Dialectical approach to systems development

Abstract

This paper will approach the nature of system development based on dialectical thinking. To conduct this approach, the paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, the concept 'contradiction' is introduced in the context of dialectical thinking. In the second part, 'systems development' is discussed in terms of contradiction in the Activity Theory. And in the last part, 'information systems development' is presented as an example to demonstrate how information systems are developed in the light of this dialectical approach. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.