Our earlier definition of the SIS domain as being responsible for the co-evolution of Social and Physical Technologies
based on Nelson’s theorising, and the discussion of CAS and Networks in the last section leads us to make the following four
propositions for the future of the SIS domain.
5.1. The SIS domain as a CAS for the co-evolution of Physical and Social Technologies
If we take a systems perspective then we can now argue that the SIS domain is itself a CAS: it has retained its integrity and
stability by adapting and evolving over time. Pressures or incentives for innovation are both internal and external. External
incentives include learning from innovations in other domains (as identified by Taylor et al., 2010) and responding to perturbations
and opportunities in the competitive landscape (e.g. economic downturns, liberalisation of global markets, the
appearance of disruptive technologies). Internal incentives arise from the evolutionary process within the domain: individual
organisations realise their own SIS by exploring and exploiting existing and emerging ICT capabilities to create new process-
and business models. Successful innovations may become prominent through a process of adaptation and diffusion in
the wider population, or in some cases due to a sustained first mover advantage, but their pre-eminence in the field only lasts
until they become displaced by newer Physical and Social Technologies. Whilst surveys of ‘‘best practice’’ or other popularity
measures may suggest the homogenous adoption of dominant models, the situation is a messier one, because the domain is
an open CAS and at the ground level contains the requisite variety of approaches, resources and capabilities for SIS implementation.
The coevolutionary process for Physical and Social Technologies at the level of individual organisations is also a
complex one as pointed out by Lyytinen and Newman (2008) and realised SIS is often very different from espoused SIS (Chan
et al., 1997a,b).
5.2. The network paradigm is an essential component of the future development of the SIS domain
5.2.1. Co-evolution of Physical and Social Technologies
At a fundamental level the assertion above follows from our definition of the domain: the emerging Physical Technologies
in the ICT domain are essentially technologies for integration of complex networks (Web 2.0, Cloud computing). Leveraging
the capabilities of these Physical Technologies and their future associated inventions necessitates an investment in co-evolving
Social Technologies and network forms of organising with suitable business models and governance and management
instruments for exploiting the Physical Technologies for utilising distributed resources and capabilities.
5.2.2. Wider strategic imperatives
This challenge for SIS is acknowledged in the current IS literature, for example in recent publications on digital infrastructures
and platform evolution (Tilson et al., 2010 Tiwana et al., 2010). The development of Social Technologies to exploit the
network capabilities of ICTs is not confined to the IS field – the mainstream Strategy, Organisation Science and Economics
literature has been engaged with the development of network business models, network forms of organisation and nonequilibrium
dynamics of economic and social systems since the 1990s (e.g. Ahuja, 2000; Anderson, 1999; Anderson et al.,
1988; Arthur et al., 1997; Axelrod and Cohen, 1999; Burt, 1992, 1997; Castells, 1996; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1990; Granovetter,
1973, 1985; Powell et al., 1996; Saxanian, 1990; Wasserman and Faust, 1994). The advent of the internet and associated
136 Y. Merali et al. / Journal of Strategic Information Systems 21 (2012) 125–153
technologies and more recently the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media capabilities have been paralleled with concerted
efforts by physicists and mathematicians to understand the properties of complex networks at all scales in order to explain
the dynamics of competition and the behaviour of markets, and the evolution and influence social networks (Castellano et al.,
2009; Newman et al., 2006; Albert and Barabassi, 2000; Albert et al., 2000).
5.3. Access to a science of networks is essential for future SIS
The complexity of the multi-dimensional, multi-level SIS alignment is already a prominent topic in the extant SIS literature
as discussed earlier. As the ubiquity and absorption IT-enabled products, services and experiences expand, the scope of
SIS research will extend to have systemic relevance for the whole of the management field. We believe that the potential
exists for SIS to be a dominant force in the strategic management field because of its expertise in systems and information.
Whilst the current discourse on the need for a paradigm shift has focused largely on the impact of IT we believe that the
future identity of SIS research will evolve around the field’s expertise in understanding systemic phenomena and the information
dynamics and representations in multi-media cyber-social contexts.
The SIS literature discussed in the last section has already raised the issues of unpredictability and turbulence
associated with the non-linear dynamics of network systems. The properties of IT-enabled business networks have profound
implications for the performance of business and economy at local and global dimensions as evidenced by the
recent financial crisis. Managing issues of sustainability, robustness and resilience of IT-enabled global systems
requires an understanding of network structures and the relationship between structure and dynamics. Complexity Science
offers a set of concepts and modelling approaches to enable the analysis of the relationship between network
structure and dynamics, and to experiment in silico with the implementation and consequences of interventions and
strategies in dynamic networks of social and technological components (e.g. using Agent-based Modelling).
Whilst the use of Complexity Science concepts in current SIS research have been largely for descriptive purposes,
complexity science offers resources that can be exploited by the SIS community to move to a more analytical stance. This
transition is already happening in the wider IS and organisational science communities as evidenced by the papers in special
issues of Organisation Science and IS journals on Complexity Science.4
5.4. Adoption of complexity science as an articulation device across disciplines
Connections with Organisation Science and Strategic Management are well established in the SIS domain, and scholars
have used structures and concepts from the natural sciences (e.g. ecologies, adoption, selection, evolution, punctuated
equilibrium) to explore and explain phenomena related to IT-related change. As highlighted above, scholars in
these fields are also engaging explicitly with Complexity Science and network dynamics. We propose Complexity Science
as a suitable lens for articulating multidisciplinary research and dealing with the future challenges in a coherent
manner.
- Conclusion
In relation to the SIS trajectory the present represents a potential keystone moment between the past and the future. The
emerging digitally connected socio-economic context is intricately interwoven with the exploitation of IT capabilities.
The emerging literature on the future of SIS research advocates a paradigm shift in research and practice to deal with the
increased turbulence, uncertainty and dynamism in the competitive landscape.
Looking to future we believe the major challenge for the field will continue to be one of dealing with complexity of
dynamic, networked, technical, social, political and economic contexts as summarised in the final column of Table 1. We
anticipate that the mastery of network thinking will be a core intellectual capability in the next decade.
We agree with the SIS scholars reviewed that the SIS paradigm for the future needs to address the emerging
dynamic competitive context. However we argue that because the SIS domain is itself a CAS, this need can be
accommodated smoothly within the trajectory of SIS, building on the extant diversity of the field and its adaptive
capacity.
A key contribution from our analysis lies in using Nelson’s theorisation to propose network science and network thinking as
an essential paradigm for the future evolution of the SIS domain, to enable the co-evolution of the requisite Social Technologies to
shape and leverage the emerging network ICT capabilities.
We have argued for the utilisation of complexity science concepts to frame the future SIS research in terms of the
development of the field. On the wider canvass, Complexity Science provides a powerful locus for engagement in
trans-disciplinary research. This represents a strategic opportunity for the field: the intricate interweaving of IT and IS
in business and society provides SIS researchers with the opportunity to occupy centre stage in the wider field of
Strategic Management.
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