The Laws of Information Systems

Routine scientific activity consists of observing a phenomenon of interest, theorizing about it and carrying out tests. Laws are definite and interesting relationships among variables that are by-products of this activity. They are the basis for knowledge in a discipline and serve to give it its identity. Laws are common in scientific disciplines such as Mathematics and Chemistry. Applied fields such as engineering are characterized more by the application of knowledge while humanistic disciplines such as management tend to be characterized by paradigms or complex relationships between amorphous variables. Information systems is an amalgamated discipline that shares some characteristics with sociology, engineering as well as with scientific disciplines. To the extent that it is a science, we have a number of laws and theories; to the extent that it is engineering and sociology, we have a number of paradigms and principles. In this paper, a number of laws, paradigms and principles concerning information systems and its development are discussed. The subject of these range from transaction volumes to the nature of good systems. They invite further elaboration, testing, analysis and refutation.