The Information Systems Area offers courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs in Management and Business Informatics. Furthermore, the Area participates in Center of Doctoral Studies in Business (CDSB) as well as the Mannheim Business School.

Information Systems (IS) support individuals in organizations with information for better or faster decisions. They enable new business processes and business models, altering the competitive arena in which a company is embedded. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are utilized for corporate activities from the perspective of distinct user roles. The nature of the IS discipline is both, theoretical and technological. While theoretic-empirical contributions focus on the management and use of Information Systems and Information Infrastructures in organizations, technological-constructivist contributions aim at the design of IS for facilitating new business processes and models.

Fields of Research

The area is followig a complementary research approach, combining a thoretic-empirical and technological-constructivist perspective. Our fields of research can be grouped into the following major areas:

1. Development of Information Systems and Infrastructures,
2. Innovative Information Systems,
3. Management of Information Systems and Infrastructures, as well as
4. Electronic Business and Government.

In the context of Information Systems and Instrastructure Design, a variety of interconnected themes is covered. Software Product Management and Usability Engineering investigate development processes with specific focus on customer and end-user integration. Component-based Software Development and Object Data Management offer the instruments to design and to develop specific business functions on the application layer as well as to manage the underlying data. The productivity and impact of Information Systems and Infrastructure Development Processes is investigated in order to improve the respective collaboration activities.

In the realm of Innovative Information Systems and Infrastructures, we design and evaluate new systems concepts and solutions. Distributed Systems and Context-Aware Computing lay the foundation of inter-organizational Information Systems and Infrastructures that facilitate new forms of the value chain. The middleware layer allows for a modular and flexible design of contemporary application functions. Enterprise Information Systems, relying on enterprise software packages such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management or Business Intelligence, are the backbone and - in some instances - a differentiator of corporations outperforming their competitors. We take an end-user perspective on Enterprise Information Systems and conduct research in the areas of social augmentation, information security, and flexibility.

In the domain of Information Systems and Infrastructure management, we explore the full potential of these research objects. We pursue investigations in the areas of Information Management and Business Process Management. On an information systems level, the "fit" between tasks, processes, technologies, and people is investigated. On an infrastructure level, complex arrangements of IS Governance and IS Sourcing are scrutinized. Complementary to these issues, we are investigating the Business Value of Information Systems to gain a better understanding of how Information Systems can be deployed effectively to support a corporation’s value creation.

Information Systems and infrastructures facilitate new forms of Electronic Business and Electronic Government. Within behavioristic empirical research, the key drivers for leveraging efficient utilization of such systems are investigated. Specific research areas are the adoption of system standards, electronic business models, cloud computing, process virtualization, online pricing and smart metering solutions.

Members of the Information Systems Area regularly publish their research  in the leading journals and conferences in Information Systems, Business Administration and Management, as well as in journals focusing on Applied Computer Science. Furthermore, the Area transfers a majority of its results into practice through the newly founded Institute of Enterprise Systems (InES). In order to foster research cooperations in the Asia-Pacific region, the Research Institute of Software and Service EcoSystems (RISE) has been established.