International Journal of Information Management 55 (2020) 102149

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Information Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt

Opinion Paper

The Transformative Potential of Disruptions: A Viewpoint T

Robert M. Davison
Dept of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: I engage with the impact of disruptions on my work life, and consider the transformative potential that these
Disruptions disruptions offer. I focus on four parts of my life: as a researcher, teacher, administrator and editor. In each, I
Opportunities examine the nature of the disruption and the way I deal with it. I also consider how the present disruption may
Transformation facilitate a transformation of current practices that lead to a better world at the individual and institutional
Covid-19
levels. Rather than lamenting the inconvenience of a crisis, I prefer to celebrate the opportunity to do better.

1. Introduction topic is too narrow. Instead, I see the opportunity to consider disrup-
tions more generally, hence the title and the current focus. I first offer
Every so often the more-or-less smooth tenor of our lives is dis- some contextual details to help you to make sense of my perspective. I
rupted. We are forced to deal with a new set of challenges and cir- live in Hong Kong, where we have never (yet) had a lockdown that
cumstances. The exact situation varies: it may be a local situation or a legally confines most people to their homes most or all of the time,
global one. Even when it is global, each of us experiences the disruption whether for the current situation or any other in living memory. Public
in different ways and to different degrees. The underlying character- transport operates, shops are mostly open, social distancing is broadly
istics of disruptions vary but include political, economic, environ- adhered to, and I can choose to work at home or in the office. My work
mental, medical and/or social. Disruptions don’t always come singly. includes a mix of research, teaching, administration and journal
Distinct global and local disruptions may co-exist, further adding to the editing. I deal with each of these activities below.
complexity of a situation.
I suggest that while these disruptions are undoubtedly inconvenient, 2. Disruptions and their Transformative Potential
not to mention potentially life-threatening, they do offer us an oppor-
tunity for transformative change. Out of the darkness of disruption we 2.1. Research
may perceive glimmers of hope: the potential to do things better. In
2008, Barack Obama’s soon-to-be-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel ob- Disruptions undoubtedly exert a negative impact on my work as a
served “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste”.1 A crisis thus researcher. As a qualitative researcher, I need to observe and interview
presents an opportunity to further disrupt the status quo and bring people. I can still do this online, but it is less effective. One major
about radical changes that might otherwise be inconceivable. In Chi- project has been delayed indefinitely because I need to be in Shanghai
nese, the two characters (危機) for crisis imply danger (危) and op- to collect data, and that is impractical at the moment, simply because
portunity (機). As researchers, we have the potential to play a sig- even if I could travel to Shanghai, I would need to be quarantined for
nificant role in transforming the opportunity and making the world a two weeks on arrival and a further two weeks on return to Hong Kong.
better place (Davison, Hardin, Majchrzak, & Ravishankar, 2019). But The inconvenience of the quarantining is too disruptive to bear. If the
the operative word is ‘potential’! There is never a guarantee that the current situation persists or returns, both the topics that I choose to
transformation will actually occur, nor indeed that it will necessarily investigate and the way I do research will need to change. Remote data
lead to better things. Furthermore, overly hasty reactions are more collection will become normal as we adapt. This will not be limited to
likely to introduce fresh crises. Considerable thought and care needs to remote interviews, but must also include remote site visits. We will
go into the design of the transformed processes (or artifacts) before need to develop new data collection protocols for instance. But it seems
their benefits can be fully reaped. to me that the real problem is that we are trying to replicate our phy-
I was asked to write about the impact of covid-19 (C19) on in- sical world online.
formation management research and practice. However, I find that the We used to have synchronous, face to face meetings; now we have

E-mail address: [email protected].

1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzcbXi1Tkk.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102149
Received 14 May 2020; Accepted 14 May 2020
Available online 19 May 2020
0268-4012/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R.M. Davison International Journal of Information Management 55 (2020) 102149

