Information Technology and Hegelian Inquiring Organizations

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how Hegelian inquiring systems may be applied to wicked problem situations and knowledge work and how Hegelian inquiring organizations are well suited for the discontinuous environments of the new world of business (Malhotra, 1997, 2000). In addition, the chapter discusses how Hegelian organizations and how emerging information technologies can support Hegelian processes, especially the Hegelian dialectic. We claim that extant information systems (IS) are not suitable for wicked situations due to their rigidity, which stems from a philosophical basis of logical positivism, coupled with the prevailing functionalistic, technology-driven IS development models. The need for a new approach is suggested, based on a multiple perspective pluralistic approach.