Making Sense of Mobile Applications ) A Critical Note to Recent Approaches to Their Taxonomy and Classification

Applications of Mobile Technology in business in the current environment are characterised by a critical reliance on a diversity of highly complex and often competing technology infrastructures and architectures. Classification models are often very descriptive and orient themselves more on the overt attributes than on the underlying qualities. Recent models, however, apply a wider set of concepts in an attempt to establish basic concepts. It is argued that the special character of mobile applications, their fluid environment and equally changeable technology foundations make qualitative research approaches more appropriate. A combination of Grounded Theory and Action Research met5hods is recommended for future research and a nascent research project with the objective of establishing fundamental conceptual frameworks for mobile applications is outlined. Hans Lehmann, Franz Lehner