Fragmentation or cohesion? Visualizing the process and consequences of information system diversity, 1993–2012

In information systems (IS) literature, there is ongoing debate as to whether the field has become fragmented and lost its identity in response to the rapid changes of the field. The paper contributes to this discussion by providing quantitative measurement of the fragmentation or cohesiveness level of the field. A co-word analysis approach aiding in visualization of the intellectual map of IS is applied through application of clustering analysis, network maps, strategic diagram techniques, and graph theory for a collection of 47,467 keywords from 9551 articles, published in 10 major IS journals and the proceedings of two leading IS conferences over a span of 20 years, 1993 through 2012. The study identified the popular, core, and bridging topics of IS research for the periods 1993–2002 and 2003–2012. Its results show that research topics and subfields underwent substantial change between those two periods and the field became more concrete and cohesive, increasing in density. Findings from this study suggest that the evolution of the research topics and themes in the IS field should be seen as part of the natural metabolism of the field, rather than a process of fragmentation or disintegration.     

Is information systems a discipline? Foucauldian and Toulminian insights

Following the Kleinian spirit, this study takes a critical view of the existing orthodoxy within information systems (IS) and reframes the ongoing discussion concerning the intellectual core, identity and disciplinary status of IS using the disciplinary analysis of Michel Foucault and Stephen Toulmin. Instead of limiting the discussion to specific paradigms, topics, subjects or content, it focuses on the characteristics, rules and goals of IS as an academic field. A disciplinary lens is used to frame what it means to be a field, discipline and science, and in the process the study uncovers four doxas that have shaped the development of the IS field: (1) the IS research community sees no difference between fields, disciplines or sciences; (2) IT changes so rapidly, and thus the IS field needs to change to remain relevant; (3) disciplines are by definition rigid, inflexible and uni-theoretical and (4) because IS is pluralistic, IS should not become a discipline. This study's analyses of the IS field's discursive formation and intellectual ideals offer novel perspectives that allow for the integration of the IS field's plurality and diversity. To transform the IS field from its multimodal existence into a vibrant, diverse, academically and socially relevant and influential discipline, the study proposes actionable strategies that include (1) agreeing on the intellectual ideals for IS, (2) focusing on conceptual formation, (3) focusing on theory construction, (4) erecting genealogical boundaries and (5) fostering the development of professional bodies.     

决策支持系统发展综述及展望

全面研究和分析决策支持系统(DSS)的发展轨迹,对研究DSS未来的新理论、新模型、新技术、新应用具有十分重要的意义。对DSS的发展历程尤其是它的结构与支撑技术进行了全面的探讨。在对其进行深入剖析的基础上,指出需求和技术是DSS发展的两个主要动力,在大数据时代更是如此。同时分析了DSS在大数据时代所面临的新需求与新问题,并结合大数据和云计算相关技术,对未来DSS如何满足这些新需求、解决这些新问题进行了分析与展望。     

