Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems

John Mingers is Professor of OR and Information Systems and Director of Research at Kent Business School, University of Kent, UK. His research interests include the use of systems methodologies in problem situations, particularly the mixing of different methodologies within an intervention (multimethodology); the development of critical realism as a philosophy for information systems; the development of theory concerning the nature of information and meaning; and autopoiesis and its applications. He has published several books, including Self-Producing Systems: Implications and Applications of Autopoiesis and Information Systems: An Emerging Discipline? (with Professor Frank Stowell).

Leslie P. Willcocks is Professor of Information Management at Warwick Business School. He received a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, is visiting professor at Erasmus and Melbourne Universities, and joint Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology. He is co-author of 23 books and has published over 140 papers in journals ranging from Harvard Business Review to MIS Quarterly, MISQ Executive and Journal of Management Studies. His research interests include organizational issues, politics, outsourcing, implementation, e-business and evaluation.