The Principle of Researcher-client Agreement in Canonical Action Research

Canonical Action Research (CAR) is a methodology for developing, testing and learning about information systems strategies through the use of real-world experiments. The methodology is based on five principles to ensure rigor and relevance. The first principle relates to the development of a researcher-client agreement (RCA) that facilitates collaboration between the researcher and the client. The RCA principle has been argued to be of foundational importance for succeeding with action research, but CAR has little to say about how to deal with the complexities and political challenges in RCA development. A strategy that has proved useful for dealing with the politics of action research management is the Networks of Action (NoA) approach used in information infrastructure studies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consequences of applying a NoA strategy for developing a RCA between a scholarly community and a public sector organisation. By analysing aspects of process success and failure, ideas on how to adjust existing models and strategies for aligning NoA and CAR through the RCA development process are developed. The contribution to theory and practice of CAR consists of outlining how the process of RCA development can be managed through the NoA approach.