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Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems

Editorial

The second issue of the 25th volume of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems features four research papers.

The paper by Sabine Matook, Fiona H. Rohde and Katharine Krell addresses illegitimate power, defined as the exercise of power outside legitimate or formal authority structures. In a quantitative study based on responses from 92 Australian IT managers the authors examine what influences an IT manager’s perceptions of whether illegitimate power is exerted in an IT project. Of the four factors studied (IT project complexity, IT project benefit creation ability, top management commitment, and formal project management), they find that the three first factors do actually influence the manager’s perceptions.

The paper by Marlies van Steenbergen, Rik Bos, Sjaak Brinkkemper, Inge van de Weerd and Willem Bekkers applies a design science approach to examine the suitability of a “focus area maturity model” which is an alternative to the traditional level- or stage-based maturity models, such as CMM. The proposed maturity model includes the development and not only the measurement aspect, and acknowledges that different parts of an IS function, while interdependent, may have different paces and stages of development. It is found that the model is well suited to support incremental improvement.

The paper by Fredrik Karlsson and Karin Hedström addresses the end user development approach to information systems development, and focuses on how well it supports requirements engineering practices. Deriving data from six case studies and employing the theoretical lens of boundary objects, the authors examine the dynamics of the functional and political ecologies involving systems developers and end users during the development process. The paper offers a rare evaluation of EUD and its applicability and usefulness in developing systems.

The paper by Taina Kaapu, Tarja Tiainen and Asko Ellman contributes to debates on how space and place are conceptualized, and the role they play in how users relate to technologies. The authors examine how users interpret virtual objects and show how the interpretation is shaped by the physical setting of the interaction. Specifically, the authors compare the interpretation of virtual prototypes of furniture when shown in a laboratory setting, where the users would focus more on technical features of the prototype, or in a fair, where the users’ main focus would shift to the product models.

We hope you find the research papers interesting, and we look forward to receiving your best papers with a view to publishing them in the Scandinavian IS community’s own journal – the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems.