Understanding events, critical incidents, and punctuation in process theory

Paradigmatic diversity in information systems research has increased as process theorizing from case studies has become increasingly popular. Central to process theorizing is the identification of events, or critical incidents that mark the evolution of a process over time. In this paper, we present a way of understanding events while building on process models which have been described in the IS literature. Specifically, we outline the interplay between punctuations, critical incidents, and incremental adaptations using a visual mapping strategy. We argue that a more precise understanding of these elements will strengthen the rigor and adoption of process research methods.