(Neg)Entropic scenarios affecting the wicked design spaces of knowledge management systems

CITATION: Schmitt, U. 2020. (Neg)Entropic scenarios affecting the wicked design spaces of knowledge management systems. Entropy, 22(2):169, doi:10.3390/e22020169.The original publication is available at https://www.mdpi.comThe envisioned embracing of thriving knowledge societies is increasingly compromised by threatening perceptions of information overload, attention poverty, opportunity divides, and career fears. This paper traces the roots of these symptoms back to causes of information entropy and structural holes, invisible private and undiscoverable public knowledge which characterize the sad state of our current knowledge management and creation practices. As part of an ongoing design science research and prototyping project, the article’s (neg)entropic perspectives complement a succession of prior multi-disciplinary publications. Looking forward, it proposes a novel decentralized generative knowledge management approach that prioritizes the capacity development of autonomous individual knowledge workers not at the expense of traditional organizational knowledge management systems but as a viable means to foster their fruitful co-evolution. The article, thus, informs relevant stakeholders about the current unsustainable status quo inhibiting knowledge workers; it presents viable remedial options (as a prerequisite for creating the respective future generative Knowledge Management (KM) reality) to afford a sustainable solution with the generative potential to evolve into a prospective general-purpose technology.https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/22/2/169Publisher's versio

Reframing a novel decentralized knowledge management concept as a desirable vision: As we may realize the Memex

CITATION: Schmitt, Ulrich. 2021. "Reframing a Novel Decentralized Knowledge Management Concept as a Desirable Vision: As We May Realize the Memex" Sustainability 13(7): 4038. doi.10.3390/su13074038The original publication is available at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityProposing a major (though envisaged synergetic) shift in the knowledge management (KM) paradigm needs to convince a skeptical audience. This article attempts such a feat and motivates its conceptual considerations by fusing a wide scope of theoretical KM-related foundations in response to current KM unsustainabilities and emerging enabling technologies. The envisioned workflows, infrastructure, affordances, and impact resulting from the progressing design science research and prototyping efforts are consolidated and reframed, guided by a five-step visioneering process and twelve triple-criteria-clusters combining innovative, technological, and vision-related qualities. Inspired by Bush’s “Memex”, a desirable vision never realized since its suggestion three quarters of a century ago, the novel KM system (KMS) pursues the scenario of a mutually beneficial co-evolution between individual and institutional KM activities. This article follows up on the unsatisfactory and unsustainable state of current KM affairs suffering from accelerating information abundance, invisible work, structural interdisciplinary holes, lacking personal tools, and widening opportunity divides. By portraying a potentially transformative and game-changing technology, the crafting and drafting of a desirable, sustainable, and viable KMS vision assures transparency and can be more easily shared with a critical mass of stakeholders as a prerequisite for creating the respective future KM reality. The drafting of the “Desirable Sustainability Vision” is envisaged to assist a currently accepted KMS start-up project and investment.Publisher’s versio

The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy

The fifth Factor X publication from the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy provides an overview of the limits to the circular economy, emphasising the relationship between integrated resource use and more systemic leadership-management approaches. On a European level, the book ties into the recent European Green Deal and aims to empower actors across sectors and EU member countries to transition from existing linear models of value capture and expression to more systemic-circular solutions of value capture and expression. The volume provides a hands-on contribution towards building the knowledge and skill sets of current and future decision-makers who face these complex-systemic crises in their day-to-day business. The book further provides access to best practices from cutting-edge research and development findings, which will empower decision-makers to develop a more sustainable and equitable economy. Providing solutions for a more sustainable economy, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resource use, sustainable business, environmental economics and sustainable development, as well as decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society

The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy

The fifth Factor X publication from the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy provides an overview of the limits to the circular economy, emphasising the relationship between integrated resource use and more systemic leadership-management approaches. On a European level, the book ties into the recent European Green Deal and aims to empower actors across sectors and EU member countries to transition from existing linear models of value capture and expression to more systemic-circular solutions of value capture and expression. The volume provides a hands-on contribution towards building the knowledge and skill sets of current and future decision-makers who face these complex-systemic crises in their day-to-day business. The book further provides access to best practices from cutting-edge research and development findings, which will empower decision-makers to develop a more sustainable and equitable economy. Providing solutions for a more sustainable economy, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resource use, sustainable business, environmental economics and sustainable development, as well as decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

