The information systems (IS) field represents a multidisciplinary area
that links the rapidly changing technology of information (or
communications and information technology, ICT) to the business and
social environment. Despite the potential that the IS field has to
develop its own native theories to address current issues involving ICT
it has consistently borrowed theories from its "reference disciplines,"
often uncritically, to legitimize its research. This volume is the first
of a series intended to advance IS research beyond this form of borrowed
legitimization and derivative research towards fresh and original
research that naturally comes from its own theories. It is inconceivable
for a field so relevant to the era of the hyper-connected society,
disruptive technologies, big data, social media, "fake news" and the
weaponization of information to not be brimming with its own theories.
The first step in reaching the goal of developing native IS theories is
to reach an agreement on the need for theory (its rationale) and its
role as the most distinctive product of human intellectual activity.
This volume addresses what theories are, why bother with theories and
the process of theorizing itself because the process of developing
theories cannot be divorced from the product of that process. It will
lay out a research agenda for decades to come and will be invaluable
reading for any academic in the IS field and related disciplines
concerned with information, systems, technology and their management.
