Research Seminar with Dr Andreas DrechslerScoping around and Reflecting on Boundary Conditions in Information Systems Research: the Case of Research on Small and Medium Organizations

6 December 2022

Abstract:
This talk proposes an approach to carefully scope an IS research project around and continuously reflect on suitable boundary conditions depending on the project’s topic and goals, and illustrates the approach for research in the context of small and medium organizations (SMOs).
SMOs are a suitable illustrative example for the importance of boundary conditions as SMOs are of a fundamentally different nature compared to large organizations, yet IS research often implicitly assumes the latter as their context. Insufficient attention to boundary conditions may lead to IS research drawing on unsuitable theories, or making unreflected or too wide claims for accuracy or applicability. The approach builds on the extant boundary condition literature but makes the existing recommendations and guidelines more actionable for IS research throughout the entire research lifecycle. The approach also integrates extant thinking around boundary conditions for explanatory research with similar considerations from the design-oriented research literature.

Other researchers can use the approach to explicitly scope their research around suitable boundary conditions at the beginning and reflect on them throughout their project. The approach also enables researchers to carefully considering the boundary conditions (or the lack thereof) of any theory they draw on and to include or exclude certain classes of their units of analysis or design contexts of interest (e.g., organizations or individuals) more clearly from their sample. Ultimately, researchers should thus be able to produce research outcomes that can make stronger validity or fitness claims for more clearly delineated classes of their chosen unit of analysis or design contexts.
 
 
Bio:
Dr. Andreas Drechsler is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Information Management. His current research interests revolve around topics such as IT governance, business IT alignment, enterprise architecture, information security, project and #noproject management in small and medium organizations as well as Scaling Agile organizational contexts. He has published more than 30 papers on these and other topics in international academic journals and conferences.

Place and Time:

Moorweidenstr. 18, RM 0029 on the 6th of December 2022 from 2-3 pm

Registration:

Please contact Christine Rodenbeck by the 1st of December the latest if you would like to join the seminar.