They describe themselves as an emergent research collective, rather than as a firmly pre-defined research group.

But the Emergent Researchers in Organisational Systems (EROS), a small group of early career researchers at Central Queensland University, are solid in their commitment to study the interplay between organisations and information technologies.

EROS member Sandy Behrens said:.

"Information technology is not the most important factor in organisations but, especially in some of its more modern forms, it provides an opportunity to re-think the how, what and why of organisations.

"Of most interest to the group is the possibility that traditional top-down approaches may be less effective than more bottom up, emergent approaches. The formation and operation of our research group is one reflection of this potential".

Ms Behrens said that the alternative approach to forming their research group, which was not the standard approach in universities, had already seen success.

Members of the collective had recently had publications on 'shadow systems' and 'design theory' accepted by top-tier international journals. These journals are notoriously difficult to publish in, even by established researchers, so their potential not only as individuals but as a group looks promising.

"Although all members of our group are still completing their PhDs we have managed to produce 5 refereed journal publications, 12 refereed conference publications and 1 book chapter since 2003, which is a great result," Ms Behrens said.

Current group members include: Sandy Behrens, Kieren Jamieson, David Jones and Jo Luck.

For more details on the research group details are available at:.

http://eros.cqu.edu.au/ .