Agile Research in Information Systems Field: Analysis from Knowledge Transformation Perspective

Due to the relative success of agile methods in software development, the idea of having agile processes started to be tested in other areas, for example, agile business process development. This trend already reached the research community and there have appeared some materials that suggest using agility in research projects. Analysis of these suggestions, however, shows that they do not go beyond finding superficial analogy between the concepts of the software development and research projects. The paper presents a deeper analysis of the concept of agile research in Information Systems (IS) based on the analysis of the research projects from the knowledge transformation perspective. As a basis for analysis, the SECI model of Nonaka is used. Based on this analysis, several suggestions are made on how to conduct agile research in IS, e.g. prioritize relevance over vigor, test early for a practical purpose, use own experience and reflections, etc. It is also shown that some research types, like action research and design science, are more suitable for conducting agile research than others. The paper also gives analysis of risks of non-agile research, and presents an example where they are revealed.