Communication in organizations: the heart of information systems

We propose a theory characterizing information systems (IS) as language communities which use and develop domain-specific languages for communication. Our theory is anchored in Language Critique, a branch of philosophy of language. In developing our theory, we draw on Systems Theory and Cybernetics as a theoretical framework. "Organization" of a system is directly related to communication of its sub-systems. "Big systems" are self-organizing and the control of this ability is disseminated throughout the system itself. Therefore, the influence on changes of the system from its outside is limited. Operations intended to change an organization are restricted to indirect approaches. The creation of domain-specific languages by the system itself leads to advantageous communication costs compared to colloquial communication at the price of set-up costs for language communities. Furthermore, we demonstrate how our theoretical constructs help to describe and predict the behavior of IS. Finally, we discuss implications of our theory for further research and IS in general. Keywords: Language Critique, language communities, communication, self-organization, IS researc

An iterative approach for lexicon characterization in juridical context

In the juridical context, knowledge management applications have a central role. In order to improve the effectiveness of document management procedures, techniques for automatic comprehension of textual content are required. In this work, a methodology for semi-automatic derivation of knowledge from document collections is proposed. In order to extract relevant information from document text, a process integrating both statistical and lexical approaches is applied. Moreover, we propose a system for the evaluation of the extracted peculiar lexicon quality. The system is used for the processing of heterogeneous documents corpus issued by Italy’s juridical domain

Communication in Organizations: The Heart of Information Systems

We propose a theory characterizing information systems (IS) as language communities which use and develop domain-specific languages for communication. Our theory is anchored in Language Critique, a branch of philosophy of language. In developing our theory, we draw on Systems Theory and Cybernetics as a theoretical framework. Organization of a system is directly related to communication of its sub-systems. Big systems are self-organizing and the control of this ability is disseminated throughout the system itself. Therefore, the influenceon changes of the system from its outside is limited. Operations intended to change an organization are restricted to indirect approaches. The creation of domain-specific languages by the system itself leads to advantageous communication costs compared to colloquialcommunication at the price of set-up costs for language communities. Furthermore, we demonstrate how our theoretical constructs help to describe and predict the behavior of IS. Finally, we discuss implications of our theory for further research and IS in general

Bounded Rationality and Heuristics in Humans and in Artificial Cognitive Systems

In this paper I will present an analysis of the impact that the notion of “bounded rationality”, introduced by Herbert Simon in his book “Administrative Behavior”, produced in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In particular, by focusing on the field of Automated Decision Making (ADM), I will show how the introduction of the cognitive dimension into the study of choice of a rational (natural) agent, indirectly determined - in the AI field - the development of a line of research aiming at the realisation of artificial systems whose decisions are based on the adoption of powerful shortcut strategies (known as heuristics) based on “satisficing” - i.e. non optimal - solutions to problem solving. I will show how the “heuristic approach” to problem solving allowed, in AI, to face problems of combinatorial complexity in real-life situations and still represents an important strategy for the design and implementation of intelligent systems

Deriving an IS-Theory from an Epistemological Position

Starting with a subjective epistemological position in combination with an objective ontological position we show that language is the limiting factor of scientific communication. Theoretically we draw on Language Critique, a branch of philosophy known as the Erlangen School to analyse communication and mutual understanding based on linguistic signs. We then argue that, if language limits communication in scientific discourse, this is true for any discourses in information systems processes. We propose a formalised theory of information systems anchored at Language Critique and show resulting consequences for research on information systems

Short period and long period in macroeconomics: an awkward distinction

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to show that the use and meaning of the well-known concepts of short period and long period is often unclear and may be seriously misleading when applied to macroeconomic analysis. Evidence of this confusion emerges through examination of four macroeconomics textbooks and reappraisal of the interpretative debate - which took place mainly in the 1980s and 1990s - aiming at establishing whether Keynes’s General Theory should be considered as a short- or long-period analysis of the aggregate level of production. Having explored some possible explanations for the difficulties in defining and applying these methodological tools at a ‘macro’ level, the conclusion is suggested that it would be preferable to abandon this terminology in classifying different aggregate models and simply to make explicit the given factors, independent and dependent variables in each model in use, exactly as Keynes did in Chapter 18 of his major work.

Formalization and automatic interpretation of map requirements

The map requirements (constraints) can be interpreted by computer programs using their basic embedded functionalities. There are a huge number of constraints available to define the objective of various generalization outputs. Some of the constraints contain high-level knowledge which is not easy to interpret. This needs a huge amount of efforts to implement those constraints. The fact that many constraints have something in common makes the implementation per constraint a waste of resource. The paper proposes to decompose the constraints into more basic units, so as to interpret those constraints more flexible and reuse the already developed functionality as much as possible