Information Systems Design Theory Research Articles

Improving efficiency and quality of operational industrial production assets information management in customer–vendor interaction

Industrial assets management has a key role in ensuring continuity of industrial production via purchasing, warehousing and maintenance of devices and spare parts used in manufacturing, but it suffers from data and information accessibility, completeness, consistency, interoperability, and timeliness challenges in the customer - equipment vendors interaction and information sharing. Current practices in devices and spare parts purchasing, warehousing and maintenance include a lot of manual information search, validation and update work done at the manufacturing companies to maintain high quality master data records for the production assets management. This article addresses the challenge of improving efficiency and quality of operational production assets information management in industry customer company interaction with their production equipment vendors, with a design science research approach. The research was executed in collaboration between research organizations, forest industry companies, industrial production equipment vendors and information technology (IT) companies on two parallel and complementary research tracks, which are described with their key research results. The contributions are an ex-ante evaluated digital marketplace concept with preliminary requirements, and an ex-post evaluated semi-automated master data harmonization tool, as artefacts for improving efficiency and quality of production assets information management in industrial customer–vendors interaction. As theoretical contribution, the article provides a synthesis of the research results in the framework of information systems (IS) design theory as a nascent and novel design theory on designing IS artifacts for improving efficiency and quality of production assets information management, both in single industrial customer company and ecosystem settings. The contributions provide a starting point for further research and development of a digital marketplace for improving production assets information management in industrial customers – vendors interaction, potentially also applicable for similar ecosystems in other continuous production process -based manufacturing industries.

Firm profiling and competition assessment: A design science approach

Extensive efforts have been made by both academics and practitioners to understand the inter-firm competitive relationship owing to its profound impacts on multiple key business goals, e.g., company benchmarking, marketing strategy planning, and talent acquisition. However, it has never been an easy task to fully characterize firms and assess the competitive relationship among them, mainly due to the challenge of information heterogeneity. In this regard, we propose a novel IT artifact for firm profiling and inter-firm competition assessment guided by Information System Design Theory (ISDT). We start by constructing a Heterogeneous Occupation Network (HON) using employees’ occupation details and educational attainments. Then we adopt a Metapath2vec-based heterogeneous network embedding model to learn firms latent profiles (embeddings). Using the firm features and embeddings as input, we train multiple supervised classifiers to assess the competitive relationship among the firms. Following the principles of design as a search process, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our IT artifact through extensive experimental studies and detailed discussions. Our research has also discovered that the occupation and education specifics of employees are key factors in identifying potential competitors of a focal firm.

Design principles for social exchange in social virtual reality-enabled virtual teams

AbstractSocial virtual reality (SVR) is a novel technology that can simulate and potentially enhance our face-to-face interactions. However, our understanding of interpersonal communication in SVR is still limited. To address this research gap, we describe how SVR enables social exchange (i.e., fundamental communication patterns of trust and reciprocity between individuals), which is closely related to virtual team performance. We present an information systems design theory for social exchange in SVR-enabled virtual teams (SE-SVR). Drawing from affordance theory and social exchange theory, we describe how SVR material properties (i.e., avatars, virtual objects, virtual space, and verbal and nonverbal communication features) enable and foster social exchange in SVR. As a theoretical contribution, we propose design principles for social exchange in SVR and connect them with testable theoretical propositions. Furthermore, we present the concept of interacting with presence, which facilitates users’ affordance perceptions in SVR. We conceptually validate our design principles and illustrate our design through an artifact instantiation: XR Campus, which is a minimum viable product of a collaborative platform for the ECIU University. Our SE-SVR theory has important research and practice implications because it explains how critical aspects of organizational remote communication can be considered in SVR design.

Decision support models and methods to analysis and development in the IT services and equipment repair organizational and production processes management field

Subject of research: is the models and decision support methods in the field of organizational management and IT services and equipment repair production processes.
 Purpose of research: is to analyze existing and create new models, algorithms and technologies for the implementation of a decision support system for the service platform in the field of IT and equipment repair.
 Methods and objects of research: include systems management theory, decision theory, automatic text processing methods, automatic control theory, information systems design theory, optimization theory and object-oriented programming.
 Main results of research: is a prototype aggregator platform, reflecting services in the IT and equipment repair, system architecture, development tools, interface.

