Two paradigms characterize much of the research in the Information Systems discipline: behavioral science and design science The behavioral-science paradigm seeks to develop and verify theories that explain or predict human or organizational behavior The design-science paradigm seeks to extend the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts Both paradigms are foundational to the IS discipline, positioned as it is at the confluence of people, organizations, and technology Our objective is to describe the performance of design-science research in Information Systems via a concise conceptual framework and clear guidelines for understanding, executing, and evaluating the research In the design-science paradigm, knowledge and understanding of a problem domain and its solution are achieved in the building and application of the designed artifact Three recent exemplars in the research literature are used to demonstrate the application of these guidelines We conclude with an analysis of the challenges of performing high-quality design-science research in the context of the broader IS community

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Design science in information systems research

This paper explores the development of information systems and computer ethics along separate trajectories over the 20 years since the first Manchester Conference, and ponders how things might have been and could be different. Along each trajectory, the challenge of aligning theory and practice has stimulated much research. We evaluate some of this research with respect to this alignment, discuss ethical theories and behavior, and explore the role of education in the development of practitioners who can and do behave ethically. We recommend the inclusion of the ethics of care, and more research into the teaching and learning of ethics as part of the personal journey of students, teachers, and practitioners.

Whatever happened to information systems ethics? Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

Despite the importance to researchers, managers, and policy makers of how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational performance, there is uncertainty and debate about what we know and don't know. A review of the literature reveals that studies examining the association between information technology and organizational performance are divergent in how they conceptualize key constructs and their interrelationships. We develop a model of IT business value based on the resource-based view of the firm that integrates the various strands of research into a single framework. We apply the integrative model to synthesize what is known about IT business value and guide future research by developing propositions and suggesting a research agenda. A principal finding is that IT is valuable, but the extent and dimensions are dependent upon internal and external factors, including complementary organizational resources of the firm and its trading partners, as well as the competitive and macro environment. Our analysis provides a blueprint to guide future research and facilitate knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the organizational performance impacts of information technology.

Review: information technology and organizational performance: an integrative model of it business value

Praise for the Third Edition: "This is one of the best books available. Its excellent organizational structure allows quick reference to specific models and its clear presentation . . . solidifies the understanding of the concepts being presented."IIE Transactions on Operations EngineeringThoroughly revised and expanded to reflect the latest developments in the field, Fundamentals of Queueing Theory, Fourth Edition continues to present the basic statistical principles that are necessary to analyze the probabilistic nature of queues. Rather than presenting a narrow focus on the subject, this update illustrates the wide-reaching, fundamental concepts in queueing theory and its applications to diverse areas such as computer science, engineering, business, and operations research.This update takes a numerical approach to understanding and making probable estimations relating to queues, with a comprehensive outline of simple and more advanced queueing models. Newly featured topics of the Fourth Edition include:Retrial queuesApproximations for queueing networksNumerical inversion of transformsDetermining the appropriate number of servers to balance quality and cost of serviceEach chapter provides a self-contained presentation of key concepts and formulae, allowing readers to work with each section independently, while a summary table at the end of the book outlines the types of queues that have been discussed and their results. In addition, two new appendices have been added, discussing transforms and generating functions as well as the fundamentals of differential and difference equations. New examples are now included along with problems that incorporate QtsPlus software, which is freely available via the book's related Web site.With its accessible style and wealth of real-world examples, Fundamentals of Queueing Theory, Fourth Edition is an ideal book for courses on queueing theory at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners who analyze congestion in the fields of telecommunications, transportation, aviation, and management science.

Fundamentals of Queueing Theory

For single databases, primary hindrances for end-user access are the volume of data that is becoming available, the lack of abstraction, and the need to understand the representation of the data. When information is combined from multiple databases, the major concern is the mismatch encountered in information representation and structure. Intelligent and active use of information requires a class of software modules that mediate between the workstation applications and the databases. It is shown that mediation simplifies, abstracts, reduces, merges, and explains data. A mediator is a software module that exploits encoded knowledge about certain sets or subsets of data to create information for a higher layer of applications. A model of information processing and information system components is described. The mediator architecture, including mediator interfaces, sharing of mediator modules, distribution of mediators, and triggers for knowledge maintenance, are discussed. >

Mediators in the architecture of future information systems

Trends towards increased business process automation, e-commerce, and e-business have led to increasing interest in the field of workflow management. In this paper, we provide a perspective on the state of research in workflow management systems, and discuss possible future research directions in this area, with a particular emphasis on workflow systems in integrating interorganizational processes and enabling e-commerce solutions.

Research Commentary: Workflow Management Issues in e-Business

Agile manufacturing, fast-response micromarketing, and the rise of the virtual organization have led managers to focus on cross-functional business processes that link various divisions and organizations These processes may be realized as one or more workflows, each of which is an instantiation of a process under certain conditions Because an ability to adapt processes to workflow conditions is essential for organizational responsiveness, identifying and analyzing significant workflows is an important activity for managers, organization designers, and information systems specialists A variety of software systems have been developed to aid in the structuring and implementation of workflow systems, but they are mostly visualization tools with few analytical capabilities For example, they do not allow their users to easily determine which information elements are needed to compute other information elements, whether certain tasks depend on other tasks, and how resource availability affects information and tasks Analyses of this type can be performed by inspection, but this gives rise to the possibility of error, especially in large systems In this paper, we show how a mathematical construct called a metagraph can be used to represent workflows, so that such questions can be addressed through formal operations, leading to more effective design of organizational processes

A Formal Approach to Workflow Analysis

Text categorization is the process of sorting text documents into one or more predefined categories or classes of similar documents. Differences in the results of such categorization arise from the feature set chosen to base the association of a given document with a given category. Advocates of text categorization recognize that the sorting of text documents into categories of like documents reduces the overhead required for fast retrieval of such documents and provides smaller domains in which the users may explore similar documents. In this paper we are interested in examining whether automatic classification of news texts can be improved by prefiltering the vocabulary to reduce the feature set used in the computations. First we compare artificial neural network and support vector machine algorithms for use as text classifiers of news items. Secondly, we identify a reduction in feature set that provides improved results.

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Support vector machines for text categorization

Organizations today face increasing pressures to integrate their processes across disparate divisions and functional units, in order to remove inefficiencies as well as to enhance manageability. Process integration involves two major types of changes to process structure: (1) synthesizing processes from separate but interdependent subprocesses, and (2) decomposing aggregate processes into distinct subprocesses that are more manageable. We present an approach to facilitate this type of synthesis and decomposition through formal analysis of process structure using a mathematical structure called a metagraph.

Synthesis and Decomposition of Processes in Organizations

Most decision support systems (DSS) contain stored data, data analysis procedures, and decision models. However, many DSS have grown to the point that the average end user is presented with a bewildering array of information resources that are difficult to manage in an effective manner. As a result users often gravitate to a few familiar models and are unaware of the data resources available to them and how these resources relate to the various models. For example, they may think that a model requires data that is unavailable, when in fact that data has recently been added to the data base or could be calculated from another model. Or they may believe that all of the data needed to execute a set of models is available and find out well into the analysis that it is not. Existing tools for DSS design do not provide an effective and comprehensive foundation for modeling all the components of a DSS, or for addressing all the important DSS analysis and design issues. In this paper we show how a new graph-theor...

Amit Basu

Papers

Research Commentary: Workflow Management Issues in e-Business

A Formal Approach to Workflow Analysis

Support vector machines for text categorization

Synthesis and Decomposition of Processes in Organizations

Metagraphs: a tool for modeling decision support systems