A Soft Systems Approach Towards a Theory of Knowledge Worker Productivity

The main purpose of this research is to contribute towards a theory of knowledge worker productivity (KWP). When it comes to KWP there is no single integrated body of knowledge which can be used for analytical and empirical testing and applied to real world problems. Knowledge and research relevant to KWP is distributed through multiple fields of study and at a high level of detail. This research attempts to explore KWP holistically from an industrial engineering standpoint, by looking at the systems involved. It utilizes the first three activities in the soft systems methodology (SSM) to explore the problem situation, formulate a purposeful activity model for the individual knowledge worker (KW) and debate the situation using the results of multiple literature reviews. The findings are then used to propose a draft of a holistic framework of KWP relevant to individual KWs and their work. It consists of three papers: (I) A Soft Systems Approach to KWP - Analysis of the Problem Situation, (II) A Soft Systems Approach to KWP:a Purposeful Activity Model for the Individual and (III) Towards a Holistic KWP framework. To develop a holistic framework of KWP, the interpretations and inferences made cumulatively throughout the journey from the literature reviews and the results of the SSM activities were abstracted into main components and their influencing factors. The main components of the conceptual framework are the state of the individual KW, work done and outcome. Outcome of relevant work can be value for the individual KW, others in the social system and the organization. It is human nature to gravitate towards creating value for oneself, therefore, the organization needs to align their needs with what creates value for the individual KW to maximize value contribution towards their organizational goals and objectives. This can be done by influencing the state of the individual KW, through external factors such as reward systems, culture, support, and relationships, to guide the KW towards engaging in preferred behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior. There are also internal factors that affect the state of the KW, which are influenced by the KW’s actions, traits, worldview, and interpretation of his environment and experiences. The state of the individual KW affects the KW’s intuition when evaluating work and making decisions in his process of getting things done. This study adds to the literature by giving an overview of the many elements that affect the productivity of the individual KW, abstracting them into key insights and drawing up a simplified and concise conceptual framework. This study also uses a new approach to SSM by adapting it to use inferences made from literature reviews rather than using interviews and discussions with stakeholders.Tilgangur þessarar rannsóknar er að byggja upp kenningu um framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna. Þegar það kemur að framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna þá er ekki til einn þekkingargrunnur sem er samþættaður. Þekkingargrunnur sem hægt er að hagnýta. Þekking um framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna er dreifð yfir mörg rannsóknarsvið og er í miklum smáatriðum. Þessi rannsókn stefnir á að skoða framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna á heildrænan hátt með verkfræðilegri nálgun, með því að skoða kerfin sem tengjast þekkingarstarfsmönnum. Rannsóknin notar fyrstu þrjár athafnirnar í mjúkri kerfisnálgun (Soft Systems Methodology) til að skoða vandamálið hvernig á að stýra og bæta framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna með því að rýna í ritrýndar greinar á kerfisbundinn hátt. Fyrstu þrjár athafnirnar í mjúkri kerfisnálgun eru: (1) leita upplýsinga um vandasamt ástand, (2) búa til viðeigandi líkön af markvissum athöfnum (Purposeful Activity Models), og (3) ræða um ástand út frá líkönum. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar eru svo notaðar til að leggja fram tillögu af heildrænum ramma um framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna. Rannsóknin samanstendur af þremur greinum: (I) A Soft Systems Approach to KWP - Analysis of the Problem Situation, (II) A Soft Systems Approach to KWP:a Purposeful Activity Model for the Individual og (III) Towards a Holistic KWP framework. Til þess að þróa heildrænan ramma um framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna, voru ályktanir dregnar úr þeim ritrýndu greinum sem teknar voru fyrir og niðurstöður athafnanna í mjúkri kerfisnálgun túlkaðar til þess að greina aðalatriðin og þá þætti sem hafa áhrif á þau. Aðalatriðin sem mynda huglæga ramann er ástand einstaklingsins, vinna og útkoma. Útkoman af viðeigandi vinnu getur verið virði fyrir einstaklinginn, aðra í félagslegu kerfi hans og skipulagsheildin. Það er mannlegt eðli að hallast að því að búa til virði fyrir sjálfan sig, þess vegna þarf skipulagsheildin að samræma þeirra þarfir við það sem býr til virði fyrir einstaklinginn til að hámarka framlag þeirra til skipulagsheildarinnar. Þetta er hægt með því að hafa áhrif á ástand einstaklingsins í gegnum ytri þætti eins og verðlaunakerfi, menningu, stuðning og sambönd til þess að beina þekkingarstarfsmanninum í áttina að æskilegri hegðun. Það eru einnig innri þættir sem hafa áhrif á ástand þekkingarstarfsmannsins svo sem hegðun þeirra, eiginleikar, heimsmynd og túlkun á umhverfinu og upplifunum. Ástand einstaklingsins hefur áhrif á innsæi hans þegar hann er að meta vinnu sína og taka ákvarðanir í ferlinu að koma hlutum í verk. Þessi rannsókn auðgar þekkingu á framleiðni þekkingarstarfsmanna með því að gefa yfirsýn yfir þá ótal þætti sem hafa áhrif á framleiðni einstaklingsins og draga þá saman í einfalt og hnitmiðaðan huglægan ramma. Þessi rannsókn notar einnig nýja nálgun á mjúkri kerfisnálgun með því að aðlaga það til að nota ályktanir dregnar úr ritrýndum greinum frekar en að nota viðtöl og umræður við hagsmunaaðila

