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 adaptation process for new technology is not yet well understood. This study analyzes how an inter-organizational virtual team, tasked with creating a highly innovative product over a 10 month period, adapted the use of a collaborative technology and successfully achieved its challenging objectives. The study of such a virtual team is especially useful for extending our understanding of the adaptation process as virtual teamshavemoremalleable structures than typical organizational units and controlled group experiments. Data were obtained from observations of weekly virtual meetings, electronic log files, interviews, and weekly questionnaires administered to team members. We found that the team initially experienced significant misalignments among the pre-existing organizational environment, group, and technology structures. To resolve these misalignments, the team modified the organizational environment and group structures, leaving the technology structure intact. However, as the team proceeded, a series of events unfolded that caused the team to reevaluate and further modify its structures. This final set of modifications involved reverting back to the pre-existing organizational environment, while new technology and group structures emerged as different from both the pre-existing and the initial ones. A new model of the adaptation process---one that integrates these findings and those of several previous models---is proposed.

The aim of this research essay is to examine the structural nature of theory in information systems. Despite the importance of theory, questions relating to its form and structure are neglected in comparison with questions relating to epistemology. The essay addresses issues of causality, explanation, prediction and generalization that underlie an understanding of theory. A taxonomy is proposed that classifies information systems theories with respect to the manner in which four central goals are addressed: analysis, explanation, prediction and prescription. Five interrelated types of theory are distinguished: (i) theory for analysing; (ii) theory for explaining, (iii) theory for predicting; (iv) theory for explaining and predicting; and (v) theory for design and action. Examples illustrate the nature of each theory type. The applicability of the taxonomy is demonstrated by classifying a sample of journal articles. The paper contributes by showing that multiple views of theory exist and by exposing the assumptions underlying different viewpoints. In addition, it is suggested that the type of theory under development can influence the choice of an epistemological approach. Support is given for the legitimacy and value of each theory type. The building of integrated bodies of theory that encompass all theory types is advocated.

This paper presents a methodological framework, structured-case, that assists IS researchers to undertake and assess theory building research within the interpretive paradigm, and explains its value in achieving convincing explanations that are strongly linked to both the research themes and data collected in the field.

Existing competence systems are based on a rationalistic view of competence. While these competence systems might work in job-based organizations, we argue that in more dynamic settings, such as in knowledge-based organizations, the interest-informed actions that capture the emergent competencies of tomorrow require different types of information technology support. The main objective of this paper is to elaborate on the possibilities and implications of using interest-activated technology as a design rationale for competence systems. This paper is based on an action case study of an implemented interest-activated Intranet recommender system prototype at Volvo Information Technology AB in Gothenburg, Sweden. On the basis of how organizational members used this prototype to find information they were interested in, our research team was able to inquire into how personal interest, embodied in information-seeking activities, could be a means for identifying competence. Building on the relation between personal interest and competence, we discuss competence systems design and spell out explicit implications for managerial practice in knowledge-based organizations.

This paper reports the preliminary results of a project that is investigating the theoretic foundations of decision support systems (DSS). The project is principally motivated by a concern for the direction and relevance of DSS research. The main areas of research focus are the decision and judgement theoretic base of the discipline, the research strategies used in published articles, and the professional relevance of DSS research. The project will analyse DSS articles published in 17 selected journals from 1990 to 2002. This preliminary report is based on the analysis of 358 papers. The findings indicate that DSS research is dominated by positivist research (in particular laboratory experiments and surveys), is heavily influenced by the work of Herbert Simon, and has a healthy balance of theory and application, but, it is poorly grounded in judgement and decision-making research, and falls down in the identification of the nature of clients and users.

In this paper, we develop an understanding of how virtual teams develop over time by inductively studying communication transactions of 12 United States-Canadian student virtual teams involved in ISD. Our analysis is based upon two influential streams of social science research: (1) interaction analysis, which aided in the examination of the micro-processes of communication among members of a virtual team, and (2) structuration theory, which provided a meta-framework to help link the microlevel communication patterns with the more macro-structures representing the environmental context as well as the characteristics of teams over time. Based on our interpretation of the communication patterns in the virtual teams, we propose a theoretical model to describe how virtual teams develop over the life of a project, and also attempt to clarify how the concepts of communication, virtual team development, and collaboration are related.

Much research argues that information technology can have a positive influence on knowledge application. However, practical results from research on knowledge management systems indicate that such systems often fail when implemented in contemporary organizations. Whilst maintenance of knowledge management systems has been recognized as an important research area, imbalance between additional workload and accurate content still appears to be a critical factor, resulting in systems of little use for organisations in their knowledge application processes. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how knowledge management systems can be designed to better support knowledge application in organizational knowledge work processes. Building on lessons learned from three knowledge management systems, this paper contributes general design principles describing how knowledge management systems can be integrated with everyday work to leverage user practices.

Although user involvement can be problematic for all types of information systems development, the situation has become even more difficult with the recent spread of information technology to senior organizational levels. Better theoretical conceptualization of the dynamic relationship between developers and users in systems development is needed to understand how this relationship shapes, and is shaped by, various constraints. Drawing on Giddens ’ work on constraints on human action and interaction, a theoretical conceptualization of the dynamic relationship between developers and executive users is proposed. This is grounded in empirical studies of the executive information systems development process in two organizations. The paper seeks to illustrate the “enabling” properties of the constraints and their ongoing production and reproduction. Such constraints may vary in their malleability and some appear to be relatively resistant to change by developers. Nevertheless, through improvisation and ingenuity, developers can often find ways to overcome them.

Today many organizations are reliant on the knowledge and competence of individual organizational members. Information systems to support knowledge management (KM) are therefore considered to be vital tools in order to achieve competitive advantage. In this paper, we report the results from a field research study of such systems in a knowledge-intensive, fast-growing and dynamic organization. The case illustrates that evolution, which refers to the process by which organizations and their information systems change over time, needs to be managed since it can result in KM-systems failures. We characterize the mainstream KM research literature in relation to managing the risk of KMsystems failures, and outline that management of KM-systems ’ evolution is a dimension that has not been addressed so far. With these empirical and theoretical results as a basis, we argue that more attention must be given to managing the evolution of KM-systems.