ABSTRACT:The paper motivates, presents, demonstrates in use, and evaluates a methodology for conducting design science (DS) research in information systems. DS is of importance in a discipline oriented to the creation of successful artifacts. Several IS researchers have pioneered DS research in IS, yet over the last 15 years little DS research has been done within the discipline. The lack of a methodology to serve as a commonly accepted framework for DS research and of a template for its presentation may have contributed to its slow adoption. The design science research methodology (DSRM) presented here incorporates principles, practices, and procedures required to carry out such research and meets three objectives: it is consistent with prior literature, it provides a nominal process model for doing DS research, and it provides a mental model for presenting and evaluating DS research in IS. The DS process includes six steps: problem identification and motivation, definition of the objectives for a solution, design and development, demonstration, evaluation, and communication. We demonstrate and evaluate the methodology by presenting four case studies in terms of the DSRM, including cases that present the design of a database to support health assessment methods, a software reuse measure, an Internet video telephony application, and an IS planning method. The designed methodology effectively satisfies the three objectives and has the potential to help aid the acceptance of DS research in the IS discipline. KEYWORDS AND PHRASES:Design science, design science research, design theory, methodology, mental model, process model, case study. IntroductionInformation systems is an applied research discipline, in the sense that we frequently apply theory from other disciplines, such as economics, computer science, and the social sciences, to solve problems at the intersection of IT and organizations. However, the dominant research paradigms that we use to produce and publish research for our most respected research outlets largely continue to be those of traditional descriptive research borrowed from the social and natural sciences. We have recently accepted the use of interpretive research paradigms, but the resulting research output is still mostly explanatory and, it could be argued, not often applicable to the solution of problems encountered in research and practice. While design, the act of creating an explicitly applicable solution to a problem, is an accepted research paradigm in other disciplines, such as engineering, it has been employed in just a small minority of research papers published in our own best journals to produce artifacts that are applicable to research or practice.Without a strong component that produces explicitly applicable research solutions, IS research faces the potential of losing influence over research streams for which such applicability is an important value. For example, we wonder whether the preference for theory building and testing research may help to explain why the center of gravi...

Determining whether investments in information technology (IT) have an impact on firm performance has been and continues to be a major problem for information systems researchers and practitioners. Financial theory suggests that managers should make investment decisions that maximize the value of the firm. Using event-study methodology, we provide empirical evidence on the effect of announcements of IT investments on the market value of the firm for a sample of 97 IT investments from the finance and manufacturing industries from 1981 to 1988. Over the announcement period, we find no excess returns for either the full sample or for any one of the industry subsamples. However, cross-sectional analysis reveals that the market reacts differently to announcements of innovative IT investments than to followup, or noninnovative investments in IT. Innovative IT investments increase firm value, while noninnovative investments do not. Furthermore, the market's reaction to announcements of innovative and noninnovative IT investments is independent of industry classification. These results indicate that, on average, IT investments are zero net present value (NPV) investments; they are worth as much as they cost. Innovative IT investments, however, increase the value of the firm.

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We propose the definition of genres in IS design science research (DSR). In recent years DSR has become a well-accepted research paradigm within IS; however, now the diversity of purpose, methodology, and mental models has increased to a point where reviewers and editors are unsure about which standards to apply to particular research submissions. For some researchers an artefact of value is a system or system component, while for others artefacts ought to be theories or theory components. Such differences are hard to reconcile and researchers often face criticism from diverse corners of the paradigm, where beliefs and standards are very different. We observed this diversity of views among authors, editors, and reviewers while editing this special issue. The problem continues to the current day. A solution may lie in defining genres of IS DSR, each with its model for DSR processes and outcomes. We define five prototype genres, based on selected articles, along with their typical characteristics, standards, and values. Several articles in this special issue typify various potential genres. The recognition of mutually respectful DSR genres may improve researchers' ability to publish in the highest tier IS journals, as colleagues, reviewers, and editors recognize and respect genre differences.

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