New Inquiring Systems as Kernel Theories for Knowledge Management: The Case of the Sense Man System

This paper details a conceptual extension of inquiring systems to help in environments of high complexity and uncertainty that is based on the concept of sense making. The conceptual inquiring system was then used as a kernel theory to guide the design of a knowledge management system designed to assist a local government agency with knowledge management issues in a complex, uncertain software environment. Both the conceptual system and the knowledge management system are discussed as well as an evaluation of the systems efficacy in promoting sense making in the organization.

[1]  Andrea Carugati.  Information system development activities and inquiring systems: an integrating framework , 2008, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[2]  Lascelles Adams,et al.  Churchman's Inquiring Systems: Kernel Theories for Knowledge Management , 2007, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[3]  K. WeiK..  The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster , 2009, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[4]  Richard Baskerville,et al.  Special issue on action research in information systems: making is research relevant to practice--foreword , 2004 .

[5]  Neil C. Ramiller,et al.  The Organizing Vision in Information Systems Innovation , 1997 .

[6]  Yogesh Malhotra,et al.  Expert systems for knowledge management: crossing the chasm between information processing and sense making , 2001, Expert Syst. Appl..

[7]  James F. Courtney,et al.  Theoretical principles for knowledge management system design: Application to pediatric bipolar disorder , 2006, Decis. Support Syst..

[8]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Editor’s comments: rigor and relevance in is research: redefining the debate and a call for future research , 2011 .

[9]  K. Weick,et al.  Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking , 2005 .

[10]  C. Churchman,et al.  The design of inquiring systems: basic concepts of systems and organization , 1971 .

[11]  James L. Parrish,et al.  Electronic Records Management in Local Government Agencies: The Case of the Clerk of Courts Office in Lake County Florida , 2007, Inf. Syst. Manag..

[12]  James L. Parrish,et al.  Churchman's inquirers as design templates for knowledge management systems , 2009, CACM.

[13]  K. Weick.  FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[14]  S. Maitlis.  The Social Processes of Organizational Sensemaking. , 2005 .

[15]  J. Sheffield,et al.  Critical heuristics: a contribution to addressing the vexed question of so-called knowledge management , 2008 .

[16]  B. Boyd,et al.  Executive Scanning and Perceived Uncertainty: A Multidimensional Model , 1996 .

[17]  Bruce G. Buchanan,et al.  On the Design of Inductive Systems: Some Philosophical Problems , 1969, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

[18]  G. Ferro-Luzzi.  On Evolutionary Epistemology , 1982, Current Anthropology.

[19]  Dennis A. Gioia,et al.  Strategic sensemaking and organizational performance: linkages among scanning, interpretation, action, and outcomes. , 1993, Academy of Management journal. Academy of Management.

[20]  Donde P. Ashmos,et al.  Team sense-making: A mental model for navigating uncharted territories , 2003 .

[21]  Y. Malhotra.  Why Knowledge Management Systems Fail: Enablers and Constraints of Knowledge Management in Human Enterprises , 2004 .