Alternative Genres of IS Research: Looking for Great Leaps Forward

The potential value of alternative genres in IS research is the core question that drives this panel discussion. The term “Alternative Genres” refers to unconventional forms of thinking, doing, and communicating scholarship and practice. It relates to innovation with respect to epistemological perspectives, research methods, semantic framing, literary styles, and media of expression. Overall, the application of alternative genres is considered to be a generative act that provides an opportunity to take a fresh look and to gain deeper understanding of the subject matter. Nonetheless, paradoxically the prevailing genres have much inertia, in spite of the inherent boundary spanning nature of alternative genres. Building on their own recent empirical research, the panelists will debate the potential value of alternative genres as unconventional modality of IS scholarship and how alternative genres might be utilized to support the discipline's the next leap forward.