The Rational & Political Roles of Methods in Information Systems Development

Abstract

Textbooks and considerable normative research implicitly assume that Information Systems Development Methodologies (ISDMs) are used and are useful. Evidence suggests that methodology use is problematic. This work-in-progress paper reports on an in-depth case study seeking to identify rational and political roles leading to why a methodology is used in an IS department within a large Australian bank. Guided by a framework to study the use of methods the analysis demonstrates the plausibility of a portion of the framework thereby contributing to a phase of the theory building process.