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like IS that is struggling for an identity distinct from computer science at one extreme,
and business studies at the other. The assumption that the importance of recognition
has actually increased recently is predicated on the view that the field is facing a long-
term reduction in its funding (and hence a loss of economic capital) consequent on a
decrease in the number of students enrolled and a loss of management faith in the dis-
cipline (Hirschheim and Klein, 2003). A more concentrated focus on the development
of cultural capital, at least for the time being, would seem to be mandatory.
The question of visibility is seen here as the critical issue. While internal disputes about
the nature of the discipline and the constitution of its 'core' (Benbasat and Zmud, 2003)
can be taken as a sign of disciplinary vitality, uncertainty about disciplinary content
can become a problem when it is coupled with a low external recognition factor
(Avgerou et al., 1999, p. 136). One probable outcome is a decrease in the extent to which
the general public will recognise IS either as an area of independent interest, or as a
source of acceptable jobs for young people, including new graduates.
It is of course possible to identify quite a number of related areas where IS contributions
are significant, including knowledge management, IT governance, IT management, e-
business, e-government and many more (Baskerville and Myers, 2002). But it is also
correct to say that these topics generally fall within academically contested areas, and
that other disciplines are staking their claims to ownership of some of the key issues,
usually by developing courses and units dealing with those topics. At the same time,
traditional IS concerns with systems definition and building are increasingly being
subsumed by analysts and consultants better described as working in applied business
and economics than in IS. 'Green field' systems development, on which the discipline
first built its foundations (Somogyi and Galliers, 1987), is becoming progressively less
significant as the business environment moves ever closer to full automation, and the
prevalence of proprietary software and packaged technical solutions increases (Gosain,
2004). The danger is that the building of systems will increasingly be regarded as a
purely technical matter, and that the more interesting questions of systems meaning and
social significance will be arrogated by other disciplines.
The view presented here is a pessimistic one with respect to the discipline's current
standing, and it is therefore important to note alternative views. Perhaps the most pos-
itive perspective put forward in the last couple of years was in a major paper by Bask-
erville and Myers (2002), where the authors claim that IS has made the academic and
intellectual strides necessary for the discipline to be seen as fully independent, and
therefore able to take its place as a source of ideas for other disciplines. Accepted at face
value, this claim would invalidate the argument presented in this paper. The following
discussion therefore focuses on the key issues raised by the authors, with a view to
identifying points of disagreement. It should be noted that there is no fundamental
disagreement about the general value of IS work - the question of concern is whether
high quality IS output is having, or more importantly will have in the future, any signi-
ficance outside IS.
'Information systems as a reference discipline' - Baskerville and Myers
Baskerville and Myers make a case that the IS discipline is not only in good academic
health, but also that it has reached a state of maturity: 'the IS discipline is no longer just
emerging, but has fully emerged as a discipline in its own right' (Baskerville and Myers,
2002, p. 1). With maturity now achieved, it will become a source of ideas for other dis-
ciplines, in the same way that those disciplines have been a source of ideas for IS. As
support for this, they point to the concern with rigour that has been a hallmark of IS
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