Professors Nick Berente from the University of Notre Dame and Jan Recker from the University of Hamburg talk about current and persistent topics in information systems research, a field that explores how digital technologies change business and society.
You can find papers and other materials we discuss in each episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
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Some academics go into the office every day; some are rarely ever seen on campus. Is one way better than the other? Who better to ask than the brilliant Ella Hafermalz who spent her career on the topic of remote work and its implications for belonging, community, collaboration, and performance. She points out that academia has always been a distributed and flexible profession. Researchers need flexibility and freedom to figure out their own best way of solving problems and doing their work, some of which may mean sitting at a desk, but maybe also involve lab or field work. On the other hand, pure freedom for individual academics makes a university nothing more than a collection of hired guns without a true community. How do we find the best balance and what is a good balance to begin with? Episode reading list Chang, S. (2025): China's unemployed young adults who are pretending to have jobs. BBC News, 11 August 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdd3ep76g3go. Hafermalz, E., & Riemer, K. (2021). Productive and Connected While Working from Home: What Client-facing Remote Workers can Learn from Telenurses about 'Belonging Through Technology'. European Journal of Information Systems, 30(1), 89-99. Huysman, M. (2025). Studying AI in the Wild: Reflections from the AI@Work Research Group. Journal of Management Studies, https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.70021. The Professor and the Madman. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5932728/. Hafermalz, E. (2021). Out of the Panopticon and into Exile: Visibility and Control in Distributed New Culture Organizations. Organization Studies, 42(5), 697–717. Rovelli, C. (2022). Helgoland: The Strange and Beautiful Story of Quantum Physics. Penguin Books. Carroll, S. (2019). Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime. Dutton. Sting, F. J., Tarakci, M., & Recker, J. (2024). Performance Implications of Digital Disruption in Strategic Competition. MIS Quarterly, 48(3), 1263-1278. Archive.org: Philosophy 185 Heidegger: Lectures from the course Philosophy 185 Heidegger by Hubert Dreyfus. https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/philosophy185heidegger. Baudrillard, J. (1981). Simulacra and Simulation. University of Michigan Press. Retkowsky, J., Hafermalz, E., & Huysman, M. (2024). Managing a ChatGPT-empowered Workforce: Understanding its Affordances and Side Effects. Business Horizons, 67(5), 511-523. Haubrich, G. F., Soekijad, M., & Hafermalz, E. (2025). 'What's Up with Work?'Bringing Screens into a Theory of Hybrid Working Situations. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.10670abstract. Tekeste, M. (2025). Under Pressure: Becoming the Good Enough Academic. Organization, https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084251383285. LinkedIn Community: The Digital Visibility Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13346086/.
When you watch Tik Tok, your maturity in the academic enterprise is zero
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 • Duration 37:44
A key problem in empirically oriented research, especially inductive and abductive work, is figuring out which theoretical lens or scaffold to apply to uncover novel insights. In other words, which theory should you use? We discuss a few heuristics scholars can draw on to reach a higher level of scholarly maturity, namely disposition, empirical salience, outcome definition, skepticism, and reflexivity. Episode reading list Recker, J. (2021). Scientific Research in Information Systems: A Beginner's Guide (2nd ed.). Springer. Quine, W. V. O. (1961). Two Dogmas of Empiricism. In W. V. O. Quine (Ed.), From a Logical Point of View (pp. 20-46). Cambridge University Press. Duhem, P. (1998). Physical Theory and Experiment. In M. Curd & J. A. Cover (Eds.), Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues (pp. 257-279). Norton. Popper, K. R. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Basic Books. Glikson, E., & Woolley, A. W. (2020). Human Trust in Artificial Intelligence: Review of Empirical Research. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 627-660. Recker, J., Zeiss, R., & Mueller, M. (2024). iRepair or I Repair? A Dialectical Process Analysis of Control Enactment on the iPhone Repair Aftermarket. MIS Quarterly, 48(1), 321-346. Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press. Kerr, N. L. (1998). HARKing: Hypothesizing After the Results are Known. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(3), 196-217. Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Howison, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2024). Discursive Modulation in Open Source Software: How Communities Shape Novelty and Complexity. MIS Quarterly, 48(4), 1395-1422. Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating Interdependencies in Online Communities: A Study of an Open Source Software Project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772. Chandar, B. (2025): AI and Labor Markets: What We Know and Don't Know. https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/news/ai-and-labor-markets-what-we-know-and-dont-know/.
Ask us anything – Part one
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 • Duration 39:57
We have an anniversary to celebrate: one hundred episodes of the This IS Research podcast. We mark the occasion by answering questions we received from our audience: Which bear is the best, who likes a hug more... and what advice would we give about starting as an assistant professor, pivoting your research, and what books to read. All this and much more in part one of our "ask us anything" episode. Episode reading list Fort, T. (2003). The Book of Eels. HarperCollins. Nazar, S. (1999). A Beautiful Mind. Simon & Schuster. Frankl, V. E. (1946). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press. Ashby, W. R. (1956). An Introduction to Cybernetics. Chapman & Hall. Card, O. S. (1985). Ender's Game. Tor Books. Beer, S. (1974). Designing Freedom. CBC Learning Systems. Simon, H. A. (1947). Administrative Behavior: a Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization. Macmillan. Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human Problem Solving. Prentice-Hall. March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. John Wiley & Sons. Urquhart, C., Berente, N., Recker, J. (2021). Naughty Grounded Theory. This IS Research podcast episode, 22 December 2021. Zwass, V., Berente, N., Recker, J. (2023). Never create a journal unless it is JMIS. This IS Research podcast episode, 31 May 2023. Berente, N., Recker, J. (2022). Why we love what we do. This IS Research podcast episode, 18 May 2022.
Careers on the line
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 • Duration 50:40
Jan and Nick are still processing what they learned from Brian and Wil. Both gave advice to young researchers, but Jan and Nick are not sure they agree, so they end up constructing their own advice for how to build a career in information systems research. In the episode, we mention a few exemplary IS scholars, among others, Dick Boland, Ron Weber, Suprateek Sarker, Michael Rosemann, Eric Walden, Paul Leonardi, Shirley Gregor, Andrew Pettigrew, and Izak Benbasat. As usual, readings relevant to this episode can be found at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/careers-on-the-line-28-april-2021/.
Who is reviewing the reviewers?
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • Duration 48:28
Jan is annoyed. He received reviews and of course they were critical of his work. But what makes a good review? When do reviews stop being helpful? And do we need a new reviewing culture? Nick and Jan suggest we do. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
When sociologists meet computer scientists
Friday, March 26, 2021 • Duration 55:52
Information systems is a discipline nestled between the organizational sciences and the computer sciences. How do these different fields view each other? We ask Brian Pentland (an organizational sociologist) and Wil van der Aalst (a computer scientist). Both work on the same topic - processes and routines - but within different communities. We explore whether these communities are coming together and what advice young researchers receive in the different fields. As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
Method-ism
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 • Duration 58:15
What are the big methodological movements at the moment that potentially shape the future of IS research? What are the most popular methods IS researchers use? How do we do research in the golden age of digital trace data? As usual, the readings we refer to are listed on http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
Learning from Brad Greenwood about Econometrics of IS
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 • Duration 56:40
What do econometricians do? Do they really care more about statistics than explanations? Nick and Jan ask Brad Greenwood from George Mason University and try to reconcile their views of what good research is. As usual, the papers we discuss in this episode at listed at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
Is all technology digital?
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 • Duration 44:32
Is there a difference between digital technologies and regular IT? Are we in a new wave of technology that changes our society and business, or is it all just the same technology and we've been here before? Do we need to develop new theories about technology and organizing or do our old assumptions still hold? Nick and Jan explore these possibilities and try to reach a shared conclusion. You can find the papers we discuss in this episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
How ethical can we be?
Thursday, February 11, 2021 • Duration 52:33
Jan and Nick discuss ethics dilemmas they faced and try to figure out what advice they would give to others that work and publish in teams on information systems research problems. You can find papers we discuss in this episode at http://www.janrecker.com/this-is-research-podcast/.
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