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Seizing the Opportunity: Towards a Historiography of Information Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Nathalie Mitev

    (ISIG - Information Systems and Innovation Group - Department of Management - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • François-Xavier de Vaujany

    (Management & Organisation - DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Historical perspectives are only timidly entering the world of IS research compared to historical research in management or organization studies. If major IS outlets have already published history-oriented papers, the number of historical papers - although increasing - remains low. We carried out a thematic analysis of all papers on History and IS published between 1972 and 2009 indexed on ABI and papers indexed in Google ScholarTM for the same period. We used a typology developed by theorists Usdiken and Kieser (2004) who classify historical organisation research into supplementarist, integrationist and reorientationist approaches. We outline their links with the epistemological stances well known in IS research, positivism, interpretivism and critical research; we then focus on their differences and historiographical characteristics. We found that most IS History papers are supplementarist descriptive case studies with limited uses of History. This paper then suggests that IS research could benefit from adopting integrationist and reorientationist historical perspectives and we offer some examples to illustrate how that would contribute to enriching, extending and challenging existing theories.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathalie Mitev & François-Xavier de Vaujany, 2012. "Seizing the Opportunity: Towards a Historiography of Information Systems," Post-Print halshs-00671690, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00671690
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00671690
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wanda J. Orlikowski & Jack J. Baroudi, 1991. "Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 1-28, March.
    2. Alfred Kieser, 1994. "Why Organization Theory Needs Historical Analyses—And How This Should Be Performed," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(4), pages 608-620, November.
    3. Chris Caswill & Robin Wensley, 2007. "Doors and boundaries: A recent history of the relationship between research and practice in UK organizational and management research," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 293-320.
    4. Luca Zan, 2004. "Accounting and management discourse in proto-industrial settings: the Venice Arsenal in the turn of the 16th century," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 145-175.
    5. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2009. "Path Dependence, Initial Conditions and Routines in Organizations: the Toyota Production System Re-examined," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Institutions, Communication and Values, chapter 8, pages 88-112, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Page, Scott E., 2006. "Path Dependence," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 1(1), pages 87-115, January.
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4881 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Wells, Wyatt, 2000. "Certificates and Computers: The Remaking of Wall Street, 1967 to 1971," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(2), pages 193-235, July.
    9. Peter Clark & Michael Rowlinson, 2004. "The Treatment of History in Organisation Studies: Towards an 'Historic Turn'?," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 331-352.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Linking History and Management Discourse: Epistemology and Method
      by bbatiz in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-04-19 18:36:38
    2. Linking History and Management Discourse: Epistemology and Method
      by bbatiz in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-04-19 18:36:38
    3. Linking History and Management Discourse: Epistemology and Method
      by bbatiz in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-04-19 18:36:38

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    Cited by:

    1. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Nathalie Mitev & Pierre Laniray & Emmanuelle Vaast, 2014. "Time and Materiality: What is at Stake in the Materialization of Time and Time as a Materialization?," Post-Print hal-01768073, HAL.
    2. Mirani, Rajesh, 2013. "A case study of morphogenetic change in long-term offshoring," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 663-673.
    3. David G. Schwartz, 2014. "Research Commentary ---The Disciplines of Information: Lessons from the History of the Discipline of Medicine," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 205-221, June.
    4. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Emmanuelle Vaast, 2014. "If These Walls Could Talk: The Mutual Construction of Organizational Space and Legitimacy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 713-731, June.
    5. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Nathalie Mitev & Matthew Smith & Isabelle Walsh, 2017. "Renewing Literature Reviews in MIS Research? A Critical Realist Approach," Working Papers hal-01648133, HAL.

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    Keywords

    IS history; historiography; historical methods; historical organization theory;
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