scholarly journals The Demise Of Silicon Graphics Explicated By A Structural Functionalist

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Nicholas John Robak ◽  
Patricia J. Robak
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Talcott Parsons ◽  
Philosophical Basis ◽  
Constant Change

It has been asserted that positivism is the philosophical basis of research in the field of Information Systems by Goles and Hirschheim. This is seen as problematic in an area that undergoes swift and constant change because of its technological nature. The rise and fall of Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) is the focus of this paper. The mechanism for explaining change is the action theory of Talcott Parsons, a structural functionalist, whose theory, in turn, is attacked for the inability to account facilely for change.

Grounding Business Interaction Models

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-86
Author(s):  
Goran Goldkuho ◽  
Mikael Lind
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Domain Ontology ◽  
Interaction Models ◽  
The Social

In the information systems field there exist several theories for guiding the evaluation and design of information systems. These theories need to be transparent and harmonious. In this chapter, business action theory (BAT) as a domain ontology for business interaction and business processes is clarified by elaborating on socio-instrumental pragmatism (SIP) as a base ontology. SIP is an eclectic theory synthesizing several pragmatic theories from reference disciplines outside the IS area. One purpose of SIP is to enable seamless theorizing in the IS area. In this chapter we put forward the foundations of BAT and SIP which are then followed by grounding BAT in SIP. This grounding means that there will be an ontological clarification of BAT by specifying the social action and interaction character of business interaction.

»Swoosh«, oder Das Rauschen der E-Mail

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Dirk Baecker
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Consciousness ◽  
Talcott Parsons ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Black Boxes ◽  
E Mail

Referring to MacOS’s »swoosh« as the signal of a successfully sent E-Mail the paper looks into the contribution of cultural values to communication with invisible machines. This contribution can be assessed within the context of Talcott Parsons’ action theory which addresses culture as one of four functional aspects of any one action (L), the other three being adaptation to physical, material, and technical environment (A), reference to the goal-attainment of both organism and personality (G), and the integration into, and differentiation from, other action (I). The swoosh signals an »infrathin«, i.e. fleeting, connection of black boxes like machine, body, consciousness, and society being interrelated orthogonally. A culture develops, which momentarily leaves open the question whether or what controls whom or what, even though the calculi of computation themselves are becoming ever more incomputable

scholarly journals Comments on “The nature of theory in information systems”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajjad Hussain ◽  
Imran Bashir Dar
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Structural Breakdown ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Structural Parts

AbstractThis commentary is on Shirley Gregor’s (2006) article titled “The Nature of Theory in Information Systems”, published in MIS Quarterly. In terms of theories, five types have been prominent in Gregor’s classification: (a) Theory of Analyzing (b) Theory of Explaining (c) Theory of Prediction (d) Theory of Explaining and Predicting (e) Theory of Design and Action. The author argued that this can help researchers to choose a differing epistemological approach to develop a theory that is under development. Furthermore, a structural breakdown of the theory has been projected that gives a better and clear understanding of the essential parts of the theory to researchers. However, some important questions emerge after reading the most cited article about the nature of theory in IS. The major ones are: (a) What is the difference between theory in general and theory in IS?, (b) Are the structural parts of the theory described by Gregor exhaustive and correctly presented?, (c) Different classifications of theories presented by Gregor are theory or theorizing in nature, and finally, (d) Gregor argued that management scientists did not provide anything regarding design and action theory, is that true?

scholarly journals Data Integration Through Service-Based Mediation for Web-Enabled Information Systems

2011 ◽  
pp. 84-99
Author(s):  
Yaoling Zhu ◽  
Claus Pahl
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Data Integration ◽  
Web Applications ◽  
Data Representation ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Transformation Rules ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Technology Applications ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Web

The Web and its underlying platform technologies have often been used to integrate existing software and information systems. Traditional techniques for data representation and transformations between documents are not sufficient to support a flexible and maintainable data integration solution that meets the requirements of modern complex Web-enabled software and information systems. The difficulty arises from the high degree of complexity of data structures, for example in business and technology applications, and from the constant change of data and its representation. In the Web context, where the Web platform is used to integrate different organisations or software systems, additionally the problem of heterogeneity arises. We introduce a specific data integration solution for Web applications such as Web-enabled information systems. Our contribution is an integration technology framework for Webenabled information systems comprising, firstly, a data integration technique based on the declarative specification of transformation rules and the construction of connectors that handle the integration and, secondly, a mediator architecture based on information services and the constructed connectors to handle the integration process.

Grounding Business Interaction Models

2009 ◽  
pp. 2071-2089
Author(s):  
Göran Goldkuhl ◽  
Mikael Lind
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Domain Ontology ◽  
Interaction Models ◽  
The Social

In the information systems field there exist several theories for guiding the evaluation and design of information systems. These theories need to be transparent and harmonious. In this chapter, business action theory (BAT) as a domain ontology for business interaction and business processes is clarified by elaborating on socio-instrumental pragmatism (SIP) as a base ontology. SIP is an eclectic theory synthesizing several pragmatic theories from reference disciplines outside the IS area. One purpose of SIP is to enable seamless theorizing in the IS area. In this chapter we put forward the foundations of BAT and SIP which are then followed by grounding BAT in SIP. This grounding means that there will be an ontological clarification of BAT by specifying the social action and interaction character of business interaction.

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