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Why Can't We Practice What We Teach?. Ralph Westfall Cal Poly, Pomona rdwestfall@csupomona.edu www.csupomona.edu/~rdwestfall/metenemy.ppt. Do as We Say. we teach just in time, rapid response, time to market context: "Internet time," machines with clock cycles in billionths of a second
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Why Can't We Practice What We Teach? Ralph Westfall Cal Poly, Pomona rdwestfall@csupomona.edu www.csupomona.edu/~rdwestfall/metenemy.ppt
Do as We Say ... • we teach • just in time, rapid response, time to market • context: "Internet time," machines with clock cycles in billionths of a second • adaptation, flexibility, mass customization • knowledge management • innovation, diffusion of of new technologies • importance of technical competence
Not as We Do • however, our field is characterized by • slow research publishing cycles • institutional disincentives to adaptation to needs of our constituents • ever hear of people not getting tenure due to out-of-date IT technological skills? • poor dissemination of research findings • intellectual access: stylistic problems • physical access: not much available online
"We Have Met The Enemy ..." • "And He Is Us" Pogo Possum
Indicators of the Problem • 1999 "flame war" on ISWorld, initiated by a call for papers on Redefining the Organizational Roles of Information Technology in the Information Age, to be published in two years • spirited discussion in 2001 on similar issues
Westfall Responses to Issues • An IS Research Relevance Manifesto (CAIS, 1999) • Dare to Be Relevant (CAIS, 2001) • project: HTML code generator to help IS researchers set up web sites to make their research more accessible to organizations and the general public • Vote With Your Feet paper (in progress)
IS Research Relevance Manifesto • 1999 paper in CAIS • ranked #34 in a recent survey of "Exemplary Works on Information Systems Research" • main point of article was that, given our strengths and weaknesses vis a vis competitors, we should focus on areas where we realistically can make a viable contribution
Relevance Manifesto - 2 • IS faculty competitive advantage areas • issues contrary to commercial interests • unsolved problems • issues economically unattractive to commercial researchers • issues where management aspects are more important than technical aspects • research on teaching IS
Dare to Be Relevant • 2001 paper in CAIS • sellers market for IS academics provides opportunities to influence institutional systems toward greater recognition of relevant research • the Internet makes it much easier to disseminate IS research to external audiences, so that our stature is not just based on recognition in academia
IS Research Web Site Generator • commented exemplar • FAQs • current model (under development)
Vote With Your Feet for IS Publishing Reform • paper under development • PowerPoint summary presentation