Research on information systems development in Scandinavia—unity in plurality

Abstract

Scandinavia has had unproportional significance in the evolution of information systems (IS) as an academic discipline. One characteristic of the Scandinavian IS development (ISD) approaches is a surprising plurality in theories, research approaches, topics and outcomes which is unparalled by any area of similar size and population. The article reviews and compares ten ISD approaches which in one way or another can be regarded as Scandinavian due to their origin, approach, or scope, and summarises their major contributions. It paints a broad historical overview of these approaches, emphasising their evolution, their unity and simultaneous plurality. In distinguishing the approaches we used several criteria including: genealogical dependencies, distinctive concepts used to clarify the concepts of IS and ISD, explicit or implicit value orientation, and the focus in ISD in terms of process coverage, stakehold- ers, type of system. The resulting classification provides a broad map of the intellectual genealogy of the Scandinavian approaches, while emphasising their mutual interaction. We compare these ten approaches with regard to their scope, value orientation, the knowl- edge interest of the ISD process, support for formal vs. informal co-operation, the role of ISD methods (ISDMs), and stakeholder rela- tionships, attention paid to the IS contexts and principles of the ISD process. The analy- sis shows that though there are significant differences between Scandinavian ISD ap- proaches, they also share common features. Generally, the Scandinavian approaches can be characterised as "grass root" approaches when compared with the North American MIS tradition and they emphasise IS evolution, user-participation, alternative process models, seek varying and innovative theoretical foundations for IS and ISD, and apply dominantly anti-positivistic and action oriented research approaches.

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