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Seizing the Opportunity: Towards a Historiography of Information Systems

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Enacting Research Methods in Information Systems: Volume 1

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Abstract

Since the late 1990s, a stream of research in IS has been promoting historical perspectives on organisational information systems (McKenney et al., 1995, Mason, 1997a,b; Bannister, 2002; Porra et al., 2005; Land, 2010). The adoption of historical sensitivity is likely to be helpful in a field that is often driven by the ‘awesome potential’ of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs). We often lose sight of issues as we are blinded by the glare of technology (Bannister, 2002; Land, 2010). If we acquire a historical dimension we may avoid regurgitating ideas with little awareness of their historical context, and being victims of IT fads and fashions (Westrup, 2005) which often damage the potential competitive advantage of firms. A lack of historical consciousness means that concepts and themes are often repackaged several years on, with little thought given to their historical context and origin (Bannister, 2002).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Information Systems and Innovation Group (ISIG), London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

    Nathalie Mitev

  2. Equipe de recherche Management & Organisation, DRM (UMR CNRS 7088), Université Paris-Dauphine, Paris, France

    François-Xavier De Vaujany

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  1. Nathalie Mitev
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  2. François-Xavier De Vaujany
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

    Leslie P. Willcocks

  2. Oxford University, UK

    Chris Sauer

  3. University of Missouri-St Louis, USA

    Mary C. Lacity

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Mitev, N., De Vaujany, FX. (2016). Seizing the Opportunity: Towards a Historiography of Information Systems. In: Willcocks, L.P., Sauer, C., Lacity, M.C. (eds) Enacting Research Methods in Information Systems: Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29266-3_10

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