Do we need theory for high-impact IS research? (9 February 2021)

Description

How important is theory to research? Do design research, AI, and predictive modeling change the need for theoretical contributions? And what is high impact research anyway?

Episode Reading List

  • Ram, S., & Goes, P. B. (2021). Focusing on Programmatic High Impact Information Systems Research, Not Theory, To Address Grand Challenges. MIS Quarterly, 45(1), 479-483.
  • Hambrick, D. C. (2007). The Field of Management’s Devotion to Theory: Too Much of a Good Thing? Academy of Management Journal, 50(6), 1346-1352.
  • Avison, D., & Malaurent, J. (2014). Is Theory King? Questioning the Theory Fetish in Information Systems. Journal of Information Technology, 29(4), 327-336.
  • Recker, J., & Lekse, D. (2016). A Field Study of Spatial Preferences in Enterprise Microblogging. Journal of Information Technology, 31(2), 115-129.
  • Greenwood, B. N., & Wattal, S. (2017). Show Me the Way to Go Home: An Empirical Investigation of Ride-Sharing and Alcohol Related Motor Vehicle Fatalities. MIS Quarterly, 41(1), 163-187.
  • Andersen, C. (2008). The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2008/06/pb-theory/.
  • Scheer, A.-W. (1994). ARIS Toolset: A Software Product is Born. Information Systems, 19(8), 607-624.
  • Werder, K., Seidel, S., Recker, J., Berente, N., Kundert-Gibbs, J., Abboud, N., & Benzeghadi, Y. (2020). Data-Driven, Data-Informed, Data-Augmented: How Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands Live Unit Uses Data for Continuous Product Innovation. California Management Review, 62(3), 86-102.
  • James, W. (1907). Lecture I: The Present Dilemma in Philosophy. In W. James (Ed.), Pragmatism, a New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking: Popular Lectures on Philosophy (pp. 3-16). Longman Green and Co.
  • Sutton, R. I., & Staw, B. M. (1995). What Theory is Not. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3), 371-384.
  • Österle, H., Becker, J., Ulrich, F., Hess, T., Karagiannis, D., Krcmar, H., Loos, P., Mertens, P., Oberweis, A., & Sinz, E. J. (2010). Memorandum on Design-oriented Information Systems Research. European Journal of Information Systems, 20(1), 7-10.
  • Baskerville, R., Lyytinen, K., Sambamurthy, V., & Straub, D. W. (2010). A Response to the Design-oriented Information Systems Research Memorandum. European Journal of Information Systems, 20(1), 11-15.

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