Quantitative and qualitative approaches to information systems evaluation

Information systems (IS) research has enfranchised established disciplines such as computer science, operational research, organizational behavior and management. Unfortunately, however, it has not been able to establish itself as a discipline in its own right, even though it is regarded as valid applied research and being a proponent to business process change. Nonetheless, its teaching and research have continued relentless as an independent study area from its origins at the University of Minnesotta, which in 1968 launched the first Information Systems academic programme and research centre (Nolan and Wetherbe, 1980). Such teaching programmes and research centers are now burgeoning worldwide even though in recent years interest has leveled our following the .com era. The adoption of information technology (IT) and IS offer many organisations the opportunity to reap a wide variety of strategic, tactical and operational benefits. Many of these benefits are suitable for inclusion within traditional accountancy frameworks however it is the intangible and non-financial benefits, together with the indirect project costs that often complicate the justification process. As a result, many companies are finding themselves unable to assess the full implications of their investments in new technology thus, amounting to an appraisal process limited to the analysis of those benefits and costs financially quantifiable. Despite enormous investments in IS infrastructures, organizations have not al-