Biomimetics in design-oriented information systems research

Modern information systems (ISs) are becoming increasingly complex. Simultaneously, organizational changes are occurring more often and more rapidly. Therefore, emergent behavior and organic adaptivity are key advantages of ISs. In this paper, a design science research (DSR) question for design-oriented information systems research (DISR) is proposed: Can the application of biomimetic principles to IS design result in the creation of value by innovation? Accordingly, the properties of biological IS are analyzed, and these insights are crystallized into a theoretical framework to address the three major aspects of biomimetic ISs: user experience, information processing, and management cybernetics. On this basis, the research question is elaborated together with a starting point for a research methodology in biomimetic information systems.

Effectuation and its implications for socio-technical design science research in information systems

We study the implications of the effectuation concept for socio-technical artifact design as part of the design science research (DSR) process in information systems (IS). Effectuation logic is the opposite of causal logic. Ef-fectuation does not focus on causes to achieve a particular effect, but on the possibilities that can be achieved with extant means and resources. Viewing so-cio-technical IS DSR through an effectuation lens highlights the possibility to design the future even without set goals. We suggest that effectuation may be a useful perspective for design in dynamic social contexts leading to a more dif-ferentiated view on the instantiation of mid-range artifacts for specific local ap-plication contexts. Design science researchers can draw on this paper’s conclu-sions to view their DSR projects through a fresh lens and to reexamine their re-search design and execution. The paper also offers avenues for future research to develop more concrete application possibilities of effectuation in socio-technical IS DSR and, thus, enrich the discourse.

An overview of online-research in information systems

As the Internet has changed communication, commerce, and the distribution of information, so it is changing Information Systems Research (ISR). The goal of this paper is to put the topic of application and reliability of online research into the focus of ISR by exploring the extension of online research methods (ORM) into its popular publication outlets. 513 articles from high ranked ISR publication outlets from the last decade have been analyzed using online content analysis. The findings show that in ISR online research methods are applied despite the missing discussion on the validity of the theories and methods that were defined offline within the new environment and the associated challenges.

Dealing with emergent design science research projects in IS

Multiple models, methods and frameworks have been proposed to guide Design Science Research (DSR) application to address relevant classes of problems in Information Systems (IS) discipline. While much of the ambiguity around the research paradigm has been removed, only the surface has been scratched on DSR efforts where researcher takes an active role in organizational and industrial engagement to solve a specific problem and generalize the solution to a class of problems. Such DSR projects can have a significant impact on practice, link theories to real contexts and extend the scope of DSR. Considering these multiform settings, the implications to theorizing nor the crucial role of researcher in the interplay of DSR and IS projects have not been properly addressed. The emergent nature of such projects needs to be further investigated to reach such contributions for both theory and practice. This paper raises multiple theoretical, organizational and managerial considerations for a meta-level monitoring model for emergent DSR projects.