Disruptive information system innovation: the case of internet computing

Abstract. Information system (IS) innovation can be defined as a novel organizational application of digital computer and information communication technologies (ICT). This paper discusses how modalities of applying ICT technologies in their form and scope exhibit radical breaks, which are introduced herein as ‘disruptive IS innovations’. This notion of disruptive IS innovation is developed by drawing upon and extending Swanson's (1994) theory of IS innovation as well as the concept of radical innovation. Disruptive innovations strongly influence the future trajectory of the adoption and use of ICT in organizational contexts and make the trajectory deviate from its expected course. In doing so, these disruptive innovations distinctly define what an IS is and how it is deployed in order to address current and future organizational and managerial prerogatives. Such changes are triggered breakthroughs in the capability of ICT that lead to the revision and expansion of associated cognitive models (frames) of computing. Disruptive IS innovations are those that lead to changes in the application of ICT that are both pervasive and radical. The pervasive nature implies that innovative activity spans all innovation subsets of the quad‐core model of IS innovation introduced herein. Innovation types include: IS use and development processes; application architecture and capability; and base technologies. Radical in nature, disruptive is innovations depart in significant ways from existing alternatives and lead to deviation from expected use and diffusion trajectory. This paper demonstrates the importance of a concept of disruptive IS innovation by investigating how changes triggered by internet computing (Lyytinen et al., 1998) meet the conditions of a disruptive IS innovation defined herein. The analysis also affirms both the pervasive and radical nature of internet computing and explains how internet computing has fundamentally transformed the application portfolio, development practices and IS services over time. The analysis demonstrates that, with the concept of disruptive IS innovation, we can fruitfully analyse ‘long’ waves of ICT evolution – an issue that has largely been overlooked in the IS community. On a theoretical plane, the paper advocates the view that we need to look beyond linear, unidirectional, and atomistic concepts of the diffusion of IS innovations where innovative activity takes places in a linear fashion by oscillating between small technological innovations and small organizational innovations. In contrast, IS innovation can exhibit fundamental discontinuity; we need to theoretically grasp such disruptive moments. The recent influx of innovation, spurred by internet‐based technology, offers one such moment.     

Online Banking Information Systems Acceptance: An Empirical Examination of System Characteristics and Web Security

Prior work on the technology acceptance model (TAM) is mainly devoted to the influence of TAM’s core motivational factors and their impact on behavioral intent toward IS acceptance. Relatively little research has focused on what specific system design characteristics motivate individuals toward IS acceptance. This article identified specific systems design factors and examined their impact on TAM’s motivational factors through the TAM. The findings will help designers to design and implement better user-accepted systems.     

Evolution of information systems research: Insights from topic modeling

Information systems (IS) research has continued to consistently evolve with the transitions in the IS discipline over time. There has been a general interest in the IS discipline over time as researchers have examined various aspects such as the intellectual core, diversity, and impact of IS research. On the basis of 2962 articles published in six leading IS journals between 2003 and 2017, topic modeling using latent semantic indexing was applied to author-supplied keywords. Topics such as IS development, IT adoption, and IS usage had endured over time; topics such as e-commerce and IT outsourcing had gained momentum and then waned over time; and topics such as social media, design science, and online communities have gained momentum in recent times. Results suggest that IS research has evolved considerably over time and generally included new frontiers while serving its core strength and identity.     

Assessing e‐commerce systems success: a respecification and validation of the DeLone and McLean model of IS success

Abstract. DeLone & McLean (2003) propose an updated information systems (IS) success model and suggest that it can be extended to investigating e‐commerce systems success. However, the updated IS success model has not been empirically validated in the context of e‐commerce. Further, the existing IS/e‐commerce success models have been subject to considerable debate on the ‘IS Use’ and ‘Perceived Usefulness’ constructs, and the nomological structure of the updated DeLone and McLean model is somewhat inconsistent with the IS acceptance and marketing literature. Based on the IS and marketing literature, this paper respecifies and validates a multidimensional model for assessing e‐commerce systems success. The validated model consists of six dimensions: Information Quality, System Quality, Service Quality, Perceived Value, User Satisfaction and Intention to Reuse. Structural equation modelling techniques were applied to data collected by questionnaire from 240 users of e‐commerce systems in Taiwan. The empirical evidence suggests that Intention to Reuse is affected by Perceived Value and User Satisfaction, which, in turn, are influenced by Information Quality, System Quality and Service Quality. The nomological structure of the respecified e‐commerce systems success model is concurred with that of the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the IS field and the consumer behaviour models in the traditional business‐to‐business and retail contexts. The findings of this study provide several important implications for research and practice. This paper concludes by discussing the contributions of this study and the limitations that could be addressed in future studies.     

Letter to the Editor

This paper examines how an object called a decision support system (DSS) is a system from the point of view of GST (general systems theory) and how GST is related with the development of DSS in a positive way. Since a DSS is a complicated system, it cannot be described by one model. We will proceed the consideration in the following different levels: functional level, structural level, process level and physical level. We will show that on each level GST provides a useful framework to deal with a DSS and the general formulation by GST directs what is to be done in the development of DSS. On the progress of the development we have found GST can help us with conceptualizing a DSS which is most important in finding a correct research direction. The presented models are the basic framework of our current system, a product of GST.     