Sustainable development goals research in higher education institutions: An interdisciplinarity assessment through an entropy-based indicator

Since 2015, the United Nations has urged higher education institutions (HEIs) to adopt an interdisciplinary approach towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In other words, universities are encouraged to transcend any single disciplinary perspective in exploring sustainable development issues. This study examines the importance of driving the scientific production of HEIs towards the SDGs as a concrete institutional contribution to sustainable development. While bibliometric tools for the SDGs are currently emerging, the existing models have not focused on interdisciplinarity or on their usefulness as decision-management tools to drive SDG-related research at a micro-scale (i.e. the institutional level). This study proposes a novel multi-step methodology. It develops an initial case study, which applies information system design theory (ISDT) to map and assess interdisciplinary research into each SDG at an Italian generalist university (University of Turin). Utilising a quantitative text analysis, we examined a database containing over 30,000 entries representing the university’s SDG-related scientific production from 2015 to 2019. Subsequently, we conducted a social network analysis (SNA) of co-authorship to measure interdisciplinarity for each SDG. We defined interdisciplinarity as collaboration among researchers in diverse disciplines. We employed a modularity algorithm to select bottom-up clusters of researchers from diverse departments. Finally, we analysed the identified clusters to propose an Interdisciplinarity Sustainability Index (ISI) capable of identifying the most investigated and interdisciplinary SDGs. Ultimately, our results enable the quantification of interdisciplinary SDG research via the proposed methodology. The study helps to visualise inter-departmental collaborations and thus informs university managers’ efforts to identify and coordinate compatible research groups to bridge inter-organisational boundaries.

A Design Theory for Energy and Carbon Management Systems in the Supply Chain The Quest for Innovation in Information Systems Research: Recognizing, Stimulating, and Promoting Novel and Useful Knowledge

Energy and carbon management systems (ECMS) are a class of green information systems that has the potential to increase environmental sustainability in organizations and across supply chains. Employing a design science research approach, we define the scope of ECMS in the supply chain context, identify requirements, design an expository instantiation, and develop an information systems design theory, including key constructs and design principles. We instantiate this theory in four supply chain contexts to validate and revise the proposed design in two rounds. We identify six system components data collection, energy monitoring, supply chain coordination, ECMS workflow engine, reporting, and carbon footprint estimator that integrate and coordinate four types of information flows (transactional, contextual, energy, and product environmental), and formulate design principles. Our evaluation indicates that the ECMS design theory, if instantiated, supports energy and carbon measurement and environmentally aware decision-making and practice in supply chains. We also highlight how considering energy information flows in combination with material features that afford environmentally aware decision-making and practice are key to qualifying information systems as green.

Toward a Design Theory of User-Centered Score Mechanics for Gamified Competency Development

ABSTRACT Gamification is increasingly being used by organizations to foster work-related competencies and employee motivation. In the current body of gamification literature, there is a dearth of design knowledge about systems that foster the development of employee competencies through effective gamification approaches. The aim of this paper is to set the cornerstone of an information systems design theory (ISDT) of user-centered score mechanics that can assist both researchers and practitioners in building gamified environments.

Information System Framework for Training Teachers on Computational Thinking

The call for a holistic integration of computational thinking (CT) skills across all subjects in the newly revised Malaysian curriculum of 2017 has brought to attention an urgent need to prepare teachers with the new syllabus, teaching and learning (TL) tools, and techniques, to promote effective computational thinking knowledge dissemination in their daily classroom practices. However, a preliminary investigation revealed that many teachers were still unaware of the changes within the new curriculum. There was an apparent lack of understanding of computational thinking skills in general. The study intends to propose a conceptual framework to develop knowledge about computational thinking skills among Malaysian teachers, to enhance their pedagogical repertoire to include elements of computational thinking into their teaching content. The study employs mixed-method research to capture data and construct interventions. The Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT) is used to design an effective information system (IS) and set a plan for developing the conceptual framework.The proposed framework comprises five elements, which could serve as a guide for future planning in setting up CT training for Malaysian teachers and other related professional development programmes.

