Special issue on the Kleinian approach to information system research – foreword

European Journal of Information Systems (2011) 20, 418–421. doi:10.1057/ejis.2011.15; published online 19 April 2011 This special issue of European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS) is dedicated to the memory of Heinz K. Klein who died in June 2008. We surmise that one of the best ways to remember him as a scholar is to collect and publish high quality papers that define, redefine or deconstruct what we call a ‘Kleinian view of information systems’. This viewpoint is epitomized in his work (as explained below) along with that of many of his colleagues. The idea for this special issue originated during a seminar held in Spring 2008 to honor Heinz’s legacy shortly before his passing away. The senior editors of this special issue were Rudy Hirschheim, Kalle Lyytinen and Michael D. Myers who proposed this to EJIS editors. The call for papers was sent out in the first half of 2009 and the deadline for submission was 1 February 2010. Overall, a total of 10 manuscripts were submitted in time. Of these, four made it through two or more review cycles and were included in this Special Issue. Before we describe the articles in this issue, we will first explain our view of Heinz Klein as an Information Systems (IS) scholar and our rationale for publishing a special issue on the ‘Kleinian Approach’ to information system research.

[1]  Richard Baskerville,et al.  Growing systems in emergent organizations , 1999, CACM.

[2]  Michael D. Myers,et al.  A Set of Principles for Conducting Critical Research in Information Systems , 2011, MIS Q..

[3]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  Realizing Emancipatory Principles in Information Systems Development: The Case for ETHICS , 1994, MIS Q..

[4]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  The structure of the IS discipline reconsidered: Implications and reflections from a community of practice perspective , 2008, Inf. Organ..

[5]  Kalle Lyytinen,et al.  THE POVERTY OF SCIENTISM IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS , 2000 .

[6]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  A Dynamic Framework for Classifying Information Systems Development Methodologies and Approaches , 2000, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[7]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  Fundamental issues of decision support systems: A consequentialist perspective , 1985, Decis. Support Syst..

[8]  R. Keat.  The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas , 1980 .

[9]  Michael D. Myers,et al.  A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems , 1999, MIS Q..

[10]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  Four paradigms of information systems development , 1989, CACM.

[11]  Peter Aiken,et al.  Information systems development and data modeling: Conceptual and philosophical foundations , 1997 .

[12]  Minh Q. Huynh,et al.  The critical social theory of Jürgen Habermas and its implications for IS research , 2004 .

[13]  Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic,et al.  Exploring the critical agenda in information systems research , 2008 .