Collaborative design research: Lessons from continuous auditing

In this paper we discuss Collaborative Design Research – a hybrid methodology for undertaking design science research in collaboration with industry partners – that has been applied to the area of Continuous Auditing and which also has wider applicability to AIS research. Collaborative Design Research has a role at the time in the evolution of a field when early adopting practitioners have made the decision to implement an innovation, but there is as yet no established product or set of best practices that makes it obvious what they should do. We discuss eight key issues facing researchers attempting to do collaborative design research: 1) choice of implementation partner (IP), 2) choice of projects, 3) managing expectations, 4) building on the expertise of the IP, 5) introducing innovation to the IP, 6) project evaluation and reassessment, 7) cost and resource management, and 8) publishing results.

► Collaborative Design Research (CDR) is a hybrid methodology for undertaking research in collaboration with industry partners.
► CDR is appropriate when a field has transitioned from the “embryonic” to the “emerging” stage but is yet to reach maturity.
► CDR is discussed on the example of research in the area of continuous auditing.
► We examine eight key issues facing researchers attempting to do CDR that seem critical in its successful applications.