Ebook: Cooperative Knowledge Processing: The Key Technology for Intelligent Organizations

In the light of the challenges that face today's organizations, there is a grow­ ing recognition that future market success and long term' survival of enter­ prises will increasingly depend upon the effective usage of information technology. Of late, a new generation of terminology has emerged to describe enterprises. This terminology draws heavily upon the virtual concep- virtual reality, virtual organization, virtual (working) environment, and indeed virtual product. However, developing computerized organisations for the 21st century demands serious thought with regard to the judicious integration of organizational theory, design and practice with research tools and methods from within information processing technology. Within this book, we approach this aim from the perspective of a radically decentralized (possibly virtual) enterprise. We assume that organizations are becoming increasingly process-orientated, rather than adhering to the former more traditional organizational structures based upon task oriented models. This approach has proved illuminating in that, due to the inherent autonomy of organizational subunits any approach to coordinating decentralized activ­ ities (including workflows and business processes) necessitates a cooperative style of problem solving. This book introduces the reader to a stimulating new field of interdiscipli­ nary research in cooperative problem solving. In Chapter 1 Kim presents a view of three central discip14tes, namely those of Organizational Theory, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI). The applications given here demonstrate how future enterprises will benefit from recent advances in the technological arena of cooperative knowledge processing.

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The establishment of intelligent human organizations is one of the main goals for organizational research and information systems development today. The downsizing and decentralization of large corporations have led to new approaches to organization, management and internal structuring, and cooperative computing plays a key role in processing and disseminating knowledge within such "intelligent organizations". The development of "intelligent organizations" forms the central theme of this volume. It provides a thoroughly interdisciplinary assessment of the topic, emphasising the need for effective coordination of activities and presenting the theoretical founda tions of an integrated theory of coordination. It will be of particular interest to scientists and practitioners in organizational research, CSCW, business/information systems, distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems.

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The establishment of intelligent human organizations is one of the main goals for organizational research and information systems development today. The downsizing and decentralization of large corporations have led to new approaches to organization, management and internal structuring, and cooperative computing plays a key role in processing and disseminating knowledge within such "intelligent organizations". The development of "intelligent organizations" forms the central theme of this volume. It provides a thoroughly interdisciplinary assessment of the topic, emphasising the need for effective coordination of activities and presenting the theoretical founda tions of an integrated theory of coordination. It will be of particular interest to scientists and practitioners in organizational research, CSCW, business/information systems, distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxv
Cooperative Knowledge Processing - Research Framework and Application Perspectives....Pages 1-25
Coordination in Organizations....Pages 26-42
Communication-Orientated Approaches to Support Multi-User Processes in Office Work....Pages 43-63
Coordinating Human and Software Agents through Electronic Mail....Pages 64-78
User Control over Coordination Mechanisms in Office Information Systems....Pages 79-96
Computational Support for the Management of Social Processes within Organizational Teams....Pages 97-116
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: How Locks Can Gently Control Collaboration....Pages 117-138
Enhancing Organizational Intelligence through Cooperative Problem Solving....Pages 139-154
Organizational Intelligence and Negotiation Based DAI Systems — Theoretical Foundations and Experimental Results....Pages 155-172
Incorporating Organizational Design Principles and Experiences into the Design and Implementation of Multi Agent Systems....Pages 173-195
Coordination Protocols....Pages 196-211
Modeling Distributed Industrial Processes in a Multi-Agent Framework....Pages 212-229
Utilitarian Coalition Formation Between Autonomous Agents for Cooperative Information Gathering....Pages 230-257
Back Matter....Pages 258-296

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The establishment of intelligent human organizations is one of the main goals for organizational research and information systems development today. The downsizing and decentralization of large corporations have led to new approaches to organization, management and internal structuring, and cooperative computing plays a key role in processing and disseminating knowledge within such "intelligent organizations". The development of "intelligent organizations" forms the central theme of this volume. It provides a thoroughly interdisciplinary assessment of the topic, emphasising the need for effective coordination of activities and presenting the theoretical founda tions of an integrated theory of coordination. It will be of particular interest to scientists and practitioners in organizational research, CSCW, business/information systems, distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxv
Cooperative Knowledge Processing - Research Framework and Application Perspectives....Pages 1-25
Coordination in Organizations....Pages 26-42
Communication-Orientated Approaches to Support Multi-User Processes in Office Work....Pages 43-63
Coordinating Human and Software Agents through Electronic Mail....Pages 64-78
User Control over Coordination Mechanisms in Office Information Systems....Pages 79-96
Computational Support for the Management of Social Processes within Organizational Teams....Pages 97-116
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: How Locks Can Gently Control Collaboration....Pages 117-138
Enhancing Organizational Intelligence through Cooperative Problem Solving....Pages 139-154
Organizational Intelligence and Negotiation Based DAI Systems — Theoretical Foundations and Experimental Results....Pages 155-172
Incorporating Organizational Design Principles and Experiences into the Design and Implementation of Multi Agent Systems....Pages 173-195
Coordination Protocols....Pages 196-211
Modeling Distributed Industrial Processes in a Multi-Agent Framework....Pages 212-229
Utilitarian Coalition Formation Between Autonomous Agents for Cooperative Information Gathering....Pages 230-257
Back Matter....Pages 258-296
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