Inquiring Organizations and Tacit Knowledge

Churchman’s five Inquiring Systems are considered in the light of Polanyi’s distinction between Tacit Knowing and Practical Thinking. It is suggested that the five Inquiring Systems are distinct and crucial elements of the Learning Organization that can be divided into two perspectives: the modes of Tacit Knowing and the levels of Practical Thinking. Tacit Knowing critically contributes to the sustainable growth of an organization through its connection with (1) intuition (2) holism, and (3) ethics

E Business in Developing Countries (including Middle East): Information Systems Strategic Thinking

E Business in Developing Countries and the Middle East (and in Oman in particular) is of great interest because of opportunities for growth, to elsewhere around the world. For example, E Business expansion in the Middle East is of growing importance because of the scaling down of income from Middle Eastern sourced oil over the next decades. In Developing Countries other than the Middle East E Business is of critical importance for development, for example, China (and examples will be given of China). We are interested in building Case Studies of E Business Strategic Thinking and also exploring ideas for Strategic Thinking generally and more specifically in relation to Developing Countries (including Middle Eastern) E Business. The workshop will consist of two parts (1) What constitutes Strategic Thinking? How can Strategic Thinking be applied to E Business? (2) What are the key issues for E Business development in relation to Developing Countries and extended innovation in the Middle East? This topic, in general terms related to the Middle East, recently won, for the presenters of this workshop, a major research grant in Oman (the equivalent of just over US$200,000). Workshop Leader Information (Please attach a copy of your resum