article

The concept of 'IT artifact' has outlived its usefulness and should be retired now

Author:

Steven AlterAuthors Info & Claims

Information Systems Journal, Volume 25, Issue 1

Pages 47 - 60

https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12048

Published: 01 January 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Vastly inconsistent definitions of the term "the IT artifact" in leading journals and conferences demonstrate why it no longer means anything in particular and should be retired from the active IS lexicon. Examples from the literature show why artifact-cousins, such as the IS artifact, sociotechnical artifact, social artifact, and ensemble artifact should be used with great care, if not retired as well. Any void created by these retirements could be filled through the following approaches: i relabeling with simple terms that are immediately understandable; ii adopting guidelines for making sense of the whole X-artifact family; and iii sidestepping the IT artifact and focusing directly on IT-enabled work systems in organizations.

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cover image Information Systems Journal

Information Systems Journal Volume 25, Issue 1

January 2015

63 pages

ISSN:1350-1917

EISSN:1365-2575

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 January 2015

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Albrecht TBaier MGimpel HMeierhöfer SRöglinger MSchlüchtermann JWill L(2024)Leveraging Digital Technologies in Logistics 4.0: Insights on Affordances from Intralogistics ProcessesInformation Systems Frontiers10.1007/s10796-023-10394-626:2(755-774)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10796-023-10394-6
Costa-Climent R(2022)The Role of Machine Learning in Creating and Capturing ValueInternational Journal of Software Science and Computational Intelligence10.4018/IJSSCI.31222914:1(1-19)Online publication date: 21-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJSSCI.312229
Antunes PThuan NJohnstone D(2022)Nature and purpose of visual artifacts in design science researchInformation Systems and e-Business Management10.1007/s10257-022-00559-220:3(515-550)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10257-022-00559-2
Alter S(2020)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3433148.343315551:4(123-138)Online publication date: 2-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3433148.3433155
Sarker SChatterjee SXiao XElbanna A(2019)The sociotechnical axis of cohesion for the IS disciplineMIS Quarterly10.25300/MISQ/2019/1374743:3(695-720)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2019
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Petter SCarter MRandolph ALee A(2018)Desperately Seeking the Information in Information Systems ResearchACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3242734.324273649:3(10-18)Online publication date: 25-Jul-2018
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Powell P(2018)EditorialInformation Systems Journal10.1111/isj.1205025:1(1-4)Online publication date: 12-Dec-2018
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Hassan N(2016)EditorialACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3025099.302510147:4(10-22)Online publication date: 13-Dec-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3025099.3025101

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