Skip to main content
Frontiers of Business Research in China
Download PDF

Research in information systems in China (1999–2005) and international comparisons

Frontiers of Business Research in China volume 1, pages 19–38 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to review the research activities in information systems (IS) in the mainland of China. We reviewed and analyzed a total of 859 research papers in information systems published in 18 leading academic journals in business and management in the mainland from 1999 to 2005. Applying the content analysis method, we first categorized the papers by their reference disciplines, research topics, research methods, and the units of analysis. The data were then compared with the results of similar Western studies. Results show that, among the published IS research papers in the mainland of China, IS research itself represents the primary theoretical reference discipline; organizational and system/software issues are the main topics of the focus; non-empirical studies were the dominant research method; and the majority of studies were conducted at the organizational and/or system level. Compared with the West, IS research in China demonstrates its own characteristics in theoretical foundations, research focuses, and research methods, and there are a number of areas that need to be improved.

References

  1. Alavi M, Carlson P (1992). A review of MIS research and disciplinary development. Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(4): 45–62

    Google Scholar 

  2. Alavi M, Carlson P, Brooke G (1989). The ecology of MIS research: A twenty year status review. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Information Systems, 363–375

  3. Applegate L, King J (1999). Rigor and relevance: Careers on the line. MIS Quarterly, 23(1): 18–19

    Google Scholar 

  4. Banker R D, Kauffman R J (2004). The evolution of research on information systems: A fiftieth-year survey of the literature in management science. Management Science, 50(3): 281–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Banville C, Landry M (1989). Can the field of MIS be disciplined? Communications of the ACM, 32(1): 48–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Benbasat I, Goldstein D K, Mead M (1987). The case research strategy in studies of information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11(3): 369–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Benbasat I, Zmud R W (1999). Empirical research in information systems: The practice of relevance. MIS Quarterly, 23(1): 3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Benbasat I, Weber R (1996). Rethinking “diversity” in information systems research. Information Systems Research, 7(4): 389–399

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cheon M, Grover V, Saberwal R (1993). The evolution of empirical research in IS: A study in IS maturity. Information and Management, 24(3): 107–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Claver E, González R, Llopis J (2000). An analysis of research in information systems (1981–1997). Information and Management, 37(4): 181–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Culnan M (1986). The intellectual development of management information systems, 1972–1982: A co-citation analysis. Management Science, 32(2): 156–172

    Google Scholar 

  12. Culnan M, Swanson E B (1986). Research in management information systems 1980–1984: Points of work and reference. MIS Quarterly, 10(3): 289–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dubé L, Paré G (2003). Rigor in information systems positivist case research: Current practices, trends, and recommendations. MIS Quarterly, 27(4): 597–635

    Google Scholar 

  14. Farhoomand A F, Drury D H (1999). A historiographical examination of information systems. Communication of the AIS, (1): 1–27

  15. Farhoomand A F, Drury D H (2001). Diversity and scientific progress in the information systems discipline. Communications of the AIS, (5): 1–21

  16. Galliers R D, Land F F (1987). Choosing an appropriate information systems research methodology. Communications of the ACM, 30(11): 900–902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Grover V, Lee C C, Durand D (1993). Analyzing methodological rigor of MIS survey research from 1980–1989. Information and Management, 24(6): 305–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hamilton S, Ives B (1982). MIS research strategies. Information and Management, 5(6): 339–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hu Changping (1999). Education of information management towards the 21st century in China. Journal of the China Society for Scientific and Technical Information (in Chinese), 18(1): 3–9

    Google Scholar 

  20. Huang W, Wei K K, Watson R (2003). Overview of MIS discipline — background, core courses, research mainstreams and major conferences and journals. Journal of Management Sciences in China (in Chinese), 6(6): 85–90

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ives B, Hamilton S, Davis G (1980). A framework for research in computer-based management information systems. Management Science, 26(9): 910–934

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kim G M, Park C S, Kim J S, Lee H G, Im K S (2005). An empirical study on research diversity in Journal of MIS Research (in Korean). The Journal of MIS Research, 15(2): 149–170

    Google Scholar 

  23. Lee A S (1999). Rigor and relevance in MIS research: Beyond the approach of positivism alone. MIS Quarterly, 23(1): 29–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Lee A S, Baskerville R L (2003). Generalizing generalizability in Information Systems research. Information Systems Research, 14(3): 221–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lyytinen K (1999). Empirical research in information systems: On the relevance of practice in thinking of IS research. MIS Quarterly, 23(1): 25–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Mingers J (2001). Combining IS research methods, towards a pluralist methodology. Information Systems Research, 12(3): 240–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Mingers J (2003). The paucity of multimethod research: A review of the information systems literature. Information Systems Journal, 13(3): 233–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Nolan R L, Wetherbe J C (1980). Toward a comprehensive framework for MIS research. MIS Quarterly, 4(2): 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Paul R J (2002). Is information systems as intellectual subject? European Journal of Information Systems, 11(2): 174–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Robey D (1996). Diversity in information systems research: Threat, promise, and responsibility. Information Systems Research, 7(4): 400–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Swanson E B, Ramiller N C (1993). Information systems research thematics: Submissions to a new journal, 1987–1992. Information Systems Research, 4(4): 299–330

    Google Scholar 

  32. Vessey I, Ramesh R, Glass R L (2002). Research in information systems: An empirical study of diversity in the discipline and its journals. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19(2): 129–174

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wang Shouyang and Jin Bihui (2000). SCI, SSCI and journals of management science. Journal of Management Science in China (in Chinese), 3(4): 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  34. Webster J, Watson R T (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2): xii–xxiii

    Google Scholar 

  35. Zha Xianjin (2003). Probe into talent cultivating direction and course system in the specialty of information management and information system. Journal of China Society for Scientific and Technical Information (in Chinese), 22(4): 507–512

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Sprott Business School, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, KIS 5B6, Canada

    Ji Shaobo

  2. School of Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Ji Shaobo & Min Qingfei

  3. IBM Solution & Services Co. Ltd. at IBM China, Dalian, 116023, China

    Han Weihe

Authors
  1. Ji Shaobo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Min Qingfei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Han Weihe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ji Shaobo.

Additional information

Translated from Guanli Kexue Xuebao 맜理科学学报 (Journal of Management Sciences in China), 2006, 9(2): 76–85

The original published paper was based on the data from 1999 to 2003. The current paper is based on the data from 1999 to 2005

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ji, S., Min, Q. & Han, W. Research in information systems in China (1999–2005) and international comparisons. Front. Bus. Res. China 1, 19–38 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11782-007-0002-3

Download citation

Keywords

  • information systems
  • content analysis
  • research topic
  • research method
  • units of analysis