The New Organization

This chapter contributes by proposing the definition, the structure and the processes of Computational Organization Management Networks (COMN) which are new organizations whose principles of operation are based on the concepts of Hierarchic Cognitive Systems (as proposed in Chapter III) along with those of Telecommunications Management Networks of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T, 2000). Structured with functional layers and the roles which range from technical and managerial to institutional levels of analysis, and also equipped with technological, operational, managerial and business processes, the concept of Computational Organization Management Networks (COMN), as proposed in this chapter, plays an important part in the developments of future organizations where cognitive machines and Cognitive Information Systems (CIS) are prominent actors of governance, automation and control of the whole enterprise. Moreover, this chapter introduces the concept of immersive systems in order to provide the new organization with the capability of immersiveness.

Implications of Cognitive Machines for Organizations

Analyses and predictions about the implications of cognitive machines for organizations are a topic of further research which demands a high level of imagination in connection with the knowledge available in the literature of interdisciplinary fields of research. Under such a perspective, this chapter presents an outline of some possible implications. It starts by discussing literature results on the benefits of information technology (IT) to organizations. It proceeds by associating IT with cognitive machines, and thus it presents some implications of cognitive machines for organizations.

Organizational Cognition in the Industrial Case Study

This chapter is concerned with the implementation of The Capability Maturity Model in the organization of study. In this application, we define measures of organization process improvement and we propose correlations between them and organizational cognition. Among these measures are included organization process maturity, capability, and performance. Therefore, we define correlations between organizational cognition and organization process maturity, and also between organizational cognition and organization process capability and performance. From such correlations, we also define an association between organizational cognition and organizational learning. Hence, we outline new directions to the development of approaches to assess, to evaluate and to measure the degree of organizational cognition from appraisal methods of The Capability Maturity Model and of other organization process improvement models. Moreover, Chapter IX is complemented by Appendix I which summarizes concepts and characteristics about the five maturity levels of The Capability Maturity Model.

A Cognitive Machine in the Organization of Study

Chapter X is concerned with the design of a management control system whose functional elements execute cognitive tasks of analysis, decision and control of the organization process performance. The management control system works in the form of an Adaptive Learning Cycle (ALC) whose principles of operation are based on single-loop and double-loop learning. Among its elements, it includes the participation of a cognitive machine whose responsibility involves the evaluation of the organization process performance through the tasks of analysis and decision. The design of the cognitive machine is reinforced with a set of criteria along with qualitative and quantitative analysis. Chapter X is complemented with Appendixes F, G and H. Appendix F defines the state variables (X) which are used in the management control of the organization process performance. Appendix G presents linguistic descriptions of the mental models which were designed and written for the cognitive machine. Appendix H demonstrates theorem proof as part of the quantitative analysis of the cognitive machine.

Design of Cognitive Machines

This chapter is concerned with the design of cognitive machines. These machines and their models were chosen in order to increase and to improve: i. The degree of cognition of the organization, ii. the capability of the organization for information processing and management, and iii. the ability of the organization to make decisions. Therefore Chapter VI introduces the design of cognitive machines with capabilities to carry out complex cognitive tasks in organizations - and in particular the task of decision-making which involves representation and organization of knowledge via concept identification and categorization along with the manipulation of perceptions (or percepts)1, concepts2, and mental models3. The ability of these machines to manipulate a percept provides them with higher levels of information-processing than other symbolic-processing machines4; and according to the theory of levels of processing in cognition (Reed, 1988), these machines can mimic (even through simple models) cognitive processes of humans (Nobre, 2005). Percepts and thus concepts5 (along with mental models) are described by words, propositions and sentences of natural language (Zadeh, 2001).

Contribution and Extensions

This book has provided many contributions to the concepts of organizational cognition and cognitive machines, but most importantly, we have to acknowledge that this work has put forwards new challenges and new perspectives to our understanding on the participation of cognitive machines in organizations. It introduced analyses on the implications of cognitive machines for organizations and it proposed the concept of Computational Organization Management Networks – whose structure, processes and agents form the base of new organizations. The contents of such contributions are presented in the next sections of this chapter.

The Organization of Study

This chapter presents the organization1 of study and the research methods selected for its investigation. It explains the scope, the purpose, and the motivations for this industrial case study. With its content, it outlines problems to be analyzed, solutions to be designed, and expected findings.

Analysis of Cognitive Machines in Organizations

This chapter introduces analyses of cognitive machines and perspectives about their participation in organizations. Therefore, it connects cognitive machines with the discipline of organizations. The analyses of cognitive machines comprise concepts of bounded rationality, economic decision-making and conflict resolution (Nobre, 2005). From such an analysis, this book advocates that these machines can be used to reduce or to solve intra-individual and group dysfunctional conflicts which arise from decision-making processes in organizations. Therefore, they can provide organizations with higher degrees of cognition, and consequently reduce the relative level of complexity and uncertainty of the environment. This chapter also derives a theorem on the implications of cognitive machines for organizations and the environment. It concludes by presenting perspectives about the work relationships between cognitive machines, their designer and the organization.

Beyond the Thresholds of Manufacturing Organizations

The major contributions of this chapter are concerned with: a. Analysis of the limitations of past and current manufacturing organizations (and operations management systems). b. Definition of concepts and features for new manufacturing organizations through perspectives of management, socio-technology and organizational systems theory. From these perspectives we derive the concept of a new organizing and production model that we call customer-centric organizations.

Principles of Cognitive Machines

This chapter presents principles of cognitive machines. It presents definitions of intelligence, cognition, autonomy, and complexity for machines. It proposes a definition of cognitive machines and it presents theories and technologies behind cognitive machines, where the technologies are selected according to some criteria.