An Information System Design Product Theory for Student Academic Self-Service University Management System

The role of Information System Design Theory in software development is enormous. With the help of design theory, developers could estimate how the system will be and the reasons why the system reacts that way. The focus of the article is to revised and re-establish the design theory of a self-service university management system. The objectives of this publication are to identify the most relevant publication that will act as a guideline to generate the design theory artifacts and to establish the artifacts which will consist of three components named kernel theory, meta-requirements, and meta-design for the stated system. The system scope will be focused on enabling self-service functions. Validation will be done through FEDS framework with the inclusion of a traceability matrix between the meta-requirement against the real-world user requirement. The significance of this article is to provide an initial set of design theory artifacts to be utilized by software developers in the development or evaluation of a University Management System.

An Information Systems Design Theory for Service Network Effects

Service platforms make software applications available as a service to end users. Platforms enable noticeable economic benefits for scaling and transforming a business. Their long-term competitiveness is ensured in controlled cooperation with channel intermediaries and network partners. Hence, service platforms must be designed to harness self-enforcing effects of value generation, so-called network effects. In an exaptation of existing knowledge, we present an information systems design theory to inform the design of methods that analyze, describe, and guide the design of service platforms through the means of causal loops and control methods. We describe the theory's purpose and scope as well as the underlying justificatory knowledge behind the constructs and principles of form and function. The design theory covers the design of all service platform participants and activities as well as their transactions and influences in areas of staged platform authority, using enforcing and incentivizing control methods. We demonstrate the principles of implementation with an expository instantiation and apply it to the M-Engineering service platform, which offers surveillance, control, and data acquisition solutions. Furthermore, we present and discuss testable propositions and a study design to evaluate our design principles.

A Design Theory for Student Self-service University Management System

The role of Information System Design Theory in software development is enormous. With the help of design theory, developers could estimate what the system will be and what the system will do. The focus of the article is to establish the design theory of a self-service university management system. The objectives of this publication are to identify the most relevant publication that will act as a guideline to generate the design theory artefacts and to establish the artefacts which will consists of three components named kernel theories, meta-requirements and meta-design for the stated system. The system scope will be focused on enabling self-service functions. Validation will be done through a traceability matrix between the meta-requirement and meta-design against the real-world user requirement. The significant of this article is to provide an initial set of design theory artefacts to be utilization software developer in development or evaluation of a University Management System.

Approaches in Creating Meta-requirement: A Systematic Literature Review

Common development team will spend less resources on User Requirement Specification (URS) validation, in the case of development project that provides this URS in the phase of competing for tender. In order to overcome this, the use of meta-requirement in evaluation of requirements is being introduce. The purpose of this article is to present the finding of a systematic literature review of meta-requirements. A methodology that involve defining a systematic way of finding literature and presenting it in a meaningful manner has been adopted. Meta-requirement is an area that is station within the field of information system design theory which is contain in the design research body of knowledge. Based on the result of the analysis of the systematic literature review, it is shown that there is still advancement in the field of meta-requirement and there still improvement that can be done to further the knowledge and contribution in this area. It is suggested that further research that will define a highly comprehensive model of creating meta-requirement should be undergo and the issue of meta-requirement traceability against real-world requirements should be tackle.

An information system design theory for the comparative judgement of competences

A Design Science Research project is presented, describing the creation of an Information System for the assessment of human competences while supporting learning. First, requirements that emanate from current mainstream competence evaluation practice are introduced. Then, design principles are presented to address the design requirements. Finally, design features are discussed that represent a concrete instantiation of the design principles in a working system prototype. The output of the design, development, and evaluation of the artefact are presented as an Information Systems Design Theory. This theory provides principles that can be applied in different contexts where the evaluation of competences is needed.

