The Complex Effects of Cross-Domain Knowledge on IS Development: A Simulation-Based Theory Development
通过NK适应度景观模型仿真，发现跨领域知识能提升信息系统开发绩效并降低波动性，其效果取决于知识分布与设计元素相互依赖模式的匹配。
Information systems development (ISD) requires both business domain and technology domain knowledge. How cross-domain knowledge affects ISD outcomes is one of the most fundamental and persistent problems in the IS field. We argue that the effect of cross-domain knowledge depends on its distribution across business and IT units and ISD complexity in terms of level and pattern of design element interdependencies. We systematically investigate the complex effects of cross-domain knowledge on ISD performance by using simulations based on the NK fitness landscapes model. We find that cross-domain knowledge not only increases ISD performance but also reduces its variability. These effects are greater when ISD complexity is greater. Cross-domain knowledge is found to increase the robustness of ISD performance across different patterns of design element interdependencies. Interestingly, ISD performance is higher when cross-domain knowledge is unevenly distributed across business and IS units and when its distribution pattern matches the pattern of the design element interdependencies. These findings suggest that the effect of cross-domain knowledge on ISD performance is not fixed but depends on its structural pattern, the level and pattern of design element interdependencies, and their interactions. This study illuminates how and why challenges in ISD might be structural and how, why, and when cross-domain knowledge might help to overcome these challenges. We develop a theoretical framework and propositions based on our findings.