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Nothing is more practical than a good conceptual artifact… which may be a theory, framework, model, metaphor, paradigm or perhaps some other abstraction
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2017 | Information Systems Journal | Citations: 0
Authors: Alter, Steven

Abstract: This research commentary proposes a way to make progress in the IS discipline's ... Expand

Abstract: This research commentary proposes a way to make progress in the IS discipline's inconclusive discussion about the nature and role of theory. In some ways, the creation and testing of theory seems to be the primary goal of IS research. Despite that, there are persistent questions whether theory has become a fetish in the IS discipline and whether the routinized production and testing of mid-range theories is little more than an uninspired script that reduces the value and interest of IS research. This paper reframes the discussion around the idea of ‘conceptual artifact’ that has been discussed widely in educational psychology for over a decade. Conceptual artifacts are abstract knowledge objects that can be produced, tested and improved. This paper recognizes the value of both abstract knowledge (conceptual artifacts) and non-abstract knowledge. It explains that theorizing produces, evaluates or improves useful conceptual artifacts that may or may not be theories. It validates four premises related to conceptual artifacts by showing that theorizing related to work system theory created or used many different types of conceptual artifacts. It identifies nine criteria for evaluating conceptual artifacts and shows that some of them differ from typical criteria for evaluating Gregor Type IV theories. As a whole, it argues that that privileging theory over other types of conceptual artifacts may not be beneficial in pursuing the research questions that the IS discipline needs to study. Collapse

Semantic filters: boundary objects theory IT skill

Topics: knowledge creation IS discipline decision making health information system IT skill

Methods: theory development

Theories: boundary objects theory work systems theory
Digital Science and Knowledge Boundaries in Complex Innovation
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2012 | Organization Science | Citations: 60
Authors: Dougherty, Deborah; Dunne, Danielle D.

Abstract: Drug discovery is a complex innovation process in which scientists need to make ... Expand

Abstract: Drug discovery is a complex innovation process in which scientists need to make sense of ambiguous findings and grapple with numerous unpredictable interdependencies over many years of product development. Digitalization has combined with expanding science to address this complexity, creating new ways to measure, analyze, and model chemical compounds, diseases, and human biology. We interviewed 85 scientists and managers working on drug discovery to understand how they deal with complexity. We find a major knowledge fault line between digital scientists, who use computers as laboratories and manipulate signs, and therapy scientists, who use conventional laboratories and manipulate physical material. We build on research on epistemic cultures and knowing in practice to develop empirically grounded theory for the role of digital science in complex innovation. We propose that digitalization creates a new form of knowledge that provides essential complementary insights for complex innovation that cannot exist otherwise. However, digitalization also creates new knowledge boundaries that concern central activities of innovation. These boundaries highlight challenges of complex innovation that digital sciences can help address, but only if the innovation activities are transformed so that digital and therapy sciences can integrate their complementary knowledge. Collapse

Semantic filters: boundary objects theory IT skill

Topics: innovation management value creation IT work systems implementation IT skill

Methods: qualitative interview grounded theory cross sectional research ethnography

Theories: boundary objects theory theory of epistemic cultures
Using Information Systems Theory to Increase IS Enrollment

2007 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 2
Authors: Koch, Hope; Kayworth, Timothy

Abstract: Information systems (IS) departments have been struggling with declining enrollm ... Expand

Abstract: Information systems (IS) departments have been struggling with declining enrollment since 2001. While we have shared ideas about how to increase enrollment at our conferences, few of us have looked to our theory to design initiatives to increase enrollment. This paper describes an action research project where the authors draw from IS research to design an event to increase enrollment in the IS major. First, we pulled on common IS knowledge showing that system success requires user involvement. Using this lesson, we identified our stakeholders, got their input, and involved them in the event. Second, we drew on social exchange theory and conceptualized the event as a boundary object bringing different stakeholders together to donate and acquire resources. Third, we drew upon the information processing cycle and social capital theory, to show what types of resources are critical to designing an event that converts pre-business majors to IS majors. The paper offers practical insights to design your next IS recruiting event and shows how we can use IS theory to design initiatives that address our enrollment problems. Collapse

Semantic filters: boundary objects theory IT skill

Topics: IT recruiting human resource management social capital marketing management IT career

Methods: action research design methodology

Theories: boundary objects theory social exchange theory social capital theory information systems theory
Bridging User Organizations: Knowledge Brokering and the Work of Information Technology Professionals

2004 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 243
Authors: Pawlowski, Suzanne D.; Robey, Daniel

Abstract: This interpretive case study examines knowledge brokering as an aspect of the wo ... Expand

Abstract: This interpretive case study examines knowledge brokering as an aspect of the work of information technology professionals. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand knowledge brokering from the perspective of IT professionals as they reflect upon their work practice. As knowledge brokers, IT professionals see themselves as facilitating the flow of knowledge about both IT and business practices across the boundaries that separate work units within organizations. A qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 23 IT professionals and business users in a large manufacturing and distribution company is summarized in a conceptual framework showing the conditions, practices, and consequences of knowledge brokering by IT professionals. The framework suggests that brokering practices are conditioned by structural conditions, including decentralization and a federated IT management organization, and by technical conditions, specifically shared IT systems that serve as boundary objects. Brokering practices include gaining permission to cross organizational boundaries, surfacing and challenging assumptions made by IT users, translation and interpretation, and relinquishing ownership of knowledge. Consequences of brokering are the transfer of both business and IT knowledge across units in the organization. Collapse

Semantic filters: boundary objects theory IT skill

Topics: IT workforce knowledge sharing organizational memory communities of practice human resource management

Methods: qualitative interview case study design artifact

Theories: boundary objects theory learning theory

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Found 4 articles

Nothing is more practical than a good conceptual artifact… which may be a theory, framework, model, metaphor, paradigm or perhaps some other abstraction

Digital Science and Knowledge Boundaries in Complex Innovation

Using Information Systems Theory to Increase IS Enrollment

Bridging User Organizations: Knowledge Brokering and the Work of Information Technology Professionals