A Theory of Responsive Design: A Field Study of Corporate Engagement with Open Source Communities

Although our general knowledge about open source communities is extensive, we are only beginning to understand the increasingly common practices by which corporations design software through engagement with these communities. In response, we combine design theorizing with field-study research (1) to analyze rich qualitative data from over 40 corporations participating in the Linux open source community and (2) to synthesize the observed corporate-open source community engagements into a new type of information systems design theory that we call responsive design. Empirically, we document how corporate participants in these contexts respond to market decisions, interdependent ideologies, and distributed relationships by continuously establishing and maintaining connections with community members; connections that stem from the social and material rules inherent in the open source community. Based on these observations, we create the theory of responsive design as a particular form of corporate software design which, beyond the inclusion of external participants, distinguishes itself from traditional monocentric design in which one corporation controls a dedicated team of software designers focused on solving an isolated and singular organizational problem. Guided by the principles of interconnection, opportunism, and domestication, we define responsive design as the kind of design approach that enables corporate participants to create and maintain productive design practices in response to the complex and dynamic landscapes of activities that are the foundation of corporate-communal engagements. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of this new form of corporate software design.

A Design Theory for Vigilant Online Learning Systems

There is now a preponderance of evidence suggesting that the types of online course management software (OCMS) used in purely online undergraduate college courses, do not meet the needs of younger immature students. These students often lack the learning skills necessary to succeed in such courses, nor do the popular OCMS include the vigilance mechanisms to guide such students to successful course completion in the absence of face-to-face human instruction. This paper explores the literature relevant to design theory, learning theory, decision support, and vigilance, to extend information systems design theory to a design theory of vigilant online learning systems. It is hoped that this research note will help guide software developers and academics studying how to design future online learning systems for the immature student.

Design and field test of an mHealth system for emergency medical services

This research uses multiple methods guided by Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT) to design and evaluate a mobile multimedia information system for communicating patient and emergency incident information within the context of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The system design and requirements were examined and a mobile and web-based information technology system was developed to support EMS information exchange and decision-making. A field study was then conducted across EMS and hospital organizations in the Boise, Idaho region for three months to examine use of the system and practitioner perspectives on its utility. Findings from qualitative analysis include practitioners’ willingness to use mobile Smartphones to communicate during an emergency, transmit digital images and audio recordings, and the potential benefits and challenges of an mHealth application for augmenting communications processes and medical decision-making. From a more theoretical perspective, the study documents the interest in using richer forms of media in EMS communications than is typically utilized for the handover of patient information from prehospital to hospital providers. This paper describes the justification for an EMS mHealth artifact, presents the system design, the pilot test methodology and results, and overall implications and future research directions.

An Information Systems Design Theory for an Expert System for Training

The authors developed and evaluated an expert system-based training system using Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT). First, an Expert System for Training (EST) was designed and implemented, and then a version of EST without expertise features, called IST, was also created. In order to evaluate which training system (if any) delivers better training, a three-group quasi-experiment was used. Each group was trained to use Statistical Process Control (SPC). One group was trained using the EST; outcomes for this group were significantly the highest among the three. A second group was trained using the IST; outcomes were not as high as the first group but significantly higher compared with the control group. The control group was trained with traditional means. Results show that the ISDT led to a useful purposely-developed application for enhancing the training of workers who have limited education but need to know about a very specific and complex field where the availability of trainers is limited. The authors call for further research that uses this ISDT to build purposely-developed software to support training of complex tasks.

