Abstract

This paper takes an historical perspective and looks at the changes in the departmental home for the study of information systems from 1983 through 1995. The proportion of IS faculty located in autonomous IS departments decreased from 1983 to 1995. There was no significant change in the proportion of IS faculty in computer science and engineering departments while the proportion with management sciences and related fields increased from 1983 to 1989 but decreased slightly in the 1990s. There were significant increases in the proportion of IS faculty housed in primary value chain (management, marketing, operations), interdisciplinary, and finance departments and a significant decrease in accounting departments from 1983 to 1995. Departmental structure, therefore, did not reflect the establishment of IS as a fundamental theoretical discipline distinct from its reference disciplines. Changes in departmental structure did parallel the evolution of information systems use in business as the focus of information systems applications shifted from support to primary activities.

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