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<p class=MsoNormal>CALL FOR PAPERS Journal of Strategic Information Systems<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Special Issue: Information Systems Strategy as Practice:
Micro Strategy and Strategizing for IS<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The “rigor versus relevance” debate and the
practical relevance of much contemporary research are recurring themes not just
in the information systems discipline (Straub and Ang, 2011; Klein and Rowe,
2008; Roseman and Vessey, 2008) but in the wider field of management (c.f.
Nicolai and Seidl, 2010; Moisander and Stenfors, 2009; Mohrman et al., 2001;
Shrivastava, 1987). In the IS discipline in particular, this has led to some
scholars questioning the practical value of much of the published research (cf.
Desouza, 2006; Keen, 1991; Senn 1998; Benbasat and Zmud, 1999; Lyytinen, 1999).
A central premise of the arguments presented by these protagonists is that much
research draws on methods that are inappropriate to the applied nature of the
discipline. The foundation of this argument reflects the social sciences
‘practice turn’ that sees all knowledge as existing within the
fields of practice (Schatzki et al., 2001). In philosophy, the turn to
pragmatism similarly values knowledge through practitioners’ eyes and
places the practitioner at the centre of theory development (Putnam, 1995;
Rorty, 1998). This movement toward practical relevance prefers concrete micro
actions rather than an abstract or macro analysis. People and knowledge that
makes a difference in practice are central to research endeavors.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>In line with these arguments, the strategic management
discipline has seen the emergence of a body of research that focuses on
strategizing or the ‘doing of strategy’ (Jarzabkowski and Spee,
2009; Jarzabkowski et al., 2007; Johnson et al., 2003, 2007; Whittington,
1996). Often referred to as the "Strategy as Practice" school, it
emphasises the actual day-to-day activities, contexts, processes and content
that relate to strategic outcomes. This momentum towards a more micro
perspective is in response to growing frustrations with the contemporary
strategy literature of its relevance to practitioners. Part of the problem is
that there has been a dominant macro focus in strategic management research
that is remote from practice, particularly the normative models resulting from
it. Research in the Strategy as Practice genre emphasizes how people engage in
the 'real work' of developing a strategy and strategizing. In addressing
strategy as practice, the focus of research is on strategy praxis, strategy
practitioners and strategy practices, i.e. the work, workers and tools of
strategy (Jarzabkowski et al., 2007; Whittington, 2002). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Drawing on this Strategy as Practice perspective, this
Special Issue seeks to explore information systems strategy and strategizing
from a practice perspective. Reflecting the arguments for research relevance,
this call echoes Lee’s (2010) recent comment that “the starting
point of IS research need not be the existing theory (primarily epistęmę)
located in the IS discipline’s own (or any other) research literature;
rather, the starting point could be the technę and phronęsis of IS
professionals, managers, executives, and consultants (‘natives’)
themselves...” (p. 346). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Submitted manuscripts may report on research that explores
the patterns of how people interact and are involved in strategic activity
related to IS (and possibly alignment or co-evolution with business
strategies). Additionally, they may elicit and present the detailed processes and
practices that constitute the day-to-day activities in developing an IS
strategy and IS strategizing in practice. While theoretical contributions are
welcome (cf. Zundel and Kokkalis, 2010), the focus of empirical data collection
will normally be on the people engaged in the real work of IS strategizing (cf.
Levina and Vaast 2006 for strategic IS sourcing). Crucially, any reported
research will examine IS strategy not as something a firm has but something its
people do. A variety of research methods are also encouraged, including action
research and design science, where the objective is to contribute to the
knowing how, practical knowledge, and knowhow of IS strategy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>References<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Benbasat I. and Zmud R.W. (1999) “Empirical research
in information systems: the practice of relevance,” MIS Quarterly (23:1),
pp. 3-16.<br>
Desouza, K.C., El Sawy, O.A., Galliers, R.D., Loebbecke, C., and Watson, R.T.
(2006) “Beyond rigor and relevance towards responsibility and
reverberation: information systems research that really matters,”
Communications of AIS (17), pp 2-26.<br>
Hirschheim, R.A. (1992) “Information systems epistemology: an historical
perspective.” In Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and
Practical Guidelines (Galliers R.D., Ed), pp. 28-60, Blackwell, Oxford.<br>
Jarzabkowski, P and Spee, A.P. (2009) “Strategy-as-practice: a review and
future direction for the field,” International Journal of Management
Reviews, (11:1), pp. 69-95.<br>
Jarzabkowski, P. “Strategy as practice: Recursiveness, adaptation, and
practices-in-use,” Organization Studies (25:4), May 2004, pp 529-560.<br>
Keen P (1991) “Keynote address: relevance and rigor in information
systems research.” In Information Systems Research: Contemporary
Approaches and Emergent Traditions (Nissen H.E., Klein H.K. and Hirschheim R.,
Eds), pp. 27-49, Elsevier Publishers, Amsterdam.<br>
King, J.L. and Applegate, L.M. (1997) “Crisis in the case study crisis:
marginal diminishing returns to scale in the quantitative-qualitative research
debate,” In Information Systems and Qualitative Research (Lee A.,
Liebenau J. and DeGross J., Eds), pp. 28-30, Chapman and Hall Publishing,
London.<br>
Klein, H. and Rowe, F. (2008) “Marshaling the professional experience of
doctoral students: a contribution to the practical relevance debate,” MIS
Quarterly (32:4), pp. 675-686.<br>
Lee, A.S. (2010) “Retropective and prospects: information systems
research in the last and next 25 years,” Journal of Information
Technology, (25), pp. 336-348.<br>
Levina, N., and Vaast, E. (2008) "Innovating or doing as told? Status
differences and overlapping boundaries in offshore collaboration," MIS
Quarterly (32:2), pp 307-332.<br>
Lyytinen K (1999) "Empirical research in information systems: on the
relevance of practice in thinking of IS research," MIS Quarterly (23:1),
pp. 25-28.<br>
Nicolai, A. and Seidl, D. (2010) “That's relevant! Different forms of
practical relevance in management science,” Organization Studies,
(31:9/10), pp. 1257-1285.<br>
Mohrman, S.A., Gibson, C.B. and Mohrman, A.M. (2001) “Doing research that
is useful to practice: a model and empirical exploration,” Academy of
Management Journal, (44:2), pp. 357-375.<br>
Moisander, J. and Stenfors, S. (2009) “Exploring the edges of
theory-practice gap: epistemic cultures in strategy-tool development and
use,” Organization, (16:2), pp. 227-247.<br>
Putnam, H. (1995) Pragmatism: An Open Question, Blackwell, Oxford, UK
Cambridge, Mass., USA, pp. xii, 106.<br>
Rorty, R. (1998) Truth and Progress, Cambridge University Press, New York.<br>
Roseman, M. and Vessey, I. (2008) “Towards improving the relevance of
information systems research to practice: the role of applicability
checks,” MIS Quarterly (32:1), pp. 1-22.<br>
Schatzki, T.R., Knorr-Cetina, K., and Savigny, E.v. (2001) The Practice Turn in
Contemporary Theory, Routledge, London.<br>
Senn J (1998) “The challenge of relating IS research to practice,”
Information Resources Management Journal, (11:1), pp. 23-28.<br>
Shrivastava, P. (1987) “Rigor and practical usefulness of relevance in
strategic management,” Strategic Management Journal (8:1), pp. 77-92.<br>
Straub, D., and Ang, S. “Editors's Comments,” MIS Quarterly (35:1)
2011, pp III-XI.<br>
Jarzabkowski, P., Balogun, J. and Seidl, D. (2007) “Strategizing: the
challenges of a practice perspective,” Human Relations, Vol. 60, No 1,
pp. 5-27.<br>
Johnson, G., Langley, A., Melin, L. and Whittington, R. (2007) Strategy as
Practice: Research Directions and Resources, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.<br>
Johnson, G., Melin, L. and Whittington, R. (2003) “Micro strategy and
strategizing: towards an activity-based view”, Journal of Management
Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 3-22.<br>
Whittington, R. (2006) “Competing the practice turn in strategy
research”, Organization Studies, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 613-634.<br>
Whittington, R. (2002) “Practice perspectives on strategy: unifying and
developing a field”, Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management,
Denver.<br>
Whittington, R. (1996) “Strategy as practice”, Long Range Planning,
(29:5), pp. 731-735.<br>
Zundel, M. and Kokkalis, P. (2010) “Theorizing as engaged
practice,” Organization Studies, (31:9/10), pp. 1209-1227.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Important Dates<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Submission deadline: June 25, 2012
(definite)<br>
First reviews back: August 20, 2012 (indicative)<br>
Second revisions due by: October 15, 2012 (indicative)<br>
Final acceptance: January 16, 2013 (indicative)<br>
Publication date: March 2013 (targeted)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Editors<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Professor Bob Galliers Bentley University USA: <a
href="mailto:rgalliers@bentley.edu">rgalliers@bentley.edu</a> <br>
Professor Joe Peppard Cranfield School of Management United Kingdom: <a
href="mailto:j.peppard@cranfield.ac.uk">j.peppard@cranfield.ac.uk</a> <br>
Dr Alan Thorogood Australian School of Business University of New South Wales Australia:
<a href="mailto:alant@unsw.edu.au">alant@unsw.edu.au</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
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