A research manifesto for global information management

Abstract

A growing body of knowledge is being accumulated in the area of global information management (GIM). Research in this area has grown significantly in the 1990s. Not only are established IS journals publishing an increasing amount in this area but there are now specific journals devoted to the major issues in the development, use and management of global information systems. However, much of this research has been limited to isolated survey studies, or case studies into particular aspects of GIM. This has resulted in a rather disjointed and ad-hoc development of this literature that now needs some structure to further its development. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for research into GIM. It is intended to be a manifesto for research in this area and a challenge to researchers to consider studying a number of potentially productive sub-areas of GIM that the framework has identified as being unstudied or under studied. This research framework builds on the general IS framework of Ives, Hamilton and Davis (1980) and surveys the GIM published literature for the past 9 years. The application of this literature to the Ives, Hamilton, Davis framework indicates where much GIM research has been conducted and where further research needs to be done.