A Personal Perspective on a Conceptual Foundation for Information Systems

Authors

Richard T. Watson, University of GeorgiaFollow

Abstract

In this paper, I propose a conceptual foundation for information systems based on three propositions:

P1: Information systems improve an entity’s ability to attain its goals

P2: Information systems improve the ability of entities to cooperate on shared goals

P3: Information systems transform entities in intended and unintended ways.

I apply an evolutionary-historical analysis, a variation of historical analysis, to the emergence of humans’ major information processing capabilities to trace the development of information systems to establish the propositions. I identify some research questions directly arising from the three propositions and advance a case that these propositions are potentially a sufficient conceptual foundation for IS research.

Recommended Citation

Watson, Richard T. (2014) "A Personal Perspective on a Conceptual Foundation for Information Systems," Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15(8), .
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00368
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol15/iss8/1

DOI

10.17705/1jais.00368