Special Issue:

There has been a surge of interest in design science research (DSR) in information systems (IS) in the last decade. DSR is now recognized as an important field of research in IS. The goal of the DSR paradigm is to extend the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by designing new and innovative artifacts represented by constructs, models, methods, processes, and systems (Hevner et al. 2004, Peffers et al. 2007, Gregor & Hevner 2015). Broadly speaking, DSR aims to add to knowledge of how things can or should be constructed or arranged (i.e., designed), usually by human agency, to achieve some desired goal. For example, design knowledge in the information systems (IS) discipline includes knowledge of how to structure and construct a database system, how to model business processes and how to align IS with organizational strategy, and how to employ data analytics for effective decision making (e.g. Becker et al. 2015). DSR results in IS have shown to create significant economic and societal impact. Beyond the IS field, DSR is important in many other domains including engineering, architecture, business, economics, and further information technology-related disciplines in order to create novel solutions to relevant design problems.

With its focus on the design of innovative artifacts, DSR should be ideal to make contributions to the field of digital innovation. Digital innovation is the appropriation of digital technologies in the process of and as the result of innovation. Digital innovation is rapidly becoming a dominant paradigm and research focus in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship, strategic management, organizational design, and information systems. The phenomena of digital innovation encompasses new digital technologies, information digitization, digitally-enabled generativity, innovation management, and a greater range and reach of innovation across organizational boundaries (e.g. see Yoo et al. 2010; Fichman et al. 2014). Surveys show that organizations across a wide range of disciplines view digital innovation to be of vital importance (e.g. Morrell 2015; Fielt and Gregor 2016).

We observe that in the current state, DSR contributions in the field of digital innovation are still scarce. With this special issue, we invite DSR studies that show, how design-oriented research can contribute to the field of digital innovation. We particularly favor actual DSR studies, which serve to demonstrate generation of digital innovation artifacts and design knowledge. In contrast to other research paradigms, DSR exists in very different genres and is less standardized with regards to the overall research process and methodology. The resulting diversity of DSR makes this paradigm exciting. This special issue is open to different types of DSR, and the underlying research process and methodology in particular.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit papers by March 1st 2018 at the latest via the journal’s online submission system (http://www.editorialmanager.com/buis/). Please observe the instructions regarding the format and size of contributions to Business & Information Systems Engineering (BISE). Papers should adhere to the submission general BISE author guidelines.

All papers will be reviewed anonymously (double-blind process) by at least two referees with regard to relevance, originality, and research quality. In addition to the editors of the journal, including those of this special focus, distinguished international professionals with scientific and practical backgrounds will be involved in the review process.

Schedule

Anticipated publication date:February 2019

Editors

Jan vom Brocke
jan.vom.brocke@uni.li
University of Liechtenstein

Alan Hevner
ahevner@usf.edu
University of South Florida

Alexander Maedche
alexander.maedche@kit.edu
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

References

Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J., Ram, S. (2004) Design Science in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 28(1), 75-105

Gregor, S., Hevner, A.R. (2015) Positioning and Presenting Design Science Research for Maximum Impact, MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 337-355.

Peffers, K., Tuunanen, T., Rothenberger, M.A., Chatterjee, S. (2007) A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24 (3), 45-77

Fielt, E. and Gregor, S. 2016. “What’s New about Digital Innovation?” Information Systems Foundation Workshop, Canberra, Australia, Sept. 2016.

Fichman, R. G., Dos Santos, B. L., and Zheng, Z. 2014. “Digital Innovation as a Fundamental and Powerful Concept in the Information Systems Curriculum,” MIS Quarterly (38:2), pp. 329-343.

Morrell, L. 2015. “Getting to the roots of what digital innovation means,” Internet Retailing. Available at: http://internetretailing.net/issue/digital-innovation-report-october-2015/getting-to-the-roots-of-what-digital-innovation-means/
Nambisan, S., Lyytinen, K., Majchrzak, A., and Song, M. 2017. “Digital Innovation Management: Reinventing Innovation Management Research in a Digital World,” MIS Quarterly (41:1), pp. 223-238.

Yoo, Y., Henfridsson, O., and Lyytinen, K. 2010. “Research Commentary – The new organizing logic of digital innovation: An agenda for information systems research,” Information Systems Research (21:4), pp. 724-735.