Emergent Design

Explorations in Systems Phenomenology in Relation to Ontology, Hermeneutics and the Meta-dialectics of Design SYNOPSIS A Phenomenological Analysis of Emergent Design is performed based on the foundations of General Schemas Theory. The concept of Sign Engineering is explored in terms of Hermeneutics, Dialectics, and Ontology in order to define Emergent Systems and Metasystems Engineering based on the concept of Meta-dialectics. ABSTRACT Phenomenology, Ontology, Hermeneutics, and Dialectics will dominate our inquiry into the nature of the Emergent Design of the System and its inverse dual, the Meta-system. This is an speculative dissertation that attempts to produce a philosophical, mathematical, and theoretical view of the nature of Systems Engineering Design. Emergent System Design, i.e., the design of yet unheard of and/or hitherto non-existent Systems and Metasystems is the focus. This study is a frontal assault on the hard problem of explaining how Engineering produces new things, rather than a repetition or reordering of concepts that already exist. In this work the philosophies of E. Husserl, A. Gurwitsch, M. Heidegger, J. Derrida, G. Deleuze, A. Badiou, G. Hegel, I. Kant and other Continental Philosophers are brought to bear on different aspects of how new technological systems come into existence through the midwifery of Systems Engineering. Sign Engineering is singled out as the most important aspect of Systems Engineering. We will build on the work of Pieter Wisse and extend his theory of Sign Engineering to define Meta-dialectics in the form of Quadralectics and then Pentalectics. Along the way the various ontological levels of Being are explored in conjunction with the discovery that the Quadralectic is related to the possibility of design primarily at the Third Meta-level of Being, called Hyper Being. Design Process is dependent upon the emergent possibilities that appear in Hyper Being. Hyper Being, termed by Heidegger as Being (Being crossed-out) and termed by Derrida as Differance, also appears as the widest space within the Design Field at the third meta-level of Being and therefore provides the most leverage that is needed to produce emergent effects. Hyper Being is where possibilities appear within our worldview. Possibility is necessary for emergent events to occur. Hyper Being possibilities are extended by Wild Being propensities to allow the embodiment of new things. We discuss how this philosophical background relates to meta-methods such as the Gurevich Abstract State Machine and the Wisse Metapattern methods, as well as real-time architectural design methods as described in the Integral Software Engineering Methodology. One aim of this research is to find the foundation for extending the ISEM methodology to become a general purpose Systems Design Methodology. Our purpose is also to bring these philosophical considerations into the practical realm by examining P. Bourdieu’s ideas on the relationship between theoretical and practical reason and M. de Certeau’s ideas on practice. The relationship between design and implementation is seen in terms of the Set/Mass conceptual opposition. General Schemas Theory is used as a way of critiquing the dependence of Set based mathematics as a basis for Design. The dissertation delineates a new foundation for Systems Engineering as Emergent Engineering based on General Schemas Theory, and provides an advanced theory of Design based on the understanding of the meta-levels of Being, particularly focusing upon the relationship between Hyper Being and Wild Being in the context of Pure and Process Being