An Empirical Study of Global Interest in the Academic Discipline of Management Information Systems

Abstract

A popular perception among scholars in the field of Management Information Systems is that the interest to study the subject has been slowly fading since past few years. Closing down of independent MIS departments, fall in enrollment of students, etc. are cited as common examples in favor of such perception.However, firstly, what is lacking is clear evidential data which can show any significant decline (or otherwise) in perceived interest in MIS in recent years. Secondly, whatever little supporting data is provided, is usually geographically restricted to US. Thirdly, there is little research done to compare interest levels with other management disciplines. This paper attempts to fill these critical gaps by analyzing online search queries to quantitatively identify interesting trends in public interest in MIS as an academic discipline over past decade across the world. Also, the longitudinal analyses include comparison with other disciplines as well.Results show an interesting mix of expected and unexpected trends. In the context of continuously declining interest in entire management discipline, while some countries have indeed shown a declining interest in MIS, overall global interest has remained almost constant over past decade. Emerging focus in developing countries in Latin America, Africa, etc. is noteworthy, and shows a major geographic shifting of interest-base away from USA, India, China, and Europe, which were the exclusive hubs of MIS academia a decade ago. However, the key takeaway from the results is that MIS is definitely not a dying academic field, and it is expanding towards a non-US-centric future.