Introduction to the special issue on decision support in medicine

Information technology plays an important role in medicine because of the advanced decision support systems (DSS) it can provide. We provide an overview of the building blocks necessary for a medical decision support system and introduce seven research articles in this special issue that describe the development and evaluation of individual medical DSS building blocks or complete medical DSS.     

Using the theory of the professions to understand the IS identity crisis

Academic information systems (IS) is struggling with an identity crisis that is grounded in limited consensus about the discipline's core concepts, its important research questions and its boundaries. The result is a pluralistic discipline that has triggered an ongoing debate about whether the ‘liquidity’ characteristic of IS is a natural consequence of rapidly changing technologies or if it is indicative of a chaotic state that is unsustainable. This paper looks at IS through a new and different lens by using the theory of the professions to gain insight into current and heretofore unidentified problems facing the discipline. Casting IS as a profession presents an integrated view of academic IS, IS practice and IS education grounded in a framework that explores connections among these three elements. The paper concludes with a discussion of the processes by which professions evolve and likely consequences for IS research, practice and education.     

Diversity in information systems action research methods

Discussions of action research in information systems (IS) often proceed as if there were one definitive action research method. This paper describes and analyses the different frameworks, assumptions and goals that characterise the diverse forms of action research. A more inclusive action research paradigm is delineated that offers a basis for validating a wider range of IS research. Acceptance of the full range of the diverse forms of action research may enable the IS field to be more explicit about its research methodology, thereby enabling criteria to be improved and applied to a broader range of IS research.     

Characteristics of IT artifacts: a systems thinking‐based framework for delineating and theorizing IT artifacts

The information technology artifact (ITA) has been suggested as the core of information systems (IS) research, and the research community has been encouraged to deeply engage with the ITA. Various studies highlight, however, that the ITA continues to receive only limited attention and thus, little foundation exists for IS researchers to delineate and theorize about the ITAs studied. In this paper, we develop a framework that can be utilized as a language for articulating and theorizing the ITA in IS research. Our framework builds on the multi‐faceted theoretical paradigm of systems thinking from which we derive several concepts and appropriate them to the context at hand, resulting in a seven‐dimensional framework of characteristics for ITAs. In a literature survey of research on enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning systems in top IS journals, we show how ITA characteristics are currently included to present details of the relevant ITA instance and identify theoretical relationships between ITA characteristics and outcomes. We conclude the study by demonstrating the use of the ITA framework for delineating and theorizing the ITA in IS research.     

How useful are strategic plans for information systems?

Although much research has been done in the area of strategic planning for information systems (IS), relatively less research has focused on the output of the IS planning process, namely, the IS plan. This paper examines the usefulness of IS plans through a field survey of 136 IS executives. Results indicate that IS plans are generally perceived to be useful for supporting business objectives, improving systems integration, exploiting information technology (IT) for competitive advantage, and prioritising IS development projects. Conversely, IS plans are perceived to be less useful for clarifying the role of IS, evaluating IS performance, anticipating surprises and crisis, and adapting to unanticipated situations. Implications of these results are discussed.     

编码计算研究综述

编码计算将编码理论融于分布式计算中,利用灵活多样的编码方式降低数据洗牌造成的高通信负载,缓解掉队节点导致的计算延迟,有效提升分布式计算系统的整体性能,并通过纠错机制和数据掩藏等技术为分布式计算系统提供安全保障.鉴于其在通信、存储和计算复杂度等方面的优势,受到学术界的广泛关注,成为分布式计算领域的热门方向.对此,首先介绍编码计算的研究背景,明确编码计算的内涵与定义;随后对现有编码计算方案进行评述,从核心挑战入手,分别对面向通信瓶颈,计算延迟和安全隐私的编码计算方案展开介绍、总结和对比分析;最后指出未来可能的研究方向和技术挑战,为相关领域的研究提供有价值的参考.     

