Group Support Systems and Action Research: An Empirical-Action Research Cycle

Research in Information Systems, specifically Group Support Systems (GSS), lends itself well to Action Research. From its original definition in 1985, GSSs have included a human component, the facilitator thereby providing an excellent venue for action research. This article proposes that action research acts as a key component in the knowledge accrual process for information systems research. The article demonstrates this proposal by developing a four-phased empirical-action research cycle based on McGrath et al.’s (1982) empirical research cycle, Baskerville’s (1997) action research cycle, and the call to include the practitioner’s view in empirical research as posited by Kerlinger’s (1986) suggested goals for non-experimental studies. Finally, the proposed empirical-action research cycle is applied directly to a GSS field study wherein a group uses a GSS for a real-world problem of business process reengineering. The details of the study are discussed using the four phases in the model.