Business Commons^™

A Proposed Theoretical Foundation For The Information Systems Discipline (Version 1. 1), Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

“Rethink the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline” is one of the grand challenges for IS research identified in a Delphi study in Business Information Systems Engineering (Becker et al., 2015). This draft addresses that challenge directly through an integrated approach to the operation and evolution of systems. Almost any attempt to articulate a theoretical foundation for IS (a TFIS) would need to cover that topic although other attempts might emphasize other topics and other viewpoints.

The proposed Theoretical Foundation for IS (TFIS) has three main goals:

1) Integration. Build outward from an integrated core. Do not accept the excuse …

The Knowledge Cube: Scaffolding For A Body Of Knowledge About Information Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper answers calls for a body of knowledge (BoK) for the IS field. Its new approach for thinking about a BoK provides a path for addressing a longstanding problem in the IS discipline. The paper proposes organizing knowledge as a three dimensional "knowledge cube" that goes beyond compilations of categories of knowledge, sets of generalizations, and sets of documents. The structure of the knowledge cube is based on recognition that "work system in general" is a general case whose subordinate cases include information system in general and project in general. In turn, the special cases have their own special …

A Broad View Of Systems Analysis And Design, Steven Alter, Glenn J. Browne

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This article presents a broad view of systems analysis and design (SA&D) research. Although SA&D is a critical area of research in the information systems field, relatively little such research has been published in leading IS journals. To point toward increased research opportunities for SA&D work, this article presents a framework that illustrates the broad range of activities within the SA&D area. This framework contrasts with narrower views that consider SA&D to be concerned primarily with software development. The framework positions SA&D activities in a two-dimensional space. We identify theoretical and practical research issues that apply across the full range …

Architecture Of Sysperanto - A Model-Based Ontology Of The Is Field, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

The challenge of defining the domain and core concepts of the IS field is a perennial topic at major IS conferences. This paper describes the architecture of Sysperanto, a model-based ontology of the IS field. Sysperanto is being developed as part of an ongoing effort to create methods that typical business professionals can use to analyze systems and system-related projects for themselves at whatever level of depth is appropriate. The name Sysperanto is meant as a metaphor combining generality (covering the IS field), vocabulary (identification of terms), and structure (internally consistent organization) to create an ontology more powerful and useful …