Maturity Models in IS Research

TLDR

Maturity assessments are relevant, yet IS research rarely develops theoretically sound maturity models or fully conceptualises maturity concepts. This study conducts a literature review of maturity models in IS, examining past research and identifying prospective measures for future study. The authors performed a systematic literature review of maturity models in IS, mapping existing studies and proposing future measurement approaches. The review finds growing interest but limited top‑journal coverage, with CMM and CMMI dominating, and offers implications for applying and researching maturity models.

Abstract

Notwithstanding the relevance of maturity assessments in practice, Information Systems (IS) research has – despite exceptions – yet rarely endeavoured into reflecting and developing theoretically sound maturity models. This paper reports a literature review on maturity models in the IS domain. Specifically, it explores what type of research on maturity models has been undertaken (retrospection) and which potentially useful measures might be pursued in IS for future research (prospection). The paper suggests that research on maturity models is of growing interest; nevertheless, comparably few related articles have been published in the leading IS journals. We see that the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and its successor CMM Integration (CMMI) dominate studies of maturity. While maturity models have been addressed in prescriptive, descriptive and reflective works, the notions of maturity and maturity models have rarely been conceptualised in detail. In view of that, the paper presents implications for the practice of maturity model application and research thereof.