Enid Mumford: a tribute

Abstract

In this edited article, we look at the many contributions of Enid Mumford: as a worker, teacher, colleague, researcher, but most of all as a human being, written by those who have been influenced by her, many of whom knowing her personally.Andrew Pettigrew first encountered Enid as an undergraduate, later becoming her first Research Fellow and then Enid supervised his PhD. His tribute introduces us to both her work and humanity. Frank Land is often associated with the work of Enid and in his tribute he discusses the roots of Enid's views in socio-technical design, her influence on the National Computing Centre and through her many roles in practice where she acted as facilitator for humanistic as well as successful change using technology. Michael Earl first met Enid as a lecturer at Manchester Business School in 1974. His contribution recognizes her special personal qualities as a teacher as well as her impact on practice. Like many authors of this paper, Gordon Davis will be well known to readers and it says much for Enid's standing in the field that he writes of her impact on himself and his understanding of information systems (IS) and IS research. In his article, Niels Bjørn-Andersen refers to Enid as the 'Florence Nightingale' of IT and he suggests that 'no other researcher has contributed so much towards influencing the practice of systems design in the direction of giving higher priority to humanistic values and democratization'. This very worthy achievement of Enid is also highlighted by other writers in this article. Trevor Wood-Harper and Bob Wood suggest that Enid, like Frank Sinatra, did it 'my way', but perhaps unlike Frank Sinatra, Enid's way is also a humanistic way to the future. They provide a useful overview of Enid's contribution to the literature. Bob Galliers refers to Enid's vision as well as her humanity, suggesting that her vision was much broader than most, much more heroic. For her, IS had to speak of societal problems as well as organizational and technical ones. David Avison describes how Enid changed his life and reflects on how her friendliness, openness and kindness that she showed in personal relationships are evidenced in her work that remains with us. Heinz K. Klein suggests that Enid was a leader in the 'informal college' of paradigm change and advocates her as a role model for junior faculty. Indeed he shows us how as a junior member of faculty at the time he learnt 'three lessons' from Enid. Rudy Hirschheim reflects on Enid as both a mentor and a colleague, telling us the story of the 'Amazing D Avison et al. 344Mumford'. Guy Fitzgerald tells us how Enid charmed even the most hard-nosed practitioners and opened their minds, and suggests that she will not only be greatly missed but also prove irreplaceable. Marco de Marco looks especially at development post Mumford and suggests that the design ideas emerging from actor-network theory, such as cultivation, are unlikely to have been developed, were it not for Mumford's fundamental work. Jaana Porra makes a call inspired by Enid...

The Sociomaterialty of Information Systems: Current Status, Future Directions

“…The work of Enid Mumford (see Avison et al 2006), an affiliate of the Tavistock Institute, was particularly influential in advancing principles for designing information systems that improve the general conditions of work (quality of work life and job satisfaction) while at the same time increasing workplace performance: "making the best use of people, and the best use of technology" (Mumford 1983, p. 10; see also Mumford 2003Mumford , 2006. More broadly, the contribution of the sociotechnical systems approach is important as it explicitly addressed the complex issues of intertwining the technical aspects of IS and human and social aspects of work organizations.…”

The IS History Initiative: Looking Forward by Looking Back

“…There have been many pioneers and influential figures who played a significant role in establishing and continuing the IS field's development. Several of these pioneers have been featured in previous IS history efforts, such as Enid Mumford (Avison, Bjørn-Andersen, Land, & Sørensen, 2006;Land, 2010; and Gordon Davis (Benbasat, Ives, Naumann, & Sambamurthy, 2005;Davis, 2005;Ives, Olson, & Weber, 2005). As a start and based on the guiding principles in Section III and logistical feasibility, I have focused on several pioneers' careers in the IS field by arranging interviews with them.…”

Editorial

“…Along with Dubravka and Carole, he worked very hard to put together this exciting and important special issue despite obvious discomfort. Heinz also contributed several outstanding papers for the Information Systems Journal including Avison et al. (2006), Iivarii et al.…”