A design approach for process-based knowledge management systems

PurposeThis paper presents a design approach for process-based knowledge management (PKM) systems that can support knowledge-intensive processes where effective task execution is highly reliant on the knowledge and expertise of participants executing the tasks. The proposed design approach includes design methods and kernel theories governing the design of PKM systems and can also be easily integrated with existing systems analysis and design techniques.Design/methodology/approachThe design science research methodology is used to design and develop the artifact which includes the overall PKM design approach. Information systems design theory is used as a high-level framework to develop and structure the design approach. Relevant design methods and behavioral theories are reviewed to identify kernel theories that guide the design and development of PKM systems. The design approach consists of meta-requirements for PKM systems and design processes to achieve the meta-requirements. A feasibility study is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach.FindingsThe design approach presented in this paper can guide system analysts and system developers in the design of knowledge management systems for supporting knowledge-intensive processes. The paper also includes a comprehensive design theory for PKM systems consisting of meta-requirements and a synthesis of various kernel theories into actionable design procedures. The proposed procedures include knowledge requirements modeling, knowledge flows modeling and knowledge and process performance modeling procedures. The feasibility study indicates that the PKM approach can be more useful and effective than solely using unified modeling language (UML)-based systems analysis and design techniques for the design of PKM systems.Research limitations/implicationsAn implication to information systems design research is the feasibility of developing a specialized design approach that incorporates significant domain knowledge to solve complex information system design problems. An implication to practice is the significant potential to improve productivity and effectiveness of systems analysts and designers in developing PKM systems. A limitation is the small sample size of the feasibility study used to evaluate the ease of use and utility of the design approach.Originality/valueThe study makes a unique contribution by proposing a design approach that integrates business process and knowledge management considerations. The approach is particularly valuable because of the focus on integration with existing systems analysis and design techniques, thus allowing for easier adoption.

Information quality, trust, and risk perceptions in electronic data exchanges

This study investigates the influence of information quality, trust and risk perceptions on the expected transaction performance of inter-organizational data exchanges and on the user intent to continue using the exchange. This study provides empirical evidence on the distinctive influences of information quality on competence-trust, goodwill-trust, exchange-risk and relationship-risk and how these different dimensions influence the intent to use inter-organizational data exchanges. As the performance of a data exchange may vary according to degree of successful completion of a specific transaction on the spot, this study also examines the extent to which expected transaction performance affects the model relationships. A survey is conducted to collect data from 221 business professionals. The study's hypothesized relationships are in general supported by the data and the resulting structural model proved to adequately represent the construct relationships. While these findings contribute to information system design theory, they also benefit professionals by providing insights as to how organizations can deal with the different types of uncertainties related to participating in electronic data exchanges. In addition, these findings help demonstrate the importance of interventions in the design of electronic data exchanges and the benefits expected by enhancing information quality in those settings.

On Challenges and Opportunities of Designing Integrated IT Platforms for Supporting Knowledge Works in Organizations

In an ideal Knowledge Management environment in an organization, two objectives need to be achieved. Firstly, knowledge workers should have customized informational support for their respective works and secondly, workers across the organization should be able to easily understand and utilize information produced from myriads of knowledge works. Unfortunately, in current KM research and practices, these two goals are rarely addressed together. In fact, most of the KM practices subscribe either to the task-based KM approaches or to the generic/universalistic KM approaches. Typically, each of them is either unable to cater to the need of the other category or provide some ad hoc measures. This paper examines the major issues from a very basic level to understand the problems and attempts to present a solution that systematically covers both the objectives of KM. In the process, it develops a theory, the Task-oriented Organizational Knowledge Management (TOKM), within which the problems are analysed and a viable solution is identified. TOKM gives us a set of design principles for building a new class of IT-based support systems which can serve as a major component of organizational KM. TOKM focuses on information usage in knowledge works and the scope of technology intervention in the related processes. In this paper, the Task-oriented Organizational Knowledge Management is presented as an Information System Design Theory (ISDT) for building integrated IT platforms for supporting organizational KM. In developing the design, the information requirements of knowledge workers in light of an information usage model of knowledge works is studied. Then the model is extended to study possibilities of more advanced IT support and formulate them in the form of a set of meta-requirements. Following the IS design theory paradigm, a set of artifacts are hypothesized to meet the requirements. Finally, a design method, as a possible approach of building an IT-based integrated platform, the Knowledge-work Support Platform (KwSP), is outlined to realize the artifacts in order to meet the requirements. KwSP is a powerful platform for building and maintaining a number of task-type specific Knowledge-work Support Systems (KwSS) on a common sharable platform. Each KwSS, for the task-type supported by it, can be easily designed to provide extensive and sophisticated support to individual as well as group of knowledge workers in performing their respective knowledge work instances.