ACTION DESIGN RESEARCH.

Author List: Sein, Maung K.; Henfridsson, Ola; Purao, Sandeep; Rossi, Matti; Lindgren, Rikard;
MIS Quarterly, 2011, Volume 35, Issue 1, Page 37-56.
Design research (DR) positions information technology artifacts at the core of the Information Systems discipline. However, dominant DR thinking takes a technological view of the IT artifact, paying scant attention to its shaping by the organizational context. Consequently, existing DR methods focus on building the artifact and relegate evaluation to a subsequent and separate phase. They value technological rigor at the cost of organizational relevance, and fail to recognize that the artifact emerges from interaction with the organizational context even when its initial design is guided by the researchers’ intent. We propose action design research (ADR) as a new DR method to address this problem. ADR reflects the premise that IT artifacts are ensembles shaped by the organizational context during development and use. The method conceptualizes the research process as containing the inseparable and inherently interwoven activities of building the IT artifact, intervening in the organization, and evaluating it concurrently. The essay describes the stages of ADR and associated principles that encapsulate its underlying beliefs and values. We illustrate ADR through a case of competence management at Volvo IT.
Keywords: Action design research; action research; design research; emergence; ensemble artifact; organizational intervention; research method
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#21 0.243 research information systems science field discipline researchers principles practice core methods area reference relevance conclude set focus propose perspective inquiry
#207 0.214 design artifacts alternative method artifact generation approaches alternatives tool science generate set promising requirements evaluation problem designed incentives components addressing
#122 0.122 attention utilization existing codification model received does limitations theories receiving literature paying causes additional building examine examination focusing technological initial
#1 0.108 organizational organizations effectiveness factors managers model associated context characteristics variables paper relationships level attention environmental technological based maturity organization's relationship
#153 0.071 usage use self-efficacy social factors individual findings influence organizations beliefs individuals support anxiety technology workplace key outcome behavior contextual longitudinal
#188 0.053 processes interaction new interactions temporal structure research emergent process theory address temporally core discussion focuses area underlying deep structures way