Exploring the use of QPID: a collaborative study of the automobile industry

Deep and grounded understanding of complex socio-technical phenomena, such as business-to-business (B2B) information systems, requires a collaborative process of enquiry where the researcher works with practitioners to make sense and establish meaning. This suggests the need for interventionary approaches, such as action research and action case, supported by a method of notation for describing a co-constructed reality to make sense of inter-organizational settings and to undertake cross-case comparisons. This paper tests the conjecture that systems thinking and the qualitative politicized influence diagram (QPID) are an appropriate lens through which to study B2B information systems. It demonstrates how the QPID workshop is valuable in inter-organizational studies as a practical and appropriate method of collaborative investigation. The paper concludes by raising issues for research methodology in terms of limitations of the research method, recommendations for further development, and future plans for incorporating multiple partners in industry-level research.