The state of design science in organizations

Daniel Pacheco Lacerda, Associate Professor of Production and Systems Engineering, Department of Production Engineering, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Aline Dresch, Lecturer of Production Engineering, Department of Production Engineering, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini, Editor-in-chief, BAR – Brazilian Administration Review, Associate Professor of information systems, Department of Management, UFPB, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil

The discussion on rigor and relevance has been loud across the many scholarly fields of management, with renewed interest emerging from time to time. Design Science Research (DSR) is usually seen as one of the best options for those trying to address both rigor and relevance to good degree in their academic endeavors that are coupled with interventions in the organizational realm. DSR is a method aimed at the design and implementation of artifacts that improve organizational measures in a number of dimensions. Its origins can be traced back to Herbert Simon’s (1996) intents to put theory and practice in touch with each other.

For the most part, DSR initiatives have a thrust towards theory, with a myriad of prescriptive approaches guiding the application of DSR in academic efforts. However, the DSR tradition is still in need of discussing its actual outcomes in empirical settings, in particular the effective gains for organizational practice. For instance, how is scholarly knowledge been guiding artifact design, and what is the type of scholarly knowledge that results from artifact design? Or, what is the precise relationship between DSR-based artifacts and organizational outcomes, and how is an artifact seen by the organizational stakeholders? The scholarly community worldwide seems not to have clear answers to such questions, maybe because the community is still witnessing the materialization and impact of the first generations of DSR organizational artifacts.

BAR is now welcoming contributions for a special issue on rigor and relevance in the DSR domain. Prospective contributions include sound conceptual works that discuss what we currently have as empirical knowledge on DSR in organizations of all kinds. Theoretical papers such as those based on purely innovative thinking or literature reviews are not within the scope of this special issue, unless they convey outstanding insights to advance applied knowledge. On the other hand, purely applied papers such as industry surveys or case reports are also out of scope. DSR-related artifact design, organizational practices and innovation processes are particularly welcome, provided that they are based on solid conceptual models. The list of topics of interest is fairly broad on applying DSR in fields such as:

• operations management
• information and communication technologies
• human resource management
• supply chain management
• relationship marketing and social marketing
• business administration
• public organizations, policies and planning
• finance and accounting in organizations and in industry

Important dates:

Two-page proposal by authors (optional): December 15, 2018

Deadline for submission of full papers: March 15, 2019

Initial decision sent to authors: June 30, 2019

Deadline for revised papers: September 15, 2019

Notification of acceptances: October 31, 2019

Deadline for final versions: November 30, 2019

Publication: January 2020

Please submit papers through BAR’s regular paper submission system (https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/bar-scielo), mentioning that the submission is for this special issue. All submissions will be subject to regular double-blind peer review. The special issue editors will select associate editors and reviewers from BAR’s editorial boards to work in the review process.

We thank in advance our guest editors Dr. Daniel Pacheco Lacerda, Dr. Paulo Augusto Cauchick-Miguel, Joan van Aken, Ph.D., Dr. Raymond Opdenakker, and the editorial manager Mrs. Aline Dresch.

References

SIMON, H. A. The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996.

External links

BAR – Brazilian Administration Review – BAR: www.scielo.br/bar

Grupo de Pesquisa em Modelagem para Aprendizagem – GMAP: http://gmap.unisinos.br/pt-BR/