Bjoern Michalik

Towards Mindful Case Study Research in IS: A Critical Analysis of the Past Ten Years

Case study research (CSR) has gained strong acceptance in information systems (IS) research in the recent decades. This article examines how CSR has been used in IS research practice. Contrasting the currently used CSR approaches to methodological prescriptions can lead to recommendations for researchers applying this research strategy as well as to advances in the methodological literature. Our study design comprises two steps. First, we identified case studies published in six major IS journals from 2001 to 2010. Second, we critically examined CSR practices in the identified studies. We observed a dualism, as CSR currently consists of a positivist and an equally strong interpretive research stream. Case studies with other philosophical underpinnings were rarely found. We describe the CSR practice and contrast it to the methodological prescriptions. Thereby, we clearly point out the shortcomings, aiming to initiate a debate on how our community should further develop its use of CSR to become more mindful. This study is the first broad examination of CSR in IS (focusing on more than just the positivist research stream) and thus contributes to the methodological literature by providing recommendations for improvements.

Do Daily Scrums Have to Take Place Each Day? A Case Study of Customized Scrum Principles at an E-commerce Company

Agile development approaches, such as Scrum, continue to gain importance in todays world. Since previous research has predominantly treated development approaches as a black box, we answer the call for empirical research concerning adoption of agile methods. The studys aim is to assess the adoption or adaption of Scrum principles at an e-commerce company. The findings of our in-depth single case study reveal that not all Scrum principles are suitable in each context. By discussing the reasons for adopting or adapting the principles, we contribute to a deeper understanding of agile methods and help to open the black box of development approaches in information systems research. The in-depth insights gained at our case company provide practitioners a useful reference for adapting agile methods to their specific contexts.

Learning for life and/or work: The status quo of pre-vocational education in India, China, Germany and the USA

The role of pre-vocational education in general compulsory education has become increasingly relevant over recent years, with the international debate focussing particularly on its importance in school-to-work transitions. This study considers curriculum design and the implementation of pre-vocational education in four countries with radically different cultures: India, China, Germany and the USA. Using a theoretically framed concept of relevance to inform curriculum analysis, it compares the widely divergent content of curricula. In addition to this, interviews with teachers in all four countries flesh out how the curriculum is implemented in practice. The study, which is based on the ‘prescribed curriculum’ and ‘enacted curriculum’ approach, demonstrates that a range of factors means implementation varies widely from country to country but that teachers in all four countries focus in pre-vocational education on equipping students with life-skills.

How Knowledge Management Systems Support Organizational Knowledge Creation -- An In-depth Case Study

Having recognized knowledges relevance as a strategic resource and thus its importance for competitiveness, organizations aim at transforming individual knowledge into organizational knowledge to provide information for all types of technical and managerial decisions. Considering the four processes of organizational knowledge creation theory, we conduct a case study of one of the worldwide leading medium-sized consultancies in the field of supply chain management and procurement and analyze how organizational knowledge creation is supported by knowledge management (KM) systems. While identifying KM system features for each of the four knowledge-creating processes, we also highlight shortcomings of the KM system that should be addressed for efficient organizational knowledge creation. We thus advance the theoretical understanding in this research discipline and guide future system developments towards an ideal fit between information technology and the organization.

Coping with Requirements Uncertainty -- A Case Study of an Enterprise-Wide Record Management System

Enterprise systems development projects (ESDPs) often face requirements uncertainty (RU). Thus, it is essential that their project managers can cope with it. In order to gain insights into managing different RU situations, we conducted a longitudinal interpretive case study. We investigated the requirements analysis phase as well as subsequent phases of an ESDP in an international insurance company for 17 months. Thereby, we identified 42 RU situations and elaborately observed how practitioners coped with them. Based on these in-depth observations, we derive recommendations for applying requirements engineering techniques in RU situations. Thus, for researchers, we contribute to enterprise system and requirements engineering literature by making a first step towards a framework for coping with RU in ESDPs at a situational level. For practitioners, we elaborate on how and why certain techniques succeed or fail to reduce RU, thus helping them identify techniques most suited for certain situations.

Reducing Requirements Heterogeneity in Enterprise System Projects -- A Case Study of Harmonizing and Optimizing Business Processes

Requirements heterogeneity is a crucial problem in enterprise system (ES) projects. Organizational units working divergently (e.g., due to regional differences) are a root cause. To encounter this problem, we analyze how the application of an upstream business process harmonization and optimization (BPHO) reduces requirements heterogeneity in ES projects. We conducted an in-depth longitudinal case study at one of the worldwide leading providers of technical, safety, and certification services over a period of four years. Applying BPHO, the companys existing processes and roles were mapped on a small set of generic process steps and roles. Increased abstraction ability, willingness to change, and communication efficiency successfully reduced requirements heterogeneity. For researchers, we for the first time show BPHO reducing requirements heterogeneity in ES projects. Practitioners get first insights into how and why BPHO helps to reduce the heterogeneity of requirements and thus have a better basis for decisions about applying upstream BPHO.