Development and validation of an Internet self-efficacy scale

Although much research has been done in the area of strategic planning for information systems (IS), relatively less research has focused on the output of the IS planning process, namely, the IS plan. This paper examines the usefulness of IS plans through a field survey of 136 IS executives. Results indicate that IS plans are generally perceived to be useful for supporting business objectives, improving systems integration, exploiting information technology (IT) for competitive advantage, and prioritising IS development projects. Conversely, IS plans are perceived to be less useful for clarifying the role of IS, evaluating IS performance, anticipating surprises and crisis, and adapting to unanticipated situations. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Decision support for management

Decision support systems (DSS) are tools for providing and sharing information, together with the means of using the information to assess the benefit of a decision. An example of a simple DSS system is a financial modelling package available on a microcomputer. However, in large businesses adequate DSS requires backup from a full-scale data processing system. Integrating personal computing and corporate DP is a solution to the problem of providing adequate DSS. Advances in program writing, the use of relational databases, query languages and specific applications all enhance the advantages of such decision support systems.     

并行计算系统度量指标综述

系统度量指标的研究一直是并行系统和应用设计的重要问题。本文首先通过对国内外并行计算系统度量指标的分析,将当前并行计算系统度量指标分为单一的计算性能度量指标和多要素综合的高效能度量指标两种。其次,总结了这些度量指标的研究现状,并指出这些度量指标研究中存在的一些问题以及需要考虑的难点。由于并行计算系统正在逐渐从"高性能"走向"高效能",本文主要考虑当前大规模并行计算系统的可靠性和能耗要素对系统的影响,从系统可扩展角度建立了可靠并行加速比和能耗并行加速比模型,并进一步扩展为度量并行计算系统效能的综合指标模型。最后指出了未来并行计算系统度量的研究方向。     

Cognitive biases and decision support systems development: a design science approach

Abstract.  This paper presents design science research that aims to improve decision support systems (DSS) development in organizations. Evolutionary development has been central to DSS theory and practice for decades, but a significant problem for DSS analysts remains how to conceptualize the improvement of a decision task during evolutionary DSS development. The objective of a DSS project is to improve the decision process and outcome for a manager making an important decision. The DSS analyst needs to have a clear idea of the nature of the target decision task and a clear strategy of how to support the decision process. Existing psychological research was examined for help with the conceptualization problem, and the theory of cognitive bias is proposed as a candidate for this assistance. A taxonomy of 37 cognitive biases that codifies a complex area of psychological research is developed. The core of the project involves the construction of a design artefact – an evolutionary DSS development methodology that uses cognitive bias theory as a focusing construct, especially in its analysis cycles. The methodology is the major contribution of the project. The feasibility and effectiveness of the development methodology are evaluated in a participatory case study of a strategic DSS project where a managing director is supported in a decision about whether to close a division of a company.     

Reconsidering deconstruction in information systems research

Deconstruction, a post-structuralist approach to examining language in texts, is most often associated with the philosophical works of Jacque Derrida. After a flurry of interest among management and information systems (IS) scholars, this qualitative approach to exploring organizational texts has received little attention in the IS literature. We suggest deconstruction could help our field explore how IS texts describe the social and technical past and also prescribe and circumscribe the future of IS practice. Thus, we suggest the IS field reconsider how deconstruction might contribute to language-based approaches in IS research and practice. In this paper, we discuss deconstruction in light of the linguistic turn in social science research and the support and criticism for its use in management research. We consider IS research publications that have employed deconstruction explicitly, examine a well-known IS publication as an example of the deconstruction of IS texts, and suggest ways in which deconstruction might be applied to various genres of IS texts to inspire insights and creativity. To conclude, we highlight considerations for researchers who might adopt this approach and for the editors and reviewers who would evaluate qualitative research papers that employ deconstruction.