[AISWorld] Question: do we really want to risk turning AIS into a political lobbying organization?

Mon Jan 30 18:33:30 EST 2017

Leon,

The problem seems to me that you reduce the issue raised by Nima and others to a mere matter of “politics”. It is not, it is a human rights issue. And it does interfere with the AIS mission you quote in your email below. The executive order directly impedes the “advancement of knowledge and the promotion of excellence in the practice and study of information systems”, because it takes away the freedom to travel and thus the freedom to engage in academic practice for many colleagues around the globe wanting to travel in and out of the US. It is thus a direct impediment to academic freedom that AIS through its mission aims to promote. No one is going to lose their tent, if the AIS points out the ways in which this policy interferes with the core business of its members.

My 2 cents.

Cheers
Kai

--
KAI RIEMER | Dr. rer. pol., Dipl.-Wirt. Inform.
Professor of Information Technology and Organisation
Leader, Digital Disruption Research Group (DDRG)                                                        

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY BUSINESS SCHOOL
Discipline of Business Information Systems
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T +61 2 9036 9053  | Twitter @karisyd | Skype kai.riemer
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In http://au.linkedin.com/in/kairiemer | B http://byresearch.wordpress.com <http://byresearch.wordpress.com/> 
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On 30/01/2017, 3:22 PM, "AISWorld on behalf of Kappelman, Leon" <aisworld-bounces at lists.aisnet.org on behalf of Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu> wrote:

    It’s a metaphorical tale attributed to Arabs.  The way I heard it, a man allowed a camel to stick his nose (or her nose, as the case may be) into his tent.  And gradually the camel keeps coming in until its all the way in the tent and will not leave.  Thus the man loses the use of his tent.  The point is, if we allow AIS to take on one political issue, where do we stop?  Will we be able to stop the proverbial camel from taking over our tent?

    I encourage all AIS member to become as active in politics about this or any other government policy as they wish.  I have family members protesting at US airports as I write this.  But I do not think AIS as an organization should be protesting at airports or doing anything else about this or any government policy unless it directly affects all of us as professional academicians.  My reason is simple, to not divide our AIS community any more than we have already by our plethora of research and teaching interests, among other things.  I do not want to see AIS divide into Republican and Democrat wings any more than I want to see us divided over religious beliefs, immigration policies, or anything else.  The AIS mission statement seems to clearly leave no room for such activities by AIS:
    “The AIS Mission Statement: The Association for Information Systems (AIS) serves society through the advancement of knowledge and the promotion of excellence in the practice and study of information systems. AIS is the premier professional association for individuals and organizations who lead the research, teaching, practice, and study of information systems worldwide.” https://aisnet.org/page/AboutAIS
    If the members of AIS want to become something else, then we need to change our mission statement.  Until then, I suggest we keep to our mission and “stick to our knitting” (which is another colloquial expression).

    From: Nima Kordzadeh [mailto:n.kordzadeh at gmail.com]
    Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2017 2:59 PM
    To: Richard Watson <rickwatson at mac.com>
    Cc: Kappelman, Leon <Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu>; aisworld at lists.aisnet.org
    Subject: Re: [AISWorld] Question: do we really want to risk turning AIS into a political lobbying organization?

    Dear Leon,

    Thanks for your comments. But, did anyone talk about government policies on abortion, Obamacare, gun rights, and taxes via the aisworld mailing list during the past 48 hours? I think these items were brought up by you only. As far as I know, everybody has only talked about the immigration executive order that is discriminatory and can directly affect hundreds or potentially thousands of IS scholars, faculty members, PhD students, post-docs, etc. who are citizens of those banned countries and are legally living and working in the U.S. or in other countries. They would like to travel and attend academic events in the U.S. and outside the U.S. without stress, just like you do.

    I am aware that you have always had great doctoral students from Iran in your department at the University of North Texas. So, the question is: does it matter to you if they cannot leave the country at least during their PhD studies (4-5 years) and their families cannot also visit them? Have you ever been in that situation? And can/should AIS support them and oppose discrimination against them as they are and will be part of the AIS community?

