Action research and design science, Newton and Darwin, and why IS researchers should try HARDS with Big Tech

Abstract

Those of us who do research in the field of IS, and who are in schools of business, are commonly faced with rather dim view of the field, figuratively speaking: finance is royalty, accounting is nobility, and the rest (including IS) proudly occupy the house of commons. A major point that is made in this paper is that this can change if IS researchers employ a holistic action research and design science (HARDS) approach, in a way that draws inspiration from the academic trajectories of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. It is also argued that IS researchers can particularly benefit from employing HARDS by building closer ties with big technology companies.