(Apologies for cross-postings of this announcement.)

 

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CALL FOR PAPERS

 

29th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2021)

 

Track: Rethinking IS Strategy and Governance in the Digital Age

 

June 14-16, 2021, Marrakech, Morocco (https://www.ecis2021.com/tracks-description)

 

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TRACK CHAIRS

 

Ulrich Remus, University of Innsbruck, Austria, ulrich.remus@uibk.ac.at (corresponding track chair)

Nils Urbach, Frankfurt UAS & Fraunhofer FIT, Germany, nils.urbach@fim-rc.de

Martin Wiener, TU Dresden, Germany, martin.wiener@tu-dresden.de

 

 

DESCRIPTION

 

In the digital age, innovative technologies influence and change established work processes, products, services, and business models by connecting individuals, organizations, machines, and other ‘things’ in new ways, as well as by enabling novel working, collaboration, and automation models (Fitzgerald et al. 2014). To succeed in this highly competitive and dynamic environment, organizations must unfold the potential of advanced digital technologies in their business strategies, transform their work routines, processes and structures, rethink their business models, as well as manage and govern IT infrastructures that are central to their value propositions (Legner et al. 2017). In short, pervasive digitalization has increased the importance of information technology (IT) and transformed the demands placed on organizations in general, and IT functions in particular. Besides ensuring regular IT operations, IT functions are increasingly required to proactively identify technological innovations and to rapidly transfer them into marketable solutions – and with that to directly contribute to their organization’s value proposition (Urbach et al. 2017).

 

In this context, IS strategizing and governance represent key activities for the effective deployment of IT resources and ultimately for value creation through IT. The emergence of new digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence [AI], big-data analytics, blockchain, cloud computing) and infrastructures (e.g., digital platforms and ecosystems), novel value-creation processes and work practices (e.g., IT consumerization, human-robot collaboration, resource sharing) along with the availability of unprecedented data volumes challenge existing conceptualizations and theories related to IS strategy and governance (Markus 2017; Newell & Marabelli 2015). For instance, while cloud services may make the IT artefact seemingly disappear, the challenge of governing the design and use of such services and associated IT resources has become even more acute (Schneider & Sunyaev 2016). Digital business models and gig economy platforms that revolve around resource sharing and/or complex product-service offerings not only challenge organizational boundaries, but also established ideas about ownership of resources, tasks, and outputs (Schor 2014). Similarly, while AI-based algorithms can automate business processes, they also highlight the need for data and process governance (Tarafdar et al. 2017). At the same time, in organizations where more ‘traditional’ technologies and work arrangements are still dominant, IS strategy and governance challenges remain highly complex and important (Wiener et al. 2016).

 

The objectives of the proposed track are two-fold. First, from a scholarly research perspective, the objective is to foster and promote novel concepts and theories on IS strategy and governance, with a particular focus on the manifold opportunities and challenges associated with the pervasive digitalization of business and society. Second, the track aims at offering insights that enable IS practitioners to leverage emerging digital technologies, to respond to digitalization challenges, and ultimately, to make effective use of available IT resources.

 

The track is open to all types of contributions—including research in progress—studying IS strategy and governance topics from different stakeholder perspectives, in different contexts and settings (e.g., for-profits and non-profits), at different levels of analysis (e.g., individual, project, program, organizational, network, ecosystem, and societal level), and with different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches (e.g., conceptual, design-oriented, and empirical studies). We particularly welcome studies that address the conference theme “Human Values Crisis in a Digitizing World” by discussing and expanding our understanding of how digital technologies (e.g., those used for control or governance purposes) and human values influence each other and sometimes conflict, whether at the individual, the organizational and/or the societal level.

 

 

TOPICS OF INTEREST

 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Digital strategizing and strategy implementation (e.g., link to overall business strategy, development of digital capabilities, sustainability of digital strategies, translation of strategic objectives into governance practices and structures)

• Strategic impact of emerging digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, blockchain, big-data analytics, cloud computing) on business models, governance structures, and processes, etc.