    Best.
    Nima

    --

    Nima Kordzadeh, Ph.D.
    Assistant Professor of Informatics
    Southern AIS 2017 Program Chair

    College of Business
    Idaho State University
    Pocatello, ID 83209-8020
    Office: (208) 282-5731
    kordnima at isu.edu<mailto:kordnima at isu.edu>

    On Sun, Jan 29, 2017 at 1:37 PM, Richard Watson <rickwatson at mac.com<mailto:rickwatson at mac.com>> wrote:
    I want AIS to oppose discrimination. Surely, that is something we all agree upon.

    Sent from my iPad

    > On Jan 29, 2017, at 15:15, Kappelman, Leon <Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu<mailto:Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu>> wrote:
    >
    > There are other venues send organizations through which to deal with our personal issues with government policies.
    >
    > The question is, what do we want AIS to be?  Should we also divide up into the divisions that support one government policy about energy versus those who don't support it?  How about abortion? Our views on that may also affect the ability of some of us to do their jobs.  Where do we draw the line?  Surely these could be valid topics for our research.  But are they the issues we want our organization to be known by?  Do we want AIS to step into the fray of political advocacy?  Personally, I think not.  To do so would  only divide us even more than our diverse teaching and research interests already do.
    >
    >
    > - From iPhone - Please excuse typos -
    > Leon A. Kappelman, Ph.D., Professor of Information Systems
    > Director Emeritus, Information Systems Research Center
    > College of Business, University of North Texas
    >  Voice: 940-565-4698<tel:940-565-4698><tel:940-565-4698<tel:940-565-4698>>   kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu><mailto:kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu>>
    >
    >
    > On Jan 29, 2017, at 1:45 PM, Mohammed Rahman <mrahman at emporia.edu<mailto:mrahman at emporia.edu><mailto:mrahman at emporia.edu<mailto:mrahman at emporia.edu>>> wrote:
    >
    > Dear Leon,
    >
    > If government policies affect and prevent academics to engage in research and teaching, I believe it is appropriate and should be allowed to use AIS to raise concerns. I agree with your statement, "... we should keep AIS focused on the issues that concern us as academics ...". This on-going issue, although happens to be a government policy, indeed concerns many academics. Within the last year, I have witnessed many discussions in our AIS community about issues, impact, research opportunities, etc. that were evolved and impacted from Brexit and past US election. Similarly, many of our past and ongoing research/teaching activities influenced by political decisions at regional as well as global level. As an AIS member, I would like to see discussions about issues influence academics and other human lives, whether they are political or not so political.
    >
    > Thanks,
    >
    >
    > Mohammed Sajedur Rahman, Ph.D.
    > Assistant Professor of Information Systems
    > School of Business, Emporia State University
    > One Kellogg Circle, Emporia, KS 66801-5415
    > Phone: (620) 341-5088<tel:%28620%29%20341-5088>
    >
    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: AISWorld [mailto:aisworld-bounces at lists.aisnet.org<mailto:aisworld-bounces at lists.aisnet.org>] On Behalf Of Kappelman, Leon
    > Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2017 12:30 PM
    > To: aisworld at lists.aisnet.org<mailto:aisworld at lists.aisnet.org><mailto:aisworld at lists.aisnet.org<mailto:aisworld at lists.aisnet.org>>
    > Subject: [AISWorld] Question: do we really want to risk turning AIS into a political lobbying organization?
    >
    > Question: do we really want to risk turning AIS into a political lobbying organization or are there already other venues for the political activities in which AIS members may wish to engage?
    >
    > Seems to me we should keep AIS focused on the issues that concern us as academics - our research and teaching - and keep government policies on immigration, healthcare, gun rights, taxes, abortion, tariffs, and everything else in the venues where they belong.
    >
    > "Let us be men, not monkeys minding machines, or sitting with our tails curled, while the machine amuses us." - D. H. Lawrence
    > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    > Leon A. Kappelman, Ph.D.
    > Professor of Information Systems<http://www.cob.unt.edu/profiles/112>
    > Director Emeritus, Information Systems Research Center
    >   College of Business, University of North Texas
    >   Voice: 940-565-4698<tel:940-565-4698>   Email: kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu><mailto:kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu>><mailto:kapp at unt.edu<mailto:kapp at unt.edu>>
    > Primary Investigator, SIM's Annual IT Trends Study<http://www.simnet.org/?ITTrendsStudy>
    > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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    >
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