[AISWorld] JAIS 2013 Volume 14, Issue 5 (May) Contents - Special Issue - Expanding the Frontiers of Information Systems Research - Part B

[Gregor, Shirley]

Contents of Volume 14, Issue 5 (May) Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) Official Publication of the Association for Information Systems

Published: Monthly Electronically

ISSN: 1536-9323

Published by the Association for Information Systems, Atlanta, USA http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/
Editor-in-Chief: Professor Shirley Gregor, The Australian National University, Australia

This issue contains the second part of the special issue on Expanding the Frontiers of Information Systems Research.

PAPER ONE
The Tables Have Turned: How Can the Information Systems Field Contribute to Technology and Innovation Management Research? By Youngjin Yoo

Abstract
Pervasive digitalization has brought new disruptive changes in the economy. At the core of these disruptive changes is digitally enabled generativity. In this paper, I argue that scholars must offer new theoretical models and insights that guide management practices in the age of generativity that can extend, or perhaps supplant, the prevailing emphasis on modularity. To that end, I suggest that information systems scholars must attend explicitly to the generative materiality of digital artifacts by drawing on the sociomaterial perspective, which has emerged as a robust intellectual tradition of the IS community. This paper is a provocation for those IS scholars who are willing to stretch the boundaries of their intellectual imagination beyond the comfort of IS journals and conferences, and offers a promising path forward.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol14/iss5/4/

PAPER TWO
Designing Business Models and Similar Strategic Objects: The Contribution of IS By Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

Abstract
In this paper, we argue that information systems (IS) research has the potential to contribute to improving strategic planning, just like it has substantially contributed to improving decision making and its support in organizations in the past. Based on our work and experience in the field of business models, we outline how IS research can help strategic management researchers study the design of business models and other similar strategic notions. The paper suggests that the current research focus in strategic management could be improved and enlightened by some of the more conceptual and design-oriented research in IS. We highlight three areas in particular in which IS research has excelled that could inform research in strategic management. The first area concerns the identification, formalization, and visualization of the core constructs and models of interest related to the design and analysis of strategic business issues. The second area corresponds to the exploration of how design techniques and tools might contribute to improving the design of answers and alternatives to strategic business questions. The third area addresses the research in computer-aided design assisting the process of designing strategic management objects such as business models.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol14/iss5/3/

PAPER THREE
Extending Classification Principles from Information Modeling to Other Disciplines By Jeffrey Parsons and Yair Wand

Abstract
Classifying phenomena is a central aspect of cognition. Similarly, specifying classes of interest is a central aspect of information systems analysis and design. We extend principles originally developed to guide classification in information systems to the general problem of organizing scientific knowledge. Two fundamental cognitive principles underlie the choice of classes. First, classes should encapsulate inferences about the properties of their instances. Second, collections of classes should provide economy of storage and processing. This leads to a view of classes as carriers of domain knowledge in the form of inferences about situations, rather than containers for information. In this paper, we show how this view, originally developed in the IT context, can be extended to other disciplines, notably the natural sciences. We explain how the principles of inference and economy can guide the choice of individual classes and collections of classes. Moreover, we present a generalized classification-based information processing system (CIPS) model. We propose that scientific theories can be represented by class structures as defined in our model and demonstrate how this can be done by applying CIPS to analyze an example from the philosophy of science literature dealing with nuclear physics. The example demonstrates two advantages of the CIPS approach: first, it can provide a simpler, more scalable, and more informative account of the phenomena than a competing approach (dynamic frames); second, the resolution of inconsistencies between theory and observation can be framed in terms of changes to classification structures, and the principles can even guide such changes.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol14/iss5/2/

PAPER FOUR
Muddling Along to Moving Beyond in IS Research: Getting from Good to Great By Varun Grover

Abstract
In this article, I argue that the IS field seems to be doing well when evaluated with sociometric techniques. However, while the progress of our field is commendable, we might have reached diminishing returns in the way we conduct research with our current modus operandi. Given that we are dealing with the most important phenomena of our time, I believe that it is time to become more ambitious and expand our impact to other domains and disciplines by creating more enduring and impactful research. I argue that four key dimensions on which we should place emphasis include: our institutionalization of a certain genre of research, monistic theorizing of our phenomena, the focus on questions for which data is easier to access, and our unwillingness to deeply engage with reference discipline theories. Addressing these through individual and collective efforts can help us expand the frontiers of our knowledge product and create broader value.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol14/iss5/1/