• Governance of digital transformation and innovation processes (e.g., new governance models for complex organizations, such as companies operating with coexisting ‘brick and mortar’ and digital business models)

• Changing role of CIO function & New role of CDO function (e.g., ‘digital race’ between CIO and CDO, structure and nature of business-IT relationships)

• Data-driven leadership and control approaches (e.g., algorithmic management of work processes, technology-mediated control)

• Governance of digital value-creation processes and networks (e.g., digital platforms and ecosystems, Industry 4.0 and cyber-physical systems, IT consumerization, IT-enabled product-service systems, resource sharing, etc.)

• Governance of novel work practices (e.g., agile software development, human-robot interaction and collaboration) and sourcing models (e.g., crowdsourcing, multi-sourcing, open-sourcing, and back-sourcing)

• Information security governance (e.g., cybersecurity frameworks, standards, and policies for critical infrastructures)

• Dark side of digital strategies/governance, including ethical issues as well as undesired ecological, economic, and socio-emotional side-effects (e.g., technostress)

• Critical reflections on IS strategy and governance in the digital age (e.g., truly ‘new’ features and challenges of digitalization, links to traditional research streams)

• Novel theoretical perspectives and research approaches that broaden, or challenge, our understanding of IS strategy and governance in the digital age

 

 

REFERENCES

 

• Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D., & Welch, M. (2014) “Embracing Digital Technology: A New Strategic Imperative,” MIT Sloan Management Review, 55(2), 1-12.

• Legner, C., Eymann, T., Hess, T., Matt, C., Böhmann, T., Drews, P., Maedche, A., Urbach, N., & Ahlemann F. (2017) “Digitalization: Opportunity and Challenge for the Business and Information Systems Engineering Community,” Business & Information Systems Engineering, 59(4), 301-308.

• Markus, M. L. (2017) “Datification, Organizational Strategy, and IS Research: What’s the Score?” Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 26(3), 233-241.

• Newell, S., & Marabelli, M. (2015) "Strategic Opportunities (and Challenges) of Algorithmic Decision-Making: A Call for Action on the Long-Term Societal Effects of ‘Datification’,” Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 24(1), 3-14.

• Schneider, S., & Sunyaev, A. (2016) “Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing,” Journal of Information Technology, 31(1), 1-31.

• Schor, J. (2014) “Debating the Sharing Economy,” Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics, 4(3), 1-13.

• Tarafdar, M., Beath, C., & Ross, J. (2017) “Enterprise Cognitive Computing Applications: Opportunities and Challenges,” IT Professional, 19(4), 2-8.

• Urbach, N., Drews, P., & Ross, J. (2017) “Digital Business Transformation and the Changing Role of the IT Function,” MIS Quarterly Executive, 16(2), ii-iv.

• Wiener, M., Mähring, M., Remus, U., & Saunders, C. (2016) “Control Configuration and Control Enactment in Information Systems Projects: Review and Expanded Theoretical Framework,” MIS Quarterly, 40(3), 741-774.

 

 

IMPORTANT DATES

 

Paper submission deadline: 18 November 2020

Notification of conditional acceptance: 03 March 2021

Final acceptance: 23 April 2021

 

 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

 

Frederik Ahlemann, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Daniel Beimborn, University of Bamberg, Germany

Edward W. N. Bernroider, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria   

Arne Buchwald, EBS Business School, Germany

Bendik Bygstad, University of Oslo, Norway

Suranjan Chakraborty, Towson University, USA

Alec W. Cram, Bentley University, USA

Andreas Drechsler, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Paul Drews, University of Lüneburg, Germany

Stefan   Henningsson, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Thomas Huber,  ESSEC Business School, France

Robert Keller, University of Bayreuth, Germany

Magnus Mähring, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden

Jeffrey Proudfoot, Bentley University, USA

Harminder Singh, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Susanne Strahringer, TU Dresden, Germany

Till Winkler, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Ruilin Zhu, Lancaster University, UK

Angelika Zimmermann, Loughborough University, UK

 

 

Thank you for your interest in rethinking IS strategy and governance in the digital age. We are looking forward to your contributions and seeing you (hopefully physically) in Marrakech!