this IS research

IS researchers do not use enough Star Trek references. Thankfully, Alok Gupta is a Trekkie and convinced his co-authors to title their paper "Will Humans-in-the-Loop Become Borgs?" He joins our conversation together with his co-author Andreas Fügener. Together, we talk about how collaborating on papers is easier across time zones, what makes a paper accessible to an audience, and whether or not formal theory benefits a paper or distracts from its contributions. Fügener, A., Grahl, J., Gupta, A., & Ketter, W. (2021). Will Humans-in-the-Loop Become Borgs? Merits and Pitfalls of Working with AI. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1527-1556.

How is a strategic AI orientation different from an IT orientation? Jingyu Li and Mengxiang Li are on our show and talk about their paper "Strategic Directions for AI: The Role of CIOs and Boards of Directors." We learn about how their survey of CIOs and boards of directors, how IS scholars work together in the Hong Kong ecosystem, and we discuss ways in which paper projects can be managed. Li, J., Li, M., Wang, X., & Thatcher, J. B. (2021). Strategic Directions for AI: The Role of CIOs and Boards of Directors. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1603-1643.

We are joined by Jin Gerlach to talk about the paper "Coordinating Human and Machine Learning for Effective Organizational Learning," which he co-authored with Timo Sturm, Luisa Pumplun, Neda Mesbah, Felix Peters, Christoph Tauchert, Ning Nan, and Peter Buxmann. We learn about how the idea came about, what the role of simulations is in IS research, and how you can manage an ambitious paper project using Scrum principles. Sturm, T., Gerlach, J. P., Pumplun, L., Mesbah, N., Peters, F., Tauchert, C., Nan, N., & Buxmann, P. (2021). Coordinating Human and Machine Learning for Effective Organizational Learning. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1581-1602.

We talk with Elmira van den Broek and Marleen Huysman about their paper "When the Machine Meets the Expert: An Ethnography of Developing AI for Hiring." In our conversation, we touch upon doing ethnographies, establishing collaborations with industry firms, and how a paper changes through the review process. van den Broek, E., Sergeeva, A., & Huysman, M. (2021). When the Machine Meets the Expert: An Ethnography of Developing AI for Hiring. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1557-1580.

The new issue of the MIS Quarterly is out and it features a special issue on "Managing Artificial Intelligence" that Nick and Jan have been co-producing with Bin Gu and Radhika Santhanam. Time to discuss what we have done, how it all went, and what we learned. Over the next fortnight, we will also release new episodes every two days, each one featuring a conversation with the author teams featuring in the special issue. Be prepared to learn everything possible about what AI is and what managing AI means. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Nick and Jan are back from vacation and the new season of this IS research is underway. We kick things off in a live session in the Doctoral Student Corner at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), held virtually on 13 August 2021. With our hosts Sarah Hönigsberg and Carol Lee we talk about the role of conferences for IS academics and share a few experiences and tips for doctoral students for how to start collaborations, present at conferences, and prepare for job talks. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Our first season comes to a close. This is the last episode before Nick and Jan take a break over the summer. We tie up a few loose ends, talk about academia as a competition, and share a few funny stories we encountered while being IS academics. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Should every information systems research paper be relevant to practice? Does research need to be relevant in the first place? And if relevance is relevant, how should we engage with practitioners about our research? We discuss relevance of information systems research, how the field's view of relevance may have changed and what researchers might do if they wish to be relevant to practice. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

We are joined on the show by Youngjin Yoo from Case Western Reserve University, who Nick calls "the energizer bunny" of theoretical ideas. With him, we discuss how we develop theory. But being the idea generator that he is, we end up discussing all sorts of things, from the role of science in the societal discourse, to theorizing practices, to feelings of imposter syndrome, and other topics. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Nick and Jan discuss what contributions are, how they can be composed, and which contributions are interesting – and whether they need to be interesting in the first place. Do contributions by scientific papers need an element of surprise? Are obvious contributions okay? As usual, he readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Jan and Nick are still processing what they learned from Brian and Wil. Both gave advice to young researchers, but Jan and Nick are not sure they agree, so they end up constructing their own advice for how to build a career in information systems research. In the episode, we mention a few exemplary IS scholars, among others, Dick Boland, Ron Weber, Suprateek Sarker, Michael Rosemann, Eric Walden, Paul Leonardi, Shirley Gregor, Andrew Pettigrew, and Izak Benbasat. As usual, readings relevant to this episode can be found at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/careers-on-the-line-28-april-2021/.

Jan is annoyed. He received reviews and of course they were critical of his work. But what makes a good review? When do reviews stop being helpful? And do we need a new reviewing culture? Nick and Jan suggest we do. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Information systems is a discipline nestled between the organizational sciences and the computer sciences. How do these different fields view each other? We ask Brian Pentland (an organizational sociologist) and Wil van der Aalst (a computer scientist). Both work on the same topic - processes and routines - but within different communities. We explore whether these communities are coming together and what advice young researchers receive in the different fields. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

What are the big methodological movements at the moment that potentially shape the future of IS research? What are the most popular methods IS researchers use? How do we do research in the golden age of digital trace data? As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

What do econometricians do? Do they really care more about statistics than explanations? Nick and Jan ask Brad Greenwood from George Mason University and try to reconcile their views of what good research is. As usual, the papers we discuss in this episode at listed at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Is there a difference between digital technologies and regular IT? Are we in a new wave of technology that changes our society and business, or is it all just the same technology and we've been here before? Do we need to develop new theories about technology and organizing or do our old assumptions still hold? Nick and Jan explore these possibilities and try to reach a shared conclusion. You can find the papers we discuss in this episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

Jan and Nick discuss ethics dilemmas they faced and try to figure out what advice they would give to others that work and publish in teams on information systems research problems. You can find papers we discuss in this episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.

How important is theory to research? Do design research, AI, and predictive modeling change the need for theoretical contributions? And what is high impact research anyway? You can find the papers we discuss in this episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.