synchronous, virtual meetings. We used to collect data in person; now you familiar with the research into Group Support Systems (GSS) will
we try to mediate data collection through technology. That’s not recall the various benefits associated with this technology, notably the
transformation in my view. It’s replication. We need to transform the lack of air-time fragmentation and the elimination of dominant in-
way we do things. We need to find a better way to meet, to collect data, dividuals (Davison & Briggs, 2000). In a GSS-facilitated meeting, there
to do research. Simple things like turning off the video can help because is more time for discussion, more even participation, and more inter-
this reduces the number of cues that we need to process. It also prevents action and feedback. These meetings might also induce distractions and
us from noticing the existence of video-audio lags that are annoying at digressions, and suffer from participants flaming or insulting each
the best of times, though it may also impoverish the richness of the other. I have certainly seen the positive effects in my classes. With 60+
medium as some of the paralinguistic cues disappear. Creating a natural students, it is essentially impossible for each of them to have significant
yet virtual space where both researcher and researchee feel comfortable contribution time in a regular classroom, especially if one or two
to engage in a meaningful and efficient conversation is challenging. dominate the air time. With parallel conversations, it becomes a reality
Whether you are more persuaded by media richness theory (Daft & and the primary problem is restraining their creativity and drawing a
Lengel, 1986) or media synchronicity theory (Dennis, Fuller, & conversation to a close, so that the class can move onwards.
Valacich, 2008), each of us has to select a medium that balances these In an online class, judicious use of the ‘chat’ feature enables students
various constraints and thus is oriented more toward replication of face to type to each other or to me as they wish or need to. They can raise
to face interaction or transformation into something different. questions, make suggestions, provide links to external sources, and so
As a regular invited speaker, visiting professor and general globe- can I. In order to maintain student attention, a lesson that I learned
trotter, I habitually travel extensively. This aspect of my life has also early on was that I need both to slow down my speech and to break it up
been severely curtailed. From March to June, 2020, I have had to cancel with frequent interludes where students can ask questions and create
five work trips to eight countries: China, Finland, Indonesia, Morocco, ideas. Not all students think equally quickly: some need more time to
Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK (thrice). The objectives to be at- reflect on the content and thus interjecting regular hiatuses into my
tained on these trips included a mix of data collection, student re- content delivery enhances access to that content immensely. Thus,
cruitment, research seminars and collaboration, and a PhD thesis de- every 15 minutes or so, I will stop and seek to provoke them with an
fence. I have been able to hold some seminars online, but the effect is issue that has no easy answer, where a range of perspectives can rea-
not the same. It is also hard work: you may have read about ‘Zoom sonably be identified, and where students are likely to have an opinion.
fatigue’.2 A research visit, for instance, is much more than a seminar. It I give the students 10 minutes to brainstorm in the ‘chat’ feature of
also involves many one-to-one conversations, brainstorms, insights, and whichever software I am using to run the class. Another approach is to
the exchange of ideas, lubricated with laughter, intellectual spice and use the online breakout rooms where students first discuss an idea in
good cheer. Transforming this kind of work is challenging: there is a small groups before presenting it to the class as a whole. Whichever
grave risk that it will be reduced to the functionality of a seminar but technique is used, both the instructor and other students can provide
without the rich interactions that take place on the side-lines. I have additional feedback and commentary.
been invited to a seminar + conversation event in late June, 2020, that Over a three-hour class with 50-60 students, I find that these ‘chat’
will see me ‘Zoom’ into Umeå University, in northern Sweden. It will be interludes generate around 9,000 words of generally high quality
interesting to see if the transformation is effective for the audience and comment. I regard this sharing of ideas as essential to individual
productive for the speakers. I fear that a world without the freedom to learning because in order to write sensibly you have to think. I make
travel unhindered may be a much less global world. That’s probably less sure that I read all the comments. I type my own reactions to some
of a concern if you live in a big country with extensive domestic travel while others I react to verbally. I save all the typed comments to a doc
opportunities. However, while we will miss the global opportunities, we file and email it to all the students after the class. All the comments are
should examine local opportunities more carefully, and appreciate our identified (there is no anonymous function) but this seems reasonable
local contexts. as in a real class they would be identified anyway. Moreover, individual
students receive credit for their ideas, both from me and from each
other.
2.2. Teaching and Learning
Is this transformative? Well, it is a small-scale transformation in the
way I teach because of the way I deliberately fracture my episodes of
As a teacher, all my classes since mid-January, 2020, have been
speaking into smaller fragments and punctuate them with chat inter-
online using a variety of technologies. While some of my students re-
ludes that provide the opportunity for students to voice out their
main in Hong Kong, many are elsewhere in China as well as further
thoughts in parallel. Although they can contribute to the chat at any
afield. The vast majority are accessing the Internet from home, quite
time, most wait for the invitation from me. I do believe that this new
often on slow connections. My guest lecturers are doing the same, and
teaching-learning protocol transforms the learning process, because
for them it is certainly more convenient than travelling to the university
students are more actively engaged in the process of learning. They
campus. I anticipated that this new environment would be very hard to
know (because I tell them) that they will be rewarded for their parti-
adapt to, as a teacher, but strangely enough I was wrong. I have a
cipation (in my classes, I typically award 20% of marks for participa-
number of principles that help me ensure that students receive as high
tion), and when they see others typing in the ‘chat’, then this seems to
quality an individual education as is possible in the circumstances.
create a gentle peer pressure for them to emulate their peers. While
Some of these are transformative, but they build on earlier work.
some students type just a few words and then submit, others take
A key challenge that I encounter in a normal (face to face) class is
considerably more care and write a few tens or even hundreds of words.
the low level of student interaction. Perhaps this is cultural, but I find
Their communication style is transformed by the technology that exerts
that while a small minority is willing and able to interact, the vast
no pressure to complete a communication as long a they submit before
majority is often reluctant to do so. One of the drivers appears to be fear
the end of the class. These longer comments often attract attention from
of making mistakes in front of others and thus losing face. A second
other students who comment on them in turn, setting up a viral pattern
relates to interacting in a second (or third) language. In an online class,
of inter-student learning. I intervene as necessary to minimise digres-
the dynamics change and I find that, with a little effort, I can get 90% of
sions, correct misunderstandings, offer an opinion and further chal-
the students to interact without disrupting each other or me. Those of
lenge their imagination.
Where assessments are concerned, it is clearly more difficult for
2
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats- students to undertake group work if they lack the luxury of a face to
are-so-exhausting. face environment, but virtual teams have been around for a long time

