Organisational Intelligence and Distributed AI

The analysis of this chapter starts from organisational theory, and from this it draws conclusions for the design, and possible organisational applications, of Distributed AI systems. We first review how the concept of organisations has emerged from non-organised "blackbox" entities to so-called "computerised" organisations. Within this context organisational researchers have started to redesign their models of intelligent organisations with respect to the availability of advanced computing technology. The recently emerged concept of Organisational Intelligence integrates these efforts in that it suggests five components of intelligent organisational skills (communication, memory, learning, cognition, problem solving). The approach integrates human and computer-based information processing and problem solving capabilities.<br/

A framework for information warehouse development processes

Since the terms Data Warehouse and On-Line Analytical Processing were proposed by Inmon and Codd, Codd, Sally respectively the traditional ideas of creating information systems in support of management’s decision became interesting again in theory and practice. Today information warehousing is a strategic market for any data base systems vendor. Nevertheless the theoretical discussions of this topic go back to the early years of the 20th century as far as management science and accounting theory are concerned and to the late 50s and early 60s when focussing information systems aspects. Although today efficient technology is available to develop information systems for management’s purposes information warehouse projects are still very risky and most of them are not finished successfully. The main reason for this situation lies in the lack of suitable languages to develop the conceptual specification of information arehouses. Based on this drawback methods for the development of information warehouses cannot be specified clearly. This paper proposes a language for the required conceptual specification of information warehouses based on an thorough analysis of management and accounting approaches to this topic and shows how this language can be integrated in a two dimensional development framework for information warehouse development as fundamental component

AN APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER BASED BEST PRACTICE DELIVERY MECHANISMS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Changes in the competitive environment have strongly influenced manufacturing companies to adopt and develop best practice. Best practice is usually imported into companies using the services of consultancy organisations. The use of consultancy services does not guarantee success however, and inadequate results have been obtained by practitioners who have engaged in client-consultant relationships. The inadequacy of these results may be explained by the installation of pre-defined solutions by consultants as opposed to the adaptation and implementation of solutions to meet the specific requirements of practitioners. Tills may in part be explained by a lack of understanding of 'best practice'. Tills work presented in this thesis investigated the feasibility of computer based mechanisms for intervention in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for the delivery of best practice. The research was undertaken using a prototyping approach. Three prototype computer based tools (CBTs) were developed by the author and tested by practitioners. The prototypes were designed based on a set of objectives and a framework of features which was developed. These frameworks were constructed from a synthesis of the research findings which included a study of best practice, the identification of characteristics of types of intervention, the identification of SME characteristics, and inhibitors of change in SMEs. The research has indicated that an approach using computer based tools is appropriate for intervention in SMEs and for adapting best practice to meet specific requirements. A structured project management approach is required with identifiable goals and benefits. An exploratory learning environment should be used to deliver complex best practice concepts and to support the goal oriented approach. Tools and techniques provided by the CBT enable the achievement of methodological tasks and facilitate experimentation and learning. The approach should not prescribe solutions, but should provide information through computer generated analyses to support decision making. The research suggests that the proposed approach may support a workbook based methodology, or may encapsulate a process methodology. The originality of this work is in the provision of a definition of best practice, an explanation of the deficiencies of existing mechanisms for the transfer of best practice to SMEs, and the specification of the features required by a new computer-based approach. Tills provides new knowledge for the field of production and operations management

How to get the most from a business intelligence application during the post implementation phase? Deep structure transformation at a UK retail bank

This paper focuses on the process of maximizing the benefits from a business intelligence (BI) application. A general theoretical framework of analysis is formulated based on previous research into organizational deep structure and inertia. Our framework is applied to a case study of a U.K. retail bank which used an existing customer profitability BI application to transform its marketing strategy. We find that an organization’s ability to extract strategic BI benefits is influenced by its deep structure (core beliefs, organizational structures, control systems and distribution of power) and also by its ability to overcome the effects of the multiple inertia sources that the deep structure generates. Organizations should therefore carefully consider the effects of multidimensional organizational inertia and aim to manage inertia sources in respect to information from BI applications when links that embed the BI into an organization as a whole are developed and maintained. We also present generally applicable insights into enhancing the delivery of informative long-term BI decision support for organizations

ECSCW 2013 Adjunct Proceedings The 13th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work 21 - 25. September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus

This volume presents the adjunct proceedings of ECSCW 2013.While the proceedings published by Springer Verlag contains the core of the technical program, namely the full papers, the adjunct proceedings includes contributions on work in progress, workshops and master classes, demos and videos, the doctoral colloquium, and keynotes, thus indicating what our field may become in the future