Future IS Research in Net-enabled Organizations

摘要

This essay explores the interplay of network technology and the stakeholder viewpoint to argue that the information systems (IS) discipline is now in its third era of networking, and rapidly moving toward a fourth era. The first era, sans significant networks, concentrated on increasing employee productivity. The introduction of private networks ushered in a second era and brought in interorganizational systems that permitted interaction between and among businesses and governments. The third era is built on public networks, which enable firms to interact electronically with individual customers and investors, and to interact in new ways with governments. The fourth era, yet to arrive, will be built on high functionality, mobile devices that support real-time access and stakeholder locatability. Each era results in an order of magnitude increase in the potential impact of information systems on organizational performance because it can address the objectives of one or more additional groups of stakeholders.rnNet-enabled organizations (NEOs) are the key evolutionary development of the third era. These organizations require insights into how to organize, architect, and implement the entire range of their electronic connections in the next several decades, and IS researchers are uniquely positioned to deliver on this vision.