2
R.M. Davison International Journal of Information Management 55 (2020) 102149

and there is no reason why students cannot work virtually. It is a new papers are being submitted. Alas, these are not always of the highest
skill to learn (Davison, Panteli, Hardin, & Fuller, 2017; Hardin, Fuller, & quality. Many of them relate to the current C19 pandemic and consist of
Davison, 2007) that will be of value in the workplace. A blended quickly-thrown-together collections of notes with little scientific import
learning approach might see a mix of synchronous and asynchronous or practical value. These are politely rejected. Special issues on the
virtual team work. The synchronous events may be psychologically impacts of pandemics have also been proposed, equally hurriedly, and
more comfortable and productive, yet simultaneously less convenient they too are rejected. Secondly, reviewers of papers tell me that they
because of the need for everyone to be virtually present. The asyn- need more time to complete their reviews and authors currently re-
chronous states that persist in between the synchronous events will still vising their papers also ask for more time. A month, or three, would be
see work done, even if the intensity is lower (Maznevski & Chudoba, nice! The culture of asking for extensions is rife in our world and it is
2000). Examinations online are also feasible, though there are fears that encouraged by those who grant such extensions, sometimes without
students will take each and every opportunity to cheat, whether by even being asked! An extension request that is received well in advance,
employing proxies to answer the questions for them, by outsourcing with some careful argument as to why it is needed, is fine and will be
questions to experts on demand, or by some other ingenious means. My granted. An extension request that is received in the hours (or minutes)
preference is to set an exam question that is too long or difficult for the before the deadline (for an extra 6 months) will not be entertained. If
time available and which requires analysis but not memory, pushing you wish to work right up to the deadline, that’s your choice. But
students to the limit of their capabilities. Cheating then becomes that careful time management is always a good idea, and since emergencies
much more difficult to execute. I thus transform the assessment process will happen, we need to allow time for them. Don’t assume that
and provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate what they deadlines will be extended! Any transformation here has to be at the
have learned. It must be said, however, that evaluating these kinds of personal level. We can work around disruptions if we want to. For me, it
assessments is challenging in itself. I invest considerable time and is primarily a matter of time management and learning to say ‘No’.
mental effort in carefully reading lengthy answers to questions and then Quality is still going to be the issue. A disruption does not justify sloppy
justifying the marks awarded. A marking scheme may help, but answers or haphazard work, or knee-jerk research either. Bear in mind that your
inevitably deviate from the ideal or model answer, and so flexibility is article is going to be in multiple review-revise cycles for several
essential. months, if not longer. We want to publish high quality research that
The proof of the effectiveness of the transformation of teaching, will stand the test of time. That hasn’t changed and I don’t see it
learning and assessment will be in the proverbial pudding: student changing. My editing work seems least affected by disruptions, though I
evaluations of my teaching, teacher evaluations of student learning, as admit that it is progressively harder to secure good reviewers willing to
approximated via exam answer papers, and the eventual employment complete their assignments on time and to a high quality level.
into which students enter on graduation. Initial feedback from students
is positive, but a single cohort of students will not provide sufficient
3. Discussion
evidence; there are lessons to keep learning on both sides. If online
learning is here to stay, I am confident that we can transform both
Technology has great transformative potential, if we want to
ourselves and it to a high level of effectiveness that will in some mea-
transform and to be transformed. But do we? My personal suspicion is
sure exceed what is possible in face to face environments.
that while we teach our students about the value of disruptive tech-
nology, we are less keen to be disrupted ourselves, unless it is on terms
2.3. Administration
of our own choosing. Punctuated equilibrium theory (Eldredge &
Gould, 1972; Gersick, 1991) suggests that disrupting the underlying
I earlier alluded to the problems of Zoom fatigue. I know people
structures of a stable situation (equilibrium) may create the potential
who are in back-to-back Zoom meetings for hours and days at a stretch.
for the introduction of radical changes that enhance the status quo. A
Here the replication problem is all too evident. We need to evaluate
pandemic virus, or rather the human reaction to it, is certainly dis-
carefully if a synchronous online meeting is really essential. If it is not,
ruptive and is punctuating many of our stable states. Do we try to go
and I feel that we should assume that the vast majority are not, then a
back to the old stable state or do we accept the transformation chal-
move to asynchronous interactions is called for. In effect, this means
lenge? Disruptions to the research process are the most difficult to re-
less meetings, which is surely a good thing! The GSS software that I
solve, and I see this as a work in progress. Disruptions to teaching,
mentioned earlier provides an excellent basis for this kind of interac-
learning and assessment, and administration, on the other hand, are
tion. A meeting can be open for a period of hours or days and members
more amenable to transformative action. We will need to plan to teach
should expect to visit on several occasions so as to add remarks, read
in a different way, our students will need to accept to learn in a dif-
those of others, offer comments and engage in a prolonged deliberation.
ferent way, and we will have to create new ways to assess that learning.
This kind of extended meeting requires both a good work ethic and for
We may even be able to escape the iron grip of meetings! It can be done,
the meeting organiser to have good facilitation skills, in order that a
if we have the will.
meeting can be drawn to a productive close in a timely manner without
It has been suggested that the current C19 pandemic will disrupt
cutting people off. The most challenging aspect of this transformation is
academia in a way that will permanently change it. Apparently the top-
accepting that asynchronous interactions can work, and that meetings
ranked universities are destined to survive while others may disappear.3
are really not essential most of the time. Thus, instead of forcing the
I’m not so sure: in my view, those that thrive will be those that trans-
technology to support existing meeting patterns, we should allow the
form to and profit by the new status quo. The ability to transform is no
technology to support a transformed meeting arrangement. For myself,
more than survival of the fittest in a new set of circumstances. But this
I find that the vast majority of administrative tasks can be completed
applies as much at the level of the institution as at the level of the unit
perfectly adequately through email, i.e. asynchronously. Response
or the individual. Digitising core activities is a start. Reinventing the
times are generally fast for urgent matters and I see no reduction of
institution (of everything we do and where and how we do it) is down
effectiveness or efficiency. Where group discussion is needed, GSS (or a
the road. Are we ready to transform? My own institution was the first in
similar technology) may offer a richer environment than Zoom, yet not
Hong Kong to put all classes online several months ago. Transformation
require synchronous presence.
is often revolutionary, which is why punctuated equilibrium theory is

2.4. Editing
3
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-
As an editor, I see a pair of disparate effects. Firstly, many more college.html.

3
R.M. Davison International Journal of Information Management 55 (2020) 102149

so pertinent. Revolutions are not tea parties, and so it may be some time Tarafdar, Niki Panteli, Andrew Hardin, Hugo Lotriet, Alexandre
before we can enjoy the next stable state. Graeml, David Hull, Jonny Holmstrom, Maris Martinsons, and Roger
Finally, we need to be careful not to change too quickly. Contact- Clarke.
tracing has emerged as one of the tools that can be used to trace pos-
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Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the input and commentary of Monideepa

4
https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/business-law/we-need-examine-
many-narratives-covidsafe-app.
5
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2020/the-covidsafe-app-and-professional-
responsibility.html.
6
https://theintercept.com/2020/05/08/andrew-cuomo-eric-schmidt-
coronavirus-tech-shock-doctrine/.