Searching for management information systems: coherence and change in the discipline

. The now familiar and longstanding discussion on the status of the field of management information systems (MIS) consists of at least two themes – the lack of coherence in MIS and the question of rigour vs. relevance (academic vs. practical concerns). The research questions we pose here ask: what themes or ideas represent the centre of MIS or its zones of coherence – or is diversity and fragmentation the rule? and will the centre or zones change over time? Within MIS research, is there evidence of theory building that contributes to a cumulative research tradition? Using a co‐word analysis approach – to analyse the patterns in discourse by measuring the association strengths of terms representative of relevant publications – the researchers found 62 specific centres of coherence. The data documented a high degree of change in centres of coherence over time. Evidence of theory building was extremely weak. A cumulative research tradition remains elusive. MIS centres of coherence change over time – we think, partly in response to practical pressures. We suggest that MIS opens a richer and more difficult debate on its theory, practice, and identity as a discipline in the 21st century university.