Introduction to Information Systems Models and Methodologies - High Level Models and Methodologies for Information Systems - page 2

regarding its acceptance or not within the context of the organization and the user
base. The interest in de a new system has also lead

researchers to focus on building models that can help an organization or project
manager determine and measure the system

ning what can “ make or break ”

s success.
In this topic, we will discuss the major methodologies that have been established
in existing literature related to systems development and acceptance, as well as the
more prominent models that are rooted in each methodological approach. This will
allow us to identify how speci

'

c types
of IS development projects, underlining the usefulness of such theoretical frame-
works for practitioners that want to identify which methods are best for their
speci

c methodologies and models are fit for speci

c projects.
This topic is organized into the following chapters:

Chapter 1 — Introduction to IS Models and Methodologies (the current chapter);

Chapter 2 — IS Development Life Cycle Models;

Chapter 3 — IS Development Methodologies;

Chapter 4 — Web Site Development Methodologies;

—

Chapter 5 Usability Evaluation Models;

—

Chapter 6 Quality Evaluation Models;

—

IS Models for Success Assessment.
Each of the chapters, from 2 to 7, will be briefly introduced in the next pages of
this Chap. 1 and detailed in the remaining topic.

Chapter 7

1.2 Systems Development Paradigms

The vast body of research that relates to IS development has led some researchers to
attempt to group different methods into a set of simple categories, based on com-
mon principles and similarities. These categories, or paradigms, are essentially
formed by the underlying philosophies, goals, guiding principles, and fundamental
concepts that justify the choice of a given approach to IS development (Iivari et al.
1998 ).
According to the seminal work of Hirschheim and Klein ( 1989 ), there are four
paradigms of IS development, which, in turn, are based on paradigms of systems
analysis (see Fig. 1.1 ).
The functionalist paradigm focuses on the context, social order, consensus,
needs, and rational choices. IS are developed by application of formal concepts,
through methodical and planned intervention and based on rational principles. The
social relativist paradigm focuses on individual subjectivity and the personal frame
of reference of the social actor. IS development takes into account the subjective
and cultural context of the developer. The radical structuralist paradigm advocates
the need to transcend existing limitations born out of social and organizational
structures. IS development is built by an awareness of necessities and limits and
what can be done to improve the system beyond that border. Finally,

the