When Processes Learn: Steps Toward Crafting an Intelligent Organization.

Author List: Zhu, Dan; Prietula, Michael J.; Hsu, Wen Ling;

Information Systems Research, 1997, Volume 8, Issue 3, Page 302.

Two trends in information systems research provide an opportunity to add an additional link between information technology and organizational learning. First, there is an increasing penetration of information technology into the firm's processes and structures. Second, research in artificial intelligence has given rise to the first generation of fully computational architectures of general intelligence. In this research note we explore a melding of these two trends. In particular, we present the crafting of an organizational process which can learn, and develop and apply a new set of organizational learning metrics to that process. The process is a simplification of a complex, parallel-machine production scheduling task performed in a local manufacturing firm. The system, Dispatcher-Soar, generally supports a symbolic, constraint propagation approach based, in part, on the reasoning methods of the human scheduler at the firm. The implementation of this process is based on a dispatching rule used by the expert. The behavior of Dispatcher-Soar centered around a small case study examining the effects of scheduling volume and learning on performance. Results indicated that the knowledge gained can reduce within-trial scheduling effort. An analysis of the generated knowledge structures (chunks) provided insight into how that learning was accomplished and contributed to process improvements. As the knowledge generated was in a form standardized to a common architecture, metrics were used to evaluate the production efficiency (ηprod), utility (ηutil), and effectiveness (ηeff) of the accumulated organizational knowledge across trials.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Information Systems; Machine Learning; Organizational Learning

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List of Topics

#129	0.145	expert systems knowledge knowledge-based human intelligent experts paper problem acquisition base used expertise intelligence domain inductive rules machine artificial task
#86	0.090	methods information systems approach using method requirements used use developed effective develop determining research determine assessment useful series critical existing
#71	0.089	distributed agents agent intelligent environments environment smart computational environmental scheduling human rule using does embodied provide trends computer-aided heterogeneous inventory
#185	0.082	change organizational implementation case study changes management organizations technology organization analysis successful success equilibrium radical efforts initiatives managing resistance individuals
#69	0.076	process business reengineering processes bpr redesign paper research suggests provide past improvements manage enable organizations regarding focal cycle creating issues
#187	0.068	learning model optimal rate hand domain effort increasing curve result experts explicit strategies estimate acquire learn referral observational skills activities
#125	0.063	framework model used conceptual proposed given particular general concept frameworks literature developed develop providing paper developing guidelines concepts appropriate set
#67	0.053	production manufacturing marketing information performance systems level impact plant model monitor does strategies 500 unit present fortune integrated sales plants
#114	0.050	performance firm measures metrics value relationship firms results objective relationships firm's organizational traffic measure market study improve accounting measuring aggregate
#277	0.050	structure organization structures organizational centralized decentralized study organizations forms decentralization processing communication sharing cbis activities appropriate provide identify organizing communications
#291	0.050	local global link complex view links particularly need thought number supports efforts difficult previously linked achieving simple poor individual rise