Individual Improvisation in Information Systems Development

2009 ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Magni ◽  
Bernardino Provera ◽  
Luigi Prosperpio
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Turbulent Environments ◽  
Group Outcomes ◽  
Individual Attitude

Improvisation is rapidly becoming an important issue for both scholars and practitioners. Organizations that operate in turbulent environments must learn to swiftly adapt and respond to such nstability, especially in areas as innovation and new product development. In such contexts, traditional top-down, carefully-planned approaches to innovative projects may represent an obstacle to effectively dealing with environment uncertainty. Prior research on improvisation has focused considerable attention on the centrality of improvisation in individual and group outcomes, while less emphasis has been placed on how individual attitude toward improvisation is formed. In an attempt to fill this gap, we will theoretically analyze the antecedents of individual attitude toward improvisation, by looking at the information systems development (ISD) domain. In particular, the outcome of this chapter is the development of theoretical propositions which could be empirically tested in future research.

Examining the Quality of Evolution Frameworks and Metamodeling Paradigms of Information Systems Development Methodologies

2011 ◽  
pp. 265-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Berki
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Software Quality ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quality Outcomes ◽  
Quality Properties ◽  
Quality Perceptions ◽  
Formal Quality

Information systems development methodologies and associated CASE tools have been considered cornerstones for building quality into an information system. The construction and evaluation of methodologies are usually carried out by evaluation frameworks and metamodels, both considered as meta-methodologies. This chapter investigates and reviews representative metamodels and evaluation frameworks for assessing the capability of methodologies to contribute to high-quality outcomes. It presents a summary of their quality features, strengths, and weaknesses. The chapter ultimately leads to a comparison and discussion of the functional and formal quality properties that traditional meta-methodologies and method evaluation paradigms offer. The discussion emphasizes the limitations of methods and metamethods used to model and evaluate software quality properties, such as computability and implementability, testing, dynamic semantics capture, and people’s involvement. This analysis, along with the comparison of the philosophy, assumptions, and quality perceptions of different process methods used in information systems development, provides the basis for recommendations about the need for future research in this area.

Information Systems, Software Engineering, and Systems Thinking

2011 ◽  
pp. 315-332
Author(s):  
Doncho Petkov ◽  
Denis Edgar-Nevill ◽  
Raymond Madachy ◽  
Rory O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Systems Software ◽  
Potential Improvement

This article traces past research on the application of the systems approach to information systems development within the disciplines of information systems and software engineering. Their origins historically are related to a number of areas, including general systems theory. While potential improvement of software development practices is linked by some leading experts to the application of more systemic methods, the current state of the practice in software engineering and information systems development shows this is some way from being achieved. The authors propose possible directions for future research and practical work on bringing together both fields with systems thinking.

Perspectives on Reference Modeling

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Fettke ◽  
Peter Loos
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reference Models ◽  
Reference Modeling ◽  
Business Engineering

Conceptual models play an increasingly important role in all phases of the information systems life cycle. For instance, they are used for business engineering, information systems development, and customizing of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Despite conceptual modeling being a vital instrument for developing information systems, the modeling process often is resource-consuming and faulty. As a way to overcome these failures and to improve the development of enterprise-specific models, the concept of reference modeling has been introduced. A reference model is a conceptual framework and may be used as a blueprint for information systems development. In this Chapter, we seek to motivate research on reference modeling and introduce the chapters of this book on using reference models for business systems analysis. Our discussion is based on a framework for research on reference modeling that consists of four elements: reference modeling languages, reference modeling methods, reference models, and reference modeling context. Each element of the framework is discussed with respect to prior research, the contributions of chapters in this book, and future research opportunities.

The Role of Expectations in Information Systems Development

2009 ◽  
pp. 298-312
Author(s):  
Dorit Nevo ◽  
Brent Furneaux
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Emerging Technology ◽  
Requirements Analysis ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Technology Solution

This chapter reviews the significance of expectations to information systems development with particular emphasis on the process of requirements analysis. In accordance with a socio-technical perspective, it argues that the expectations of key stakeholders involved in this process impact the emerging technology solution while the emergent technology simultaneously impacts stakeholder expectations for the solution that is ultimately developed. The primary aim of the chapter is to synthesize the relevant literature to provide insights to those seeking to improve their requirements analysis capabilities and to highlight potential avenues for future research that stem from a consideration of the role of expectations in the information systems development process.

Information Systems Development and Business Fit in Dynamic Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 250-261
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Kanellis ◽  
Drakoulis Martakos ◽  
Peggy Papadopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Organization ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Business Information Systems ◽  
Teaching Case ◽  
Turbulent Environments ◽  
Business Information ◽  
Raising Awareness

This teaching case describes the effects of privatization on a large industrial organization and sets the context for illustrating the vulnerability of information systems in turbulent environments. Upon privatization, the company put in place a number of business information systems that crippled them with respect to their initial purpose. At the same time, the policy of the company gave users almost complete autonomy and freedom with respect to meeting their own systems and informational needs. Using this freedom, business unit users developed their own small applications, and cannibalized the overarching systems to give themselves a system that worked by adapting it to their needs. The case presents a detailed, factually accurate chronology of the events, raising awareness to the issue of information systems flexibility by detailing the ensuing repercussions on an organization whose information systems were incapable of dealing with a frantic pace of environmental contingencies.

Examining the Quality of Evaluation Frameworks and Metamodeling Paradigms of Information Systems Development Methodologies

2010 ◽  
pp. 297-314
Author(s):  
Eleni Berki
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Software Quality ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quality Outcomes ◽  
Quality Properties ◽  
Quality Perceptions ◽  
Formal Quality

Information systems development methodologies and associated CASE tools have been considered as cornerstones for building quality in an information system. The construction and evaluation of methodologies are usually carried out by evaluation frameworks and metamodels - both considered as meta-methodologies. This chapter investigates and reviews representative metamodels and evaluation frameworks for assessing the capability of methodologies to contribute to high-quality outcomes. It presents a summary of their quality features, strengths and weaknesses. The chapter ultimately leads to a comparison and discussion of the functional and formal quality properties that traditional metamethodologies and method evaluation paradigms offer. The discussion emphasizes the limitations of both methods and meta-methods to model and evaluate software quality properties such as computability and implementability, testing, dynamic semantics capture, and people’s involvement. This analysis along with the comparison of the philosophy, assumptions, and quality perceptions of different process methods used in information systems development, provides the basis for recommendations about the need for future research in this area.

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