As an integral component of The University of Alabama's mission, the MIS faculty focuses its research efforts on being at the forefront of enhancing business value by leveraging information technology. Specifically the core capability of the MIS faculty is to build, test, and disseminate theory that enables business success.
Though diverse, the faculty prides itself on developing collaborative research programs that involve multiple faculty and graduate students. Reinforcing the collaboration are the research labs, centers and institutes that the MIS faculty direct. The National Science Foundation, federal agencies, corporations and philanthropic organizations continue to support the faculty and their research.
Central to all the research studies is the focus on prescription. This research strives to influence future behavior of IS practitioners, IS researchers, and IS educators. Consequently, the faculty's research findings are found in scholarly journals, practitioner whitepapers, and text material. Also, the faculty is active in hosting national research workshops and conference tutorials as additional means to disseminate its findings. To be truly prescriptive, research must impact practice in a meaningful, positive way and be theoretically grounded. UA's collaborative efforts aim to influence practice by addressing meaningful problems and opportunities. The primary areas of research provide innovative practices for and recommendations to enhance:
- enterprise-wide coordination within organizations,
- ubiquitous computing for mobile computing and marketing,
- commercialization of intellectual property,
- positively impacting the methods and tools with which businesses develop business applications, and
- closing the disparities in access to computers and the Internet still experienced by some in today's digital world.