The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of critical research for information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) studies. Most previous IS research on ICT4D projects is interpretive and has focused on the immediate organizational context, but there are very few critical studies that have engaged in macro sociopolitical analyses regarding institutional change. Hence we extend previous IS research on ICT4D by adopting a critical research perspective on the macro sociopolitical context within which most ICT4D projects take place. We illustrate this with an ethnographic study of a project that was intended to improve the education and social welfare of the aboriginal people in Taiwan. On the surface the project was tremendously successful; it became a showcase on national radio and TV showing how ICT could be used to support underprivileged children. However, our research uncovered a different story altogetherÑa story of the aboriginal people themselves feeling marginalized and without much of a voice. We use concepts from postcolonial theory to make sense of these two contradictory stories. We found that the interrelationship between the macro sociopolitical context and the local organizational context of the ICT4D project is the key to understanding what went wrong, something which we would not have discovered if we had taken the traditional approach. The postcolonial context is powerful and pervasive, hampering any real progress.
While criteria or principles for conducting positivist and interpretive research have been widely discussed in the IS research literature, criteria or principles for critical research are lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a set of principles for the conduct of critical research in information systems. We examine the nature of the critical research perspective, clarify its significance, and review its major discourses, recognizing that its mission and methods cannot be captured by a fixed set of criteria once and for all, particularly as multiple approaches are still in the process of defining their identity. However, we suggest it is possible to formulate a set of principles capturing some of the commonalities of those approaches that have so far become most visible in the IS research literature. The usefulness of the principles is illustrated by analyzing three critical field studies in information systems. We hope that this paper will further reflection and debate on the important subject of grounding critical research methodology
Building on neo-institutional theory and theories of innovation and diffusion, recent work in the field of management has suggested that management research and practice is characterized by fashions. A management fashion is a relatively transitory belief that a certain management technique leads rational management progress. Using bibliographic research, we apply Abrahamson's management fashion theory to information systems research and practice. Our findings reveal that information systems research and practice, like management research and practice, is indeed characterized by fashions. These "IS fashion waves" are relatively transitory and represent a burst of interest in particular topics by IS researchers and practitioners. However, while our findings show that IS research closely parallels practice, we suggest that a more proactive engagement of IS academics is needed in the IS fashion-setting process.
The article comments on the paper "Whom Are We Informing? Issues and Recommendations for MIS Research from an Informing Sciences Perspective" by G. Gill and A. Bhattacherjee (G&B), which appeared in an earlier issue of "MIS Quarterly." The authors questions G&B's contention that management information systems (MIS) as an academic discipline has a questionable future. In their view the academic status of MIS is sound, albeit susceptible to improvement. They evaluate G&B's arguments and recommendations, and offer their own.
The conventional wisdom amongst information systems (IS) researchers is that information systems is an applied discipline drawing upon other, more fundamental, reference disciplines. These reference disciplines are seen as having foundational value for IS. We believe that it is time to question the conventional wisdom. We agree that many disciplines are relevant for IS researchers, but we suggest a re-think of the idea of "reference disciplines" for IS. In a sense, IS has come of age. Perhaps the time has come for IS to become a reference discipline for others.
This article discusses the conduct and evaluation of interpretive research in information systems. While the conventions for evaluating information systems case studies conducted according to the natural science model of social science are now widely accepted, this is not the case for interpretive field studies. A set of principles for the conduct and evaluation of interpretive field research in information systems is proposed, along with their philosophical rationale. The usefulness of the principles is illustrated by evaluating three published interpretive field studies drawn from the IS research literature. The intention of the paper is to further reflection and debate on the important subject of grounding interpretive research methodology.
The perception that small size may no longer be an economic disadvantage to either organizations or countries has become fairly widespread. We share the perception that not only are small countries not at a disadvantage, but they may actually have an advantage over larger competitors with regard to information technology industries. Indeed, small developed countries are achieving considerable success in the development of their information technology industries. The three countries studied here--Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore--are among those that have seen the rapid development of their IT industries in recent years, despite the fact that they are among the world's smaller countries, are considerably different in many geographic, cultural, and political respects, and are geographically dispersed around the globe. The objective of this study is to describe and compare the information technology industries of these three small developed countries. All three countries, with no inherent advantages in raw materials and only small domestic markets, have the IT infrastructure and the human skills needed. They are nimble and flexible and can find niche markets in which to specialize. Not all three, however, have developed IT industries to the same degree. There could be factors specific to small developed countries that facilitate the development of indigenous IT production. The dominant factor that seems to provide some explanation for different levels and directions of development of IT production is government policy in promoting IT production directly, in supporting IT industry R&D, and in education policies designed to provide appropriately trained labor pools.
Qualitative research involves the use of qualitative data, such as interviews, documents, and participant observation, to understand and explain social phenomena. As the focus of information systems research shifts from technological to managerial and organizational issues, qualitative research methods become increasingly useful. This example of "living scholarship" within MISQ Discovery's world-wide web archive provides an overview of qualitative research for the newcomer and a set of resources for those more experienced. The work discusses philosophical perspectives that can inform qualitative research, qualitative research methods, techniques, and modes of analysis. Links to citation lists, Internet resources, software tools, and calls for papers are also included.