Dear Colleagues,
<p class="">I would point out that physics was around for 2,000 years, from
Aristotle to Newton, before it began to produce really impressive results. If
we are willing to wait for another 2,000 years for the research in Information
Systems to eventually lead to something, I am confident that the field will
produce some really impressive results as well. However, if we do not wish to
wait that long we might ask what we can do to speed things up a bit. </p>
<p class="">We can just keep stumbling around and eventually enough
research will accumulate for a pattern to appear which will make sense out of
what we are doing. I have every confidence that this will eventually happen and
I have every confidence that by the time it does, we (and several subsequent
generations) will all be long past the point of caring.</p>
<p class="">I would like to offer a few fairly simple questions, the
answers to which would greatly speed up progress in the field.</p>
<p class="">What are the constituents of the field? That is, what is the
field about? What are we studying?</p>
<p class="">For that matter, what is an information system? (The text
book definition is almost worthless for research purposes)</p>
<p class="">What would we like to know about the constituents of the
field?</p>
<p class="">How are we likely to find out the things we would like to
know?</p>
<p class="">These are largely philosophical questions. And instead of
asking if philosophy is relevant to IS, as is a current mantra, we should be
asking if the field is going to make any reasonable progress in any reasonable
amount of time if the philosophers of IS don’t get busy and try to answer them.</p>
<p class="">Just a few thought,</p>
<p class=""> </p>
<p class="">John</p>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 11:17 AM, Ilia Bider <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ilia@ibissoft.se" target="_blank">ilia@ibissoft.se</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div>Hi Nick,<br>
<br>
Thanks for posting your reflections. It was fascinating to
observer the unfolding discussions.<br>
Realizing that one created a monster by one's own will is the
first step on the way of cutting off its heads. <br>
<br>
On 2012-12-30 20:32, Nik R Hassan wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"><b>A small revolution in the IS field</b><br>
<br>
As we approach the end of yet another year in the history of the
IS field, I'd like to say how glad I was to have attended ICIS
this year. It may just be me, but I think I just witnessed a small
revolution taking place (at least in North America) in the field.
I heard IS scholars making unconventional remarks I have not heard
before. I enclose some quotes, and what went through my mind in
parenthesis [I am just reporting - please don't shoot the
messenger :-) ].<br>
<br>
[Varun*] "We can do very good research, but that doesn't mean we
are producing good knowledge … can we create 'better' knowledge?…
exciting, innovative and addressing important questions of our
time"<br>
<br>
(wha… [my jaw dropping] did Varun just say what I thought he
said?? He's admitting we're not producing good knowledge?)<br>
<br>
[Varun] "are we scripting the way we do research....requiring us
to select a theory and apply it to our phenomena, create a
mid-level model and then refine it ... add mediators and
moderators to it … Does this script work for good knowledge?"<br>
<br>
(Wow … I kinda think everyone knew that was the game, the standard
publishing script, and I was taught exactly that in school, but to
hear a scholar say it in public and analyze it … cool!)<br>
<br>
[Bernard**] "I've been looking back at all the work that I've
done… I don't think I've done enough ... We really should be doing
research to resolve significant global problems...<br>
<br>
(if Bernard feels he hasn't contributed much, how much have the
rest of us done?)<br>
<br>
[Bernard] ... at NUS, we've put together an inter-disciplinary
team and received a big grant using social media to reduce pests
... and increase food production ... Let's not be too fixated
about whether MISQ or ISR would publish such research ... let's
target our work at Nature or Science .... to earn the respect of
others outside our community<br>
<br>
(that's easy for him to say, he's already published tons in MISQ
and ISR. But isn't there something wrong with the picture? Isn't
research that's frequently published in the top journals of the
field that's supposed to make their way to journals like Science
and Nature? What does that say about our "normal" research?)<br>
<br>
[Manju**] "After we have had the satisfaction of publishing in
MISQ or ISR, and at least after making tenure and Full, it is time
to start thinking about researching big ideas that make a
difference "<br>
<br>
(Publishing 2-3 papers in MISQ and ISR, and getting full professor
is going to take at least 10-20 years out of the most productive
years of anyone's life, if they're fortunate enough to get there.
Shouldn't those most productive years already be spent in
researching big ideas? Shouldn't big ideas be some part of getting
a full professorship in IS?)<br>
<br>
[Steven Alter in a follow up email] <br>
Our ICIS panel "DSR … remind me again about whether it is a new
research paradigm or a rationale of last resort …" chaired by
Allen Lee, with Steven Alter, Helmut Krcmar, and Mike Chiasson …
remarks similar to Varun … that DSR is increasingly governed by a
script that makes papers easier to review but … becoming an
obstacle to genuine innovation … script encourages DSR researchers
to do design-related work in a way in which few if any designers
actually design things in the real world, which is especially
unfortunate for a type of research that is called design SCIENCE
research."<br>
<br>
All of these remarks are making me rethink about the notion of
"value" in our work (not to be confused with "usefulness" or
"utility"). It's close to "relevance" but since relevance has so
much baggage attached to it, perhaps we should be taking a closer
look at what valuable research really means.<br>
<br>
What kind of IS research is valuable anyway?<br>
<br>
<br>
Nik Rushdi Hassan<br>
Univ of Minnesota Duluth<br>
Chair SIG Philosophy<br>
<br>
*Varun Grover and Kalle Lyytinen presented at the SIG Philosophy
Workshop at ICIS on "IS Theory-State of the Art" - available soon
on the SIG Philosophy homepage<br>
<br>
**Bernard Tan and Manju Ahuja presented at the Senior Scholars
Panel at ICIS 2012 chaired by Fred Niederman<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Nik R. Hassan, PhD<br>
Assoc. Professor, Finance & MIS Dept.<br>
Labovitz School of Business and Economics<br>
University of Minnesota Duluth<br>
1318 Kirby Drive, LSBE 335Q<br>
Duluth MN 55812<br>
Office Phone: <a href="tel:%28218%29%20726-7453" value="+12187267453" target="_blank">(218) 726-7453</a><br>
Fax: <a href="tel:%28218%29%20726-7516" value="+12187267516" target="_blank">(218) 726-7516</a><br>
Home Page: <a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/%7Enhassan" target="_blank">www.d.umn.edu/~nhassan</a><br>
LinkedIn <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nik-rushdi-hassan/33/591/a9b" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nik-rushdi-hassan/33/591/a9b</a><br>
Email: <a href="mailto:nhassan@d.umn.edu" target="_blank">nhassan@d.umn.edu</a><br>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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<pre cols="72">--
===============================================
Dr. Ilia Bider
Process- och systemutvecklingskonsult at <a href="http://ibissoft.se" target="_blank">ibissoft.se</a>
Lektor & Forskare at <a href="http://DSV.su.se" target="_blank">DSV.su.se</a>
<a href="mailto:ilia@ibissoft.se" target="_blank">ilia@ibissoft.se</a> <a href="tel:%2B46%20%280%298%20164998" value="+468164998" target="_blank">+46 (0)8 164998</a>
Creating an agile eneterprise <a href="http://t.co/5nJdNBev" target="_blank">http://t.co/5nJdNBev</a></pre>
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Email: <a href="mailto:jartz@gwu.edu" target="_blank">jartz@gwu.edu</a><br></span></b><font style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="4"><br></font></font><font size="4">Men are not influenced by things but by their thoughts about things
-Epictetus<br><br></font><span></span>*********************************************************<br>* The geometry of innocent flesh on the bone <br>* Causes Galileo's math book to get thrown <br>* At Delilah who's sitting worthlessly alone <br>
* But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter.<br>**********************************************************<br>This delightful piece of post modern poetry is from<br>Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited)<br>
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