When our journals were almost empty (24 November 2021)

Description

Imagine there was a time where the MIS Quarterly was struggling to fill its issues. You cannot believe it? Well so it was in the early 2000s says our guest, Ron Weber. With him, we continue our conversation about the history of the information systems field. Ron was around when a new digital technology called E-mail got introduced in a small cluster of U.S. universities in the 1980s. We discuss about the need for a core of the information systems field, the debates about theoretical progress in the field, how accessible or precise ideas have to be to create a following, and how academics can learn to develop passion and enjoy a balanced and sustainable career and life. Please excuse the audio issues – this conversation spanned US, Europe, and Australia.

Episode Reading List

  • Saunders, C. (2005). Editor’s Comments: Looking for Diamond Cutters. MIS Quarterly, 29(1), iii-viii.
  • Lee, A. S. (2001). Editor’s Comments: Research in Information Systems: What We Haven’t Learned. MIS Quarterly, 25(4), v-xv.
  • Goodhue, D. L., & Thompson, R. L. (1995). Task-Technology Fit And Individual Performance. MIS Quarterly, 19(2), 213-236.
  • Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425-478.
  • Lyytinen, K., & King, J. L. (2004). Nothing At The Center? Academic Legitimacy in the Information Systems Field. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(6), 220-246.
  • Weber, R. (2006). Reach and Grasp in the Debate over the IS Core: An Empty Hand? Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 7(10), 703-713.
  • Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge And the Discourse on Language. Pantheon Books.
  • Wand, Y., & Weber, R. (1995). On the Deep Structure of Information Systems. Information Systems Journal, 5(3), 203-223.
  • Fügener, A., Grahl, J., Gupta, A., & Ketter, W. (2021). Will Humans-in-the-Loop Become Borgs? Merits and Pitfalls of Working with AI. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1527-1556.
  • Weber, R. (2004). Editor’s Comments: The Rhetoric of Positivism Versus Interpretivism: A Personal View. MIS Quarterly, 28(1), iii-xii.
  • Weber, R. (1997). Ontological Foundations of Information Systems. Coopers & Lybrand.
  • Habermas, J. (1984). Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1: Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Heinemann.
  • Abbott, A. (1988). The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. The University of Chicago Press.
  • Bunge, M. A. (1974). Treatise on Basic Philosophy Volume 1: Semantics I – Sense and Reference. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Bunge, M. A. (1974). Treatise on Basic Philosophy Volume 2: Semantics II – Interpretation and Truth. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Bunge, M. A. (1977). Treatise on Basic Philosophy Volume 3: Ontology I – The Furniture of the World. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Bunge, M. A. (1979). Treatise on Basic Philosophy Volume 4: Ontology II – A World of Systems. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Duke University Press.

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