The panel includes academics, practitioners and representatives of the media.  We will address various facets of the ISawareness problem from the viewpoint of all three.Non-tenured academics cannot afford to be particularly interested in awareness of the general field, as they are too busyworking on tenure.  Publishing in trade journals carries no weight in the tenure process, and indeed often is frowned upon asbeing undignified.  General awareness by anyone outside academic circles does not promote their tenure case.  Tenuredacademics would benefit directly only if exposure brought consulting contacts.  The other benefits are indirect, benefittingprimarily the general stature of the IS field.  To the degree tenured academics care for their field, they might make the timeto expand its influence.Journalists, therefore, often get sparse response from academics when they, under very tight schedules, try to find timely,accurate information that would satisfy their practitioner readership.  “Academic” has become synonymous with being overlyconceptual, high-level and unconnected with the practical concerns of working professionals.  Furthermore, researchers oftenrefrain from releasing information until it has been published in a recognized academic journal.  The few academics on whomjournalists do rely are well-connected to the world of IS professionals, conduct research on topics of immediate, practicalinterest to IS personnel, and are responsive to tight deadlines.IS practitioners experience academics primarily in the classroom.  Those who did not major in IS probably have notexperienced MIS as an academic discipline beyond the professor who taught the spreadsheet course.  Few academics areinterviewed within or write for the trade press.  Often when IS professionals need help, they turn to professional consultants,about whom they have read, instead of cold-calling a university to see if a professor could help.This panel will address these and other systemic problems in enhancing the stature of the IS discipline, and shall take somestabs at coming up with solutions.AcknowledgmentsThis panel has been supported generously by the NASA JOVE faculty fellowship program, by the National Center forTransportation and Industrial Productivity at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), by the New Jersey Center forMultimedia Research at NJIT, by NJIT under grant #991967, and by a grant from the AT&T Foundation.

Panel 21 Enhancing the Stature of the IS Field

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Panel 21 Enhancing the Stature of the IS Field

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