TY - JOUR
T1 - Rationalism vs. incrementalism
T2 - two opposing or complementary strategies for effecting change in HEI web development
AU - McConnell, Mike
AU - Middleton, Iain A.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - The paper examines rationalist and incrementalist approaches for effecting change in website management. Planning is a traditionally rationalist activity that requires specific objectives and timescales to be set, resources to be allocated, and assumes that a desired future state is indeed definable and achievable. The paper argues that the web is too diverse and broad in scope to be addressed as a whole in purely rationalist terms: successful development requires the intelligent application of incrementalist measures. The authors examine a number of rationalist and incrementalist measures in use at two UK HEIs. One approach stimulates incremental buy‐in by encouraging departments to either adopt standards recommended by a central web management team, or by contracting the team for web development and maintenance. A second “rationalist” approach attempts to define the ideal future state, and then implement the requisite technologies and practices as a campus‐wide standard. The paper discusses the pros and cons of rationalist and incrementalist approaches, and the need for a balance between each in a successful web strategy.
AB - The paper examines rationalist and incrementalist approaches for effecting change in website management. Planning is a traditionally rationalist activity that requires specific objectives and timescales to be set, resources to be allocated, and assumes that a desired future state is indeed definable and achievable. The paper argues that the web is too diverse and broad in scope to be addressed as a whole in purely rationalist terms: successful development requires the intelligent application of incrementalist measures. The authors examine a number of rationalist and incrementalist measures in use at two UK HEIs. One approach stimulates incremental buy‐in by encouraging departments to either adopt standards recommended by a central web management team, or by contracting the team for web development and maintenance. A second “rationalist” approach attempts to define the ideal future state, and then implement the requisite technologies and practices as a campus‐wide standard. The paper discusses the pros and cons of rationalist and incrementalist approaches, and the need for a balance between each in a successful web strategy.
U2 - 10.1108/03055720010804177
DO - 10.1108/03055720010804177
M3 - Article
SN - 0305-5728
VL - 31
SP - 61
EP - 67
JO - VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems
JF - VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